45 recensioni
For people that really enjoy trashy low budget horror movies that don't take themselves serious, there is definitely something here. However Bug Busters is too inconsistent to fall in the cult classic or hidden gem category.
Rany Quaid as gun-tooting, ex-military pest exterminator is on fire, unfortunately he only appears on the scene in the last 25 minutes (besides some funny commercials), the rest of the cast is a bit hit and miss, especially an early performance from Katherine Heigl. The tone is inconsistent here while some actors go for camp, others play it straight, it's neither here nor there until the movie finally commits for the third act.
Don't expect too many memorable effects either, the practical effects look dated and where not really great back when this was released either. So I recommend it to trash fans, but you might want to fast forward quite a bit during the first our.
Rany Quaid as gun-tooting, ex-military pest exterminator is on fire, unfortunately he only appears on the scene in the last 25 minutes (besides some funny commercials), the rest of the cast is a bit hit and miss, especially an early performance from Katherine Heigl. The tone is inconsistent here while some actors go for camp, others play it straight, it's neither here nor there until the movie finally commits for the third act.
Don't expect too many memorable effects either, the practical effects look dated and where not really great back when this was released either. So I recommend it to trash fans, but you might want to fast forward quite a bit during the first our.
- siggirules
- 20 gen 2021
- Permalink
- poolandrews
- 25 apr 2008
- Permalink
Hi, Everyone,
I was the keyboard player in the band "Trailer Park Trash" in the movie. Fortunately they misspelled my last name in the movie credits. No, just joking. It was a fun experience (making the movie was fun, watching it was a little excruciating).
Johnny Legend and Melba Toast and I had performed lots of times at various Country Music spots in L.A. over the years of the 80s and 90s. We performed for the producer at some of his Christmas parties. He decided to use us for the scene in the lodge. It was very very hot when we did our scene. It was over 100 outside and hotter inside. The air conditioning had to be turned off while we were filming.
It was nice to work with the cast and crew. The movie turned out pretty bad but still fun to watch if you have friends over on a Saturday night and you want to laugh at the screen. Maybe the perfect DVD to get for your mother-in-law or your wife's attorney.
The bugs that attacked Johnny Legend during our musical numbers were very real. Not some special effect. There was a "bug wrangler" on the set. They are some kind of cockroach from South America or somewhere and they are as long as a grown man's index finger and as fat as a man's thumb.
I would like to say something really good about the movie but I will have to come back if I can think of something.
Tom Willett
I was the keyboard player in the band "Trailer Park Trash" in the movie. Fortunately they misspelled my last name in the movie credits. No, just joking. It was a fun experience (making the movie was fun, watching it was a little excruciating).
Johnny Legend and Melba Toast and I had performed lots of times at various Country Music spots in L.A. over the years of the 80s and 90s. We performed for the producer at some of his Christmas parties. He decided to use us for the scene in the lodge. It was very very hot when we did our scene. It was over 100 outside and hotter inside. The air conditioning had to be turned off while we were filming.
It was nice to work with the cast and crew. The movie turned out pretty bad but still fun to watch if you have friends over on a Saturday night and you want to laugh at the screen. Maybe the perfect DVD to get for your mother-in-law or your wife's attorney.
The bugs that attacked Johnny Legend during our musical numbers were very real. Not some special effect. There was a "bug wrangler" on the set. They are some kind of cockroach from South America or somewhere and they are as long as a grown man's index finger and as fat as a man's thumb.
I would like to say something really good about the movie but I will have to come back if I can think of something.
Tom Willett
Although I assume this film is meant to be tongue in cheek, it is still one of the worst comedy/horror films of all time. While I was watching this all I could think of was how good Arachnophobia actually was. The acting in this film is really average, it was disappointing to see an actress such as Meredith Salenger, who showed such promise in her younger years, reduced to a supporting role as a bimbo. Katherine Heigl was very wooden in her role, but then again...she did not have much to work with. The special effects at the end are shocking, quite reminiscent of Godzilla 1985, but this was made late 90's (there have been many technological advances since then...)Doesn't even rate as a B movie in my book, probably best to stay away from this film at all costs.
- Meredith-7
- 25 lug 2004
- Permalink
My wife can't stand Randy Quaid (except in ID4), and I'm beginning to come around to her point of view. Actually, though, he's the comedy highlight (sad but true) of this really weird rip-off of Arachnophobia. He plays the John Goodman character, except less seriously. His self-styled "bug commando" resembles nothing less than Wyle Coyote as he detonates a hand grenade on himself but is later "recovering nicely" by the end of the movie.
For extra fun, you can watch Star Trek vets George Takei and James Doohan humiliate themselves. If only they could have got Nichelle Nichols, Grace Lee Whitney, and Marina Sirtis, the cast of has-been Star Trek actors would have been complete.
Oh, the plot? Well, it's somewhat of a mess. There are these roaches (although sometimes they're worms and sometimes they're really big mosquitos - not for the screenwriters the hobgoblins of consistency and continuity!) and they're overrunning a small lakeside community. There's no real explanation for this. The local sherriff (Doohan) seems to be in on this (he's taking advantage of the devalued property to buy up the land cheap), but maybe he isn't. Maybe he's being controlled by the "queen" roach. Maybe he isn't. It's hard to tell.
Essentially the bugs get inside human bodies and eat their way out after breeding within. The daughter of a local lodge owners is the heroine, inexplicably stalked by a Peeping Tom who preaches doom and despair (what he has to do with the movie's plot is never made clear either, although we do get to see her in near-naked once or twice).
Anyhoo, she becomes romantically involved with the local bad boy (who is being stalked by the local even badder girl, who meets a suitably gory end), and together they must try to defeat the roaches. A few more people die, including Takei's scientific character (poor George seems to have picked up William Shatner's acting style through osmosis - oh the humanity!), and Bernie Kopell and Anne Lockhart (in the middle of a sex scene - ugghhh!).
Our hapless heroes must call in General Merlin, Quaid in a remarkably low-budget role for him (he usually humiliates himself in much bigger films) as a military man turned bug exterminator. They eventually wander off, find the roaches lair, defeat the queen roach (after she finishes off a big slab of ham, i.e., James Doohan), and even though there's at least one other giant bug out there (the one that killed Takei's character), and the female scientist and the surviving deputy are making ominous "something is out there still" noises, the heroine drives off the end for a shock ending that will surprise absolutely no one.
The CGI of the giant queen roach isn't bad, but watching Quaid spar with the puppet version (complete with unconcealed wires) has to be seen to be believed. The rest of the movie is typical gross-out fodder. There seems to be a kind of tongue-in-cheek intent here, but that only works if the movie is funny. It isn't. Sorry.
For extra fun, you can watch Star Trek vets George Takei and James Doohan humiliate themselves. If only they could have got Nichelle Nichols, Grace Lee Whitney, and Marina Sirtis, the cast of has-been Star Trek actors would have been complete.
Oh, the plot? Well, it's somewhat of a mess. There are these roaches (although sometimes they're worms and sometimes they're really big mosquitos - not for the screenwriters the hobgoblins of consistency and continuity!) and they're overrunning a small lakeside community. There's no real explanation for this. The local sherriff (Doohan) seems to be in on this (he's taking advantage of the devalued property to buy up the land cheap), but maybe he isn't. Maybe he's being controlled by the "queen" roach. Maybe he isn't. It's hard to tell.
Essentially the bugs get inside human bodies and eat their way out after breeding within. The daughter of a local lodge owners is the heroine, inexplicably stalked by a Peeping Tom who preaches doom and despair (what he has to do with the movie's plot is never made clear either, although we do get to see her in near-naked once or twice).
Anyhoo, she becomes romantically involved with the local bad boy (who is being stalked by the local even badder girl, who meets a suitably gory end), and together they must try to defeat the roaches. A few more people die, including Takei's scientific character (poor George seems to have picked up William Shatner's acting style through osmosis - oh the humanity!), and Bernie Kopell and Anne Lockhart (in the middle of a sex scene - ugghhh!).
Our hapless heroes must call in General Merlin, Quaid in a remarkably low-budget role for him (he usually humiliates himself in much bigger films) as a military man turned bug exterminator. They eventually wander off, find the roaches lair, defeat the queen roach (after she finishes off a big slab of ham, i.e., James Doohan), and even though there's at least one other giant bug out there (the one that killed Takei's character), and the female scientist and the surviving deputy are making ominous "something is out there still" noises, the heroine drives off the end for a shock ending that will surprise absolutely no one.
The CGI of the giant queen roach isn't bad, but watching Quaid spar with the puppet version (complete with unconcealed wires) has to be seen to be believed. The rest of the movie is typical gross-out fodder. There seems to be a kind of tongue-in-cheek intent here, but that only works if the movie is funny. It isn't. Sorry.
Gross, idiotic farce of a horror film It greatly pained me to see James Doohan and George Takei taking part in this movie! I can't imagine anyone needing the money that bad! Say what you want about their acting abilities, but this is Scotty and Sulu of the legendary Star Trek genre! James, George, the next time you need money, please contact me. I'll do whatever I can to help.
What good can you say about this. Well...some of the scenes of very large cockroaches are interesting. The story is stale and the cast is as exciting as a rerun of LOVE BOAT. May be too scary for the pre-teens this is geared to attract.
A retired couple buys a lakeside resort in time for the arrival of killer cockroaches. The nasty critters end up meeting their match when a crazed exterminator's hot line is called.
Most of the cast is past their prime: Bernie Kopell, James Doohan and George Takei. Randy Quaid is the self proclaimed best of the bug busters. The alluring Katherine Heigl shows promise of a future. Lame enough for a laugh.
A retired couple buys a lakeside resort in time for the arrival of killer cockroaches. The nasty critters end up meeting their match when a crazed exterminator's hot line is called.
Most of the cast is past their prime: Bernie Kopell, James Doohan and George Takei. Randy Quaid is the self proclaimed best of the bug busters. The alluring Katherine Heigl shows promise of a future. Lame enough for a laugh.
- michaelRokeefe
- 20 mag 2000
- Permalink
Truly Abysmal. Not even "B movie" material. Try a D-, and that's being generous. How some of the original star trek cast ended up here is a mystery. I'm almost certain this movie resulted in some hollywood producer's son wanting a crack at directing and being handed his shot. An excruciating mess.
In the small lakeside town of Mountview, in California, the Major decides to pulverize a dangerous substance to protect the local plantation. Thirteen years later, a harmful and lethal species of cockroaches appears nearby the lake, threatening and killing the local dwellers. The famous exterminator General George S. Merlin (Randy Quaid) is called to fight against the bugs.
Yesterday I was walking around downtown of Rio de Janeiro, and I found this DVD on sale for less than US$ 3.00. When I saw the names of Star Trek crew James "Scotty" Doohan, George "Sulu" Takei, Randy Quaid and the delicious Katherine Heigl in the cast I immediately bought and saw it at night.
The story of "Bug Buster" is simply ridiculous and the performances are awful, being difficult to highlight the worst in the "amazing" cast: the hero David Lipper, in the role of Steve Williams? Ty O'Neal, the smart Deputy Bo? Meredith Salenger, the slut Veronica Hart? George Takei, the crazy entomologist Professor Hiro Fujimoto? Randy Quaid, the exaggerated General George S. Merlin? I believe the correct answer would be all of them. Further, the cheap special effects are laughable. But this director Lorenzo Doumani is "hors-concours", seeming to be the reincarnation of Ed Wood. In spite of being so bad, the most impressive is that in the end I liked this flick, and I laughed a lot. It has also a great potential of cult-movie, a big joke, missing only the usual naked women, or the breast of Katherine Heigl to complete the appeal. My vote is six.
Title (Brazil): "Baratas Assassinas" ("Cockroaches Killers")
Yesterday I was walking around downtown of Rio de Janeiro, and I found this DVD on sale for less than US$ 3.00. When I saw the names of Star Trek crew James "Scotty" Doohan, George "Sulu" Takei, Randy Quaid and the delicious Katherine Heigl in the cast I immediately bought and saw it at night.
The story of "Bug Buster" is simply ridiculous and the performances are awful, being difficult to highlight the worst in the "amazing" cast: the hero David Lipper, in the role of Steve Williams? Ty O'Neal, the smart Deputy Bo? Meredith Salenger, the slut Veronica Hart? George Takei, the crazy entomologist Professor Hiro Fujimoto? Randy Quaid, the exaggerated General George S. Merlin? I believe the correct answer would be all of them. Further, the cheap special effects are laughable. But this director Lorenzo Doumani is "hors-concours", seeming to be the reincarnation of Ed Wood. In spite of being so bad, the most impressive is that in the end I liked this flick, and I laughed a lot. It has also a great potential of cult-movie, a big joke, missing only the usual naked women, or the breast of Katherine Heigl to complete the appeal. My vote is six.
Title (Brazil): "Baratas Assassinas" ("Cockroaches Killers")
- claudio_carvalho
- 23 mag 2006
- Permalink
let me put this in a perspecive that everyone will understand -- this is randy quaid's WORST movie. please, i am begging that you not lose respect for me simply because i sat through the movie long enough to make that judgement. for the record, it was 3am, i had already watched sportscenter 4 times that day, and SNL was not on comedy centrel. we all have some deep, dark secret that we are ashamed of, the fact that i watched this movie happens to be mine.
Well, what can I say? What is wrong with you guys! Its pretty obvious you have missed the entire point of this film: to entertain! So the effects aren't great and the cast isn't A-list but who cares when you have old man Judediah bumbling round the town wide eyed and slack jawed ranting and peering through Katherine Heigl's window while she showers! And they say he is mad!
Randy Quaid has been in a few duff films but this is by far his best to date! Watch the General George adverts to see what I mean.
Its obvious that a country that finds Benny Hill funny would miss the point of a film like this. Just remember one thing, we only sent him to you because we got tired of his abuse of short bald old men.
Who cares if the guy used to be in the Love Boat? Who cares about ex Star Trek cast members? So they were in ST, they aren't now so get over it. George Takei did very well considering all his scenes featured no other humans (including the opening scene!)
A true classic of the B movie genre. You guys stick to your What Women Want and your Runaway Brides. I'm going to turn on, tune in and Kick Bug Ass.
Its ok, the General said so.
At ease.
Peace, Out.
If you enjoyed this film, may I recommend Leprechaun too?!
Randy Quaid has been in a few duff films but this is by far his best to date! Watch the General George adverts to see what I mean.
Its obvious that a country that finds Benny Hill funny would miss the point of a film like this. Just remember one thing, we only sent him to you because we got tired of his abuse of short bald old men.
Who cares if the guy used to be in the Love Boat? Who cares about ex Star Trek cast members? So they were in ST, they aren't now so get over it. George Takei did very well considering all his scenes featured no other humans (including the opening scene!)
A true classic of the B movie genre. You guys stick to your What Women Want and your Runaway Brides. I'm going to turn on, tune in and Kick Bug Ass.
Its ok, the General said so.
At ease.
Peace, Out.
If you enjoyed this film, may I recommend Leprechaun too?!
If the title didn't put you off of this film I don't understand how you could make it past a trailer or the description in order to slam this with a score lower than a 4, it's really not worse than a 4 even when taken completely objectively.
I'm assuming that most of the low ratings are from people under the mistaken impression that some of the people in this film are these great actors. They're not but they are good at delivering lines and showing the pepper emotion the scene requires.
If you think of a movie going for something a bit more on the goofy side instead of the seriousness of Tremors you're in the right frame of mind. Randy Quaid's General George is like a scenery chewing version of the Burt Gummer character from Tremors 2.
There are some pretty shocking deaths in this film that you will not see coming and the second half of the film really makes up for the more SyFy original moments of the first half.
Also that band is great!
I'm assuming that most of the low ratings are from people under the mistaken impression that some of the people in this film are these great actors. They're not but they are good at delivering lines and showing the pepper emotion the scene requires.
If you think of a movie going for something a bit more on the goofy side instead of the seriousness of Tremors you're in the right frame of mind. Randy Quaid's General George is like a scenery chewing version of the Burt Gummer character from Tremors 2.
There are some pretty shocking deaths in this film that you will not see coming and the second half of the film really makes up for the more SyFy original moments of the first half.
Also that band is great!
- Agent_Smoulder
- 18 apr 2021
- Permalink
The writer alone should be tortured to death! Usually bad movies are at least funny but this is painful. Scotty and Sulu should not have beamed down for this turkey. They were particularly horrific. Wow, what a stinker! I'd like to meet the dumb jack-asses that put up the production money for this one. I could use some extra cash.
- Preussener
- 16 ago 2003
- Permalink
Come on, people! This is one of the "worst" movies you've ever seen? I can think of dozens of much worse movies. Take a look at another bug movie, "Mimic", that played on the SF channel today right after "Bug Buster". Is it really any better than "BB"? "BB" is a low-budget movie that doesn't take itself seriously. It doesn't try to be anything more than it is. Randy Quaid does an excellent job of playing the same character he always does. The dialogue and special effects are often (intentionally) hilarious.
This is not a work of art, but it's a heck of a lot better than half the pretentious, over-produced junk currently coming out of both Hollywood and the indies. Take a chill pill, kick back, and watch it for what it is...not what you think it ought to be.
If you want a genuinely bad (i.e., just about unwatchable) movie, check out John Waters' "Multiple Maniacs" or some other truly deserving dreck.
This is not a work of art, but it's a heck of a lot better than half the pretentious, over-produced junk currently coming out of both Hollywood and the indies. Take a chill pill, kick back, and watch it for what it is...not what you think it ought to be.
If you want a genuinely bad (i.e., just about unwatchable) movie, check out John Waters' "Multiple Maniacs" or some other truly deserving dreck.
Katherine Heigl is beautiful as always. That's about the only positive comment I can make about this film. This movie is revolting and insulting, and the supposed jokes and gags aren't even unintentionally funny.
If you want to see a movie about insects that infest and devour people from the inside, then this is the film for you. If you want to be entertained, see something else.
If you want to see a movie about insects that infest and devour people from the inside, then this is the film for you. If you want to be entertained, see something else.
When I sat down in 2021 to watch the 1998 horror comedy movie "Bug Buster" from writer Malick Khoury and director Lorenzo Doumani, I must admit that I wasn't really expecting much of anything grand, given the movie's synopsis.
But still, this was a movie that I hadn't already seen, and with it having Randy Quaid and Katherine Heigl on the cast list, I thought maybe there was potential for something watchable here, perhaps even funny enough. So I sat down to watch "Bug Buster".
And let me say that "Bug Buster" is not a particularly great movie. Sure, it was watchable for the cheesy, campy thing that it was. But it was by no means a milestone in horror comedy cinema. Nor was it even a particularly memorable one. It was something that you will never return to watch a second time, if you even make it through it all the first time around.
The storyline told in "Bug Buster" was just bland and sort of pointless. Come the end of this week, I am more than certain that I will have totally forgotten about this movie. And the character gallery in "Bug Buster" was just not great, if the characters weren't bland, they were forgettable. Sure, I will say that General George, played by Randy Quaid, was actually the most memorable and outstanding of the entire character gallery.
The movie even had the likes of Ty O'Neal, George Takei and Dennis Fimple on the cast list, surprisingly enough.
Visually then you are not in for a treat here. Not even by 1998 special effects was there anything great here.
"Bug Buster" is not a movie that I would recommend you wasting your time, money or effort on, unless you are a hardcore fan of anyone on the cast list.
My rating of "Bug Buster" lands on very generous three out of ten stars.
But still, this was a movie that I hadn't already seen, and with it having Randy Quaid and Katherine Heigl on the cast list, I thought maybe there was potential for something watchable here, perhaps even funny enough. So I sat down to watch "Bug Buster".
And let me say that "Bug Buster" is not a particularly great movie. Sure, it was watchable for the cheesy, campy thing that it was. But it was by no means a milestone in horror comedy cinema. Nor was it even a particularly memorable one. It was something that you will never return to watch a second time, if you even make it through it all the first time around.
The storyline told in "Bug Buster" was just bland and sort of pointless. Come the end of this week, I am more than certain that I will have totally forgotten about this movie. And the character gallery in "Bug Buster" was just not great, if the characters weren't bland, they were forgettable. Sure, I will say that General George, played by Randy Quaid, was actually the most memorable and outstanding of the entire character gallery.
The movie even had the likes of Ty O'Neal, George Takei and Dennis Fimple on the cast list, surprisingly enough.
Visually then you are not in for a treat here. Not even by 1998 special effects was there anything great here.
"Bug Buster" is not a movie that I would recommend you wasting your time, money or effort on, unless you are a hardcore fan of anyone on the cast list.
My rating of "Bug Buster" lands on very generous three out of ten stars.
- paul_m_haakonsen
- 28 nov 2021
- Permalink
I started watching this movie recently (note the word 'started'), basically because my fiancee doesn't like cockroaches at all, and so likes to watch movies with cockroaches in. It's the same with plane crash movies, so I've seen some really bad movies in my time.
I very quickly reached the conclusion that this is, literally, the worst film I have ever seen. I'm not exaggerating here. If someone were to ask me now, "What's the worst film you've ever seen?" I would reply "Bug Buster." "There is no way," I thought after half an hour or so, "that any film could possibly get any worse than this." And then Randy Quaid showed up.
I thought Randy Quaid was bad in Independence Day, but then he was alongside Jeff Goldblum and Will Smith. Here, he was surrounded by truly bad acting and he still managed to make the movie worse just by showing up. Bear in mind, I'd already reached the conclusion that this movie was the worst I'd ever seen before he actually showed up. He was that bad. Unwatchably bad in fact, we gave up shortly after that. I flicked back over every so often just to check it hadn't somehow gotten even worse, and the bits I saw made me glad I'd stopped watching it.
I gave it 1/10, but this film is a good argument for having a zero in the scale.
I very quickly reached the conclusion that this is, literally, the worst film I have ever seen. I'm not exaggerating here. If someone were to ask me now, "What's the worst film you've ever seen?" I would reply "Bug Buster." "There is no way," I thought after half an hour or so, "that any film could possibly get any worse than this." And then Randy Quaid showed up.
I thought Randy Quaid was bad in Independence Day, but then he was alongside Jeff Goldblum and Will Smith. Here, he was surrounded by truly bad acting and he still managed to make the movie worse just by showing up. Bear in mind, I'd already reached the conclusion that this movie was the worst I'd ever seen before he actually showed up. He was that bad. Unwatchably bad in fact, we gave up shortly after that. I flicked back over every so often just to check it hadn't somehow gotten even worse, and the bits I saw made me glad I'd stopped watching it.
I gave it 1/10, but this film is a good argument for having a zero in the scale.
Clearly, the is the worst movie I have ever seen. Total stupidity in all aspects and I have lost all respect for Randy Quaid as an actor. This movie makes Bloody Murder and Dude, Where's My Car look like Oscar Contenders for Best Picture. This movie gets a rating of 1 only for the sight of the beautiful Katherine Heigl.
Lets get straight down to it: The single most idiotic movie ever made. I cannot believe that any actor, director, or producer would decide to take part in it, let alone why someone would write it. Is it supposed to be funny? Scary? A Sci-Fi? I have no clue. It is an insult to any of the actors in it, especially Randy Quaid, who is a favorite of mine. And as for the "special effects", they look like a mixture of cheap puppets, glue, and the first Godzilla and King Kong movies. I will never talk about this movie again, even to ridicule it, because Im embarassed that i watched it the first time
Absolutely worthless, mirthless would-be comedy/horror trash! If you like your low-budget horror slow-moving and completely without any kind of tension or scariness, well, my friends, you're in luck! This is the movie for you!! No scares, no nudity, no sexual tension (despite the presence of a coupla skin-worthy starlets), precious little gore... Thanks for wasting my time, BUG BUSTER! I hope the filmmakers die from cancer of the soul. That's what I felt like watching their putrid turd of a half-witted effort. Any movie that can waste the efforts of likable talents like Katherine Heigl and Meredith Salenger and Bernie Kopell has really not got a lot going for it. We won't even speak of the wasted time and efforts of our favorite STAR TREK supporting players George Takei and James Doohan. Hope you got sizable checks for this, guys.
The title itself makes you believe that this would be a terrible film but don't judge a film by its title. This is a fun film because of the characters involved. James Doohan as the sheriff is once again a man with a mission, to solve murders involving bugs killing people. George Takei as Dr Fujimoto is wonderful as he steers toward the truth of this new species of bug. Bernie Kopell and Anne Lockhart as a married couple that have the bad luck of buying a hotel resort in the area makes you wonder if Bernie turns to Anne and says "sorry about that, honey!" Lastly, Randy Quaid as an overbearing bug exterminator with funny commercials and his overbearing personality is just wonderful for attacking slimy creatures. Death by being indigested by hungry insects in unusual places: a musical instrument and a theater showing a horror film is just perfect. A must see if you want to enjoy a warm night viewing old friends from television's glory days.
yes, this is worse than plan 9 from out of space. this one tops attack of the killer tomatoes. this film is so inept, so bad, so god awful....i laughed all the way through it, hilariously horrificlly bad! scotty from star trek was definitely stoned the entire way through making this film. i believe the script writers first langauge was not english, the songs were also written by him...they were...odd....and the whole film was just so unbelievably bad...like shockingly bad. a must see!
See, when I go to my local used tape store, I write down a bunch of titles and check 'em out on imdb. I got Bug Buster on the basis of the seriously negative reviews, and, by and large, it was pretty bad.
The big problem is that Lorenzo Wossname that directed this bumph doesn't know how to move his actors around on a set and have them speak clearly and distinctly into the camera, moving their hands when required to convey emotion-OK, OK, the guy can't direct for squat. The plot creaks when it moves, and the only original thought in the entire movie is turning Bernie Kopell into a love god.
And, yeah, the Quaid sucks on toast. And, yeah, the Julie Brown character is even worse. But, dammit, Meredith Salenger overcomes the lousy direction, and her last scene is really disturbing and convincing, to the extent that I replayed it just to make sure I wasn't hallucinating from too much Diet Dr. Pepper. And the Mama Bug at the end wasn't half bad, for having been constructed at a total cost of a new Kia Sephia with a crappy radio.
So, frankly, I wish it'd been a lot worse. If I lay down five bucks for a used tape, I want it to bite majorly. I want it to make Night of Horror look like The Innocents. I want to strengthen my belief in the futility of human endeavor.
This wasn't bad enough. Sure, it's a mess, both completely unbelievable and with every plot twist and virtually every line stolen from somebody else. But it's nicely shot, Johnny Legend is in it and is pretty good, Meredith Salenger overcomes an earlier speech she was forced to make at gunpoint about how nice her boobs are and does something she can be proud of, and the Mama Bug provided an OK finish.
Rats. Oh, well. On the same trip I also copped Pink Motel, and I have high hopes.
The big problem is that Lorenzo Wossname that directed this bumph doesn't know how to move his actors around on a set and have them speak clearly and distinctly into the camera, moving their hands when required to convey emotion-OK, OK, the guy can't direct for squat. The plot creaks when it moves, and the only original thought in the entire movie is turning Bernie Kopell into a love god.
And, yeah, the Quaid sucks on toast. And, yeah, the Julie Brown character is even worse. But, dammit, Meredith Salenger overcomes the lousy direction, and her last scene is really disturbing and convincing, to the extent that I replayed it just to make sure I wasn't hallucinating from too much Diet Dr. Pepper. And the Mama Bug at the end wasn't half bad, for having been constructed at a total cost of a new Kia Sephia with a crappy radio.
So, frankly, I wish it'd been a lot worse. If I lay down five bucks for a used tape, I want it to bite majorly. I want it to make Night of Horror look like The Innocents. I want to strengthen my belief in the futility of human endeavor.
This wasn't bad enough. Sure, it's a mess, both completely unbelievable and with every plot twist and virtually every line stolen from somebody else. But it's nicely shot, Johnny Legend is in it and is pretty good, Meredith Salenger overcomes an earlier speech she was forced to make at gunpoint about how nice her boobs are and does something she can be proud of, and the Mama Bug provided an OK finish.
Rats. Oh, well. On the same trip I also copped Pink Motel, and I have high hopes.
With a Jame Doohan (Scotty), George Takei (Sulu), and Bernie Kopell (Doc from 'Love Boat') I knew this was a turkey, but I said, "What the hey.", and rented it for 50 cents. I expected to see them make a movie poking fun at B-movies but they are actually trying to be serious! No StarTrek or Love Boat chiche' was even attemped by the writer. There should be something to be said about the director being related to the actress (wife/girlfriend/mom who knows?) that plays the town's Doctor who is a vet. What really makes this movie so awful is, actors acting worse than you ever could expect them to act. The 'dream sequence' is played three to four times in the movie and never makes a plot connection. The bugs used are the standard hissing cockroaches and the 'Mother Bug' at the end of the movie is beyond disappointment. I would rather sit in a doctor's waiting room for an hour or two than sit through this one again.