Heatstroke

Some SyFy originals are tolerable, but most are bad to just terrible. Heastroke for me was not bad enough to be terrible, but it was an overall lame movie. The scenery is pretty good though, and while she has a very shallow character Danika McKellar is beautiful and quite appealing. However, the special effects look very fake, and are not helped by the choppy editing. The music is not awful as such, but is very forgettable within minutes of watching the film, and the direction has little sense of vitality. The script is often flat and too corny, while the characters are cardboard and shallow especially the villains and the story reads more of a series of encounters that are mostly predictable and stupid. The ending is contrived and unintentionally comical. Other than McKellar the rest of the acting doesn't make an impression. DB Sweeney struggles with a very clichéd role, and it is also one that requires more than his light leading man charisma, which makes him a bland lead really. Overall, I've seen worse, but Heatstroke for my tastes was lame. 3/10 Bethany Cox

You know, this movie had a low budget, mediocre acting, bad writing, and was full of cliches. EVEN SO, it could have been a fun B-grade horror movie to watch, but the CGI! My God, the CGI was amateurish and terrible! I laughed out loud! A person in a suit would have been MUCH better.

D.B. Sweeney is about as exciting as watching paint dry. Put him in scenes that involve a brawl or (multiple) interactions with Danica McKellar, and it looks and feels awkward. Otherwise, the story is cookie cutter stupidity, and the creatures are only marginally better than those in rubber suits.

For DB Sweeney, it must have been quite a comedown from FIRE IN THE SKY to this. Sweeney, who once showed promise as a light leading man, here portrays a cardboard military guy hot on the trail of an killer E.T. in Hawaii. Sweeney and his crew race around in various Jeeps and small SUVs, while the badly animated creature hops here and there, doing in one person after another. Sweeney ends up crossing paths with a model (McKellar) who teaming up with him in pursuit of the monster. She's the eye candy, folks. By the way, the alien in this could just as easily have been a raptor, for all it's worth. Ah well, I'm sure cast and crew had a good time shooting in Hawaii.

The first time the alien appeared I was in shock just how awful the CGI was - more Dire Effects than Special Effects. It was almost funny - I had to get the wife to check I wasn't just imagining things. The alien design was bad, the implementation bad - that I can only think they ran out of money in post-production and made the wrong decision to release. It really looks like they've given it to some teenage kids who don't really know what they're doing. The fake blood is bad, the integration with the performers and set is bad. As the alien runs forward it's head shuffles oddly - as though it was added on separately after the body action was done. The action was awful and the acting poor. The director has cooked up a turkey - the very worst film I've seen for a long time. I'm stunned that can get released as a movie and show on terrestrial TV in the UK.