It Came from the Desert

I remember playing the "It Came from the Desert" game on Amiga 500 computer back in the day, 1989 or the start of the 1990s. And it was a great game back then. Then forward about 34 years and I happen to stumble upon this 2017 movie by random chance. And the title was an instant flashback to the Amiga 500 days, and of course I had to check out this movie.

Truth be told, though, I wasn't really harboring much of any great expectations to director Marko Mäkilaakso's movie, because it seemed like it would be a questionable low budget movie. Yet, I still opted to watch it and give it the benefit of the doubt.

The storyline in "It Came from the Desert" was based loosely on the storyline from the game, but writers Trent Haaga, Marko Mäkilaakso and Hank Woon Jr. Did their own twist and approach on it, for better or worse. But normally, then movies based on computer games have a tendency of being horrible movies. However, I will say that the script and storyline in this 2017 was actually fair enough.

What held the movie back was some half-hearted acting performances. I didn't really buy into the performances put on by the actors and actresses in "It Came from the Desert", because it was just a bit too wooden, rigid and amateurish. And the performances paled in comparison to what director Marko Mäkilaakso apparently set out to accomplish.

Needless to say that I wasn't familiar with the cast ensemble.

Visually then the CGI in the movie was so-so. It looked okay, but it was just not overly impressive or all that convincing. But it was suitable enough for a movie of this level of accomplishment, I suppose. However, when the giant ants started giggling, chuckling and drinking beer, then I have to admit that I was good and ready to turn off the movie, because that was just too ridiculous.

I managed to sit through the 90 minutes that the movie ran for, and while the movie did spark a nostalgic trip down memory lane to the days of playing Amiga 500, that was just also about that was to it, because Marko Mäkilaakso's 2017 movie "It Came from the Desert" wasn't impressive. Watchable for the cheese that it was, if you have played the game, but otherwise not really worth the effort.

My rating of "It Came from the Desert" lands on a four out of ten stars.

Heading out to the desert, a guy and his brother trying to celebrate a racing championship with the friends stumble upon an abandoned military facility doing research on gigantic killer ants which get loose and terrorize the party forcing them to overcome their bravery and stop the colony from spreading.

Overall, this one was quite an exciting entry. One of the best elements present here is the old-school style tone and feel present throughout here. This one brings about a great sense of fun and charm which comes through not only in the general setup of the secret government getting loose but also from the idea of the experimental video played to inform them of what's happening which comes straight from that time period. with the type of action usually found in such a film also premiering rather frequently and there's a lot of good to be had with this old-school setup. That action holds this one up for the most part. The opening attacks set this going on a nice note, while the series of encounters within the facility where they first find the ants have plenty to like. The ants taking out the party offers some great moments of the swarm looking to overcome the different party members there as well as the chases on those who are attempting to flee the scene that provides plenty of swarming over their bodies in addition to the action-packed carnage. Coupled with the stellar action underground in the finale as thy free the captive partygoers and stop the queen ant using all manner of high-energy action confrontations, these here are the film's best aspects overall. There are a few issues to be had with this one. The biggest problem here is the fact that the tonal changes throughout here become quite distracting as the film constantly tries to switch between goofy old-school monster movie and creepy creature feature. As the ants are constantly mentioned to be a devastating threat due to the intelligence of the breed and their ravenous behavior from nearly every source they come across, the film's constantly manner of having the ants giggle, laugh and talk-trash to each other which is inherently goofy and disjointed tone with this one taking on these wildly varying tons so rapidly in a matter of a few minutes. The other real issue here is the utterly moronic leads that border on the dangerously stupid. The idea of the two releasing the ants from the colony has to take place here, but just simply rushing into an obviously abandoned and dangerous military facility just because of the rush doing so gives them is utterly idiotic. The idea of overlooking so much obvious ploys against their safety they just blindly go into means that there's very little interest or care for the characters here as they continually display such unrealistic rationale and motivations for everything they do or spout off such statements that they end up sounding so stupid as to be questionable functioning adults. Otherwise, there isn't much else really wrong here.

Rated Unrated/R: Graphic Language and Violence.

Although this one is better than a lot of garbage coming from mainstream Hollywood producers, it shouldn't be rated against those big budget products.

Meant to be fun entertainment - cheesy lines, gory, reference to the old classics (Them!), intentional over the top acting. Only an idiot can't see that this flick doesn't take itself seriously.

Definitely worth a view.

This movie can not be taken seriously at all. It is all tounge in cheek n deliberately acted over the top n cheesy.

I can honestly say it was not half bad at all. It is a bit like Tremors with ants instead of giant underground worms.

All actors acted appropriately for the over the top fun fest it was. The characters were deliberately unlikeable and so annoyingly camp.

The ants were decent enough special effects for the quality and budget of the film.

The ending was ok but predictable.

I recommend this movie if you like camp humour n ott acting n creature features.

This was really entertaining and we were pleasantly surprised. Some cheesy special effects, but all around good fun. Reminded me of 8 Legged Freaks