Insecticidal

The fun factor is huge and that's is what matter. I liked the story and the talented Meghan Heffern, the actress who played the role of "Cami"in Insecticidal. I think the effects are not the crucial point to make a good movie. The concept of good movies is subjective. There are movies with great story and bad effects and so the opposite. I founded the DVD here in Brazil and enjoyed, the image quality is not bad. I'm a B-movie and horror movie fanatical and does not get disappointed. When i think one movie is not good, i don't want to see it again and it's not the cause with this gem. I will see it again. The Japanese girl is amazing too. I wished the movie could have at least 120 minutes, to get more fun. Do not skip this, the bugs are fun and pesky.

This was Jeffery Scott Lando first attempt to direct a flick. Well, he already made his name by making a turkey. Let me clear it out for you, the story is as simple as it can be but it's the use of CGI that makes it a turkey. Even the attacks by the bugs are off-screen, so you only see some puss flying around or hitting the actors.

And let me go in on the acting, it's lesser than mediocre by some. The girl (Rhonda Dent) changing into a so-called bug is exaggerating in her acting. Just watch when she's eating a human corpse. If it was to be a comedy I would go buy that kind of acting but here, sorry, no can do. The best part was in fact the main lead Cami (Meghan Heffern), she did well as the nerdy girl and look, she went on to do The Fog and Chloe. The rest all disappeared into bad flicks or stopped acting.

But I guess they all knew that it wasn't what it was to be so there is a shower scene were we have gratuitous nudity full shaved frontal. Further we have some kinky chick getting into SM but naturally they all got attacked by the bugs. Maybe the best ones were the slugs, if they all could have looked like them then it could have been great. But the SyFy look of the bugs teared this flick really into a turkey. There's almost no blood in it and if it does it isn't scary or gory on any part. One to see with your friends and having big fun with the stupidity of the blonds, the nudity and the over-sized bugs of Samantha McLeod.

Gore 0/5 Nudity 3/5 Effects 0/5 Story 1/5 Comedy 1/5

Ah, giant bug movies. If you're like me, you fondly remember films like "Them," "Tarantula" and maybe even "Eight-Legged Freaks." "Insecticidal" aims for that same genre...sort of. The premise is simple: a sorority house gets attacked by giant bugs. You know how this movie will go. People will be hacked apart by the merciless arthropods, the house will be turned into a battleground, and yes, there will be lesbians.

In all truth, there are decent parts to this film. The movie doesn't take itself too seriously, acknowledging at points its own cheesiness. The actors and actresses who play our main characters pull off their less-than-Shakespearean lines pretty well. And, of course, there is eye candy to be found here.

Unfortunately, the film suffers from painful amounts of stupidity when it comes to the bugs and pretty much anything involving them. For instance, Cammy, the nerd (we know she's a nerd because she wears glasses) creates the monsters by accident. That would work for this setting, except for the REASON behind it. She states that she was mocked by her professors for her outlandish theory that "insects used to be the dominant species," and that she was experimenting on them to prove that they had "dormant genes." A combination of these experiments and some pesticide exposure activated these genes and made the bugs grow huge.

First, the claims that bugs were once dominant on Earth: No @#$%, Sherlock! Back in the Carboniferous period (300 million years ago) arthropods DID rule the world. There were dragonflies with 3-foot wingspans, centipede/millipede relatives from 5 to 10 feet long and scorpions 3 feet long. The idea that any modern scientist would mock Cammy for stating what's already true is just idiotic.

Second, the whole "dormant genes" idea: It's possible (although REALLY unlikely) that modern arthropods do hold dormant genes from their Carboniferous ancestors, but how the heck did Cammy manage to turn those genes on? It remains a mystery.

"Insecticidal" also suffers from what I like to call pseudo-intelligence. When the filmmakers want you to think that a character is smart, they have him or her use really long words, even if those words make no sense. When the giant praying mantis appears, Cammy classifies it with a long, Latin-sounding name. The problem is that the praying mantis's REAL scientific name is simply "Mantis religiosa" The final thing that hurts this film is that the special effects aren't so special. If brought to life effectively and accurately, the giant insects, arachnids and other invertebrates in "Insecticidal" could be terrifying. The praying mantis (a major enemy in the movie) has a ridiculous Kermit-the-frog mouth and the annoying habit of knocking people to the ground and apparently whacking them repeatedly with its forelegs. A real praying mantis attack is far more disturbing: it's spiny forelegs snatch prey in the blink of an eye and simply hold it there while the insect's blade-like mouth-parts methodically chew through the living victim. That would have been far more frightening than being slapped to death by Kermit the bug.

There are so many things wrong with this movie (herbivorous stag and rhinoceros beetles are shown eating people, as well as everything I already mentioned) that I can't rank it highly. That said, I'm actually recommending this film. It's so incredibly bad that you can have your own Mystery Science Theatre night with it.

To say this "movie" is awful is not enough. Too bad that IMDb does not contain negative numbers to rate this piece of trash. I originally thought at least prepubescent boys might like this movie for the female eye candy but looking at the laughable CGI I think they would hate this movie also. The plot is lame, acting is so bad where the "reality shows" are Oscar material compared to this. Did I mentioned the special effects or lack of? The CGI looks like it were done not on a Commodore 64, like the above commenter mentioned, but on a Tandy TRS-80. Especially the Praying Mantis, it looks like someone did not even bothered to look at an insect book, an Animal Planet documentary, or even the old b&w sci-fi movie, THE DEADLY MANTIS, to get an accurate rendition of the a praying mantis. Imagine a crudely drawn bug (ala 5 yo kid) with a Kermit the Frog head and you pretty much get the idea how bad the mantis was "created". I think everyone involved made this movie for some film class they are taking at the college they maybe attending. I can not believe they took themselves seriously when they made this barf bag of a film. I just want to say to future film students watch this as a lesson IN NOT WHAT MAKE and you will live a long happy life.

Cami (Meghan Heffern) is a dedicated student of etymology that is researching insects in her sorority house. When her sorority sister Josi (Rhonda Dent) sprays insecticide on her bugs, Cami becomes upset. But sooner she learns that the insects had grown bigger and bigger and her sister and she are under siege of the insects. Further, Josi is the host of the breed of mutant insects that are very hungry.

"Insecticidal" is a B-movie with all the elements of this type of film: hot naked girls, terrible dialogs, awful story and acting, poor special effects and lots of gore and spittle. Therefore, it is only recommended for fans of trash movies. My vote is six.

Title (Brazil): "Inseticida" ("Insecticidal")