Virus X

From the movie cover for "Virus X", I had expected something else entirely than what it turned out to be. The cover looked fairly interesting, but the movie turned out to be far from it.

The story in "Virus X" is somewhat captivating in some aspects, but the overall picture is a tarnished and dull result. It was like the air went out of the balloon way before the movie had reached the mid-point of the length. However, the approach to the H1N1 virus strain was perhaps the best take in the movie.

As for the cast in this movie, well I can't say that I am familiar with any of them, nor do I even recall having seen any of their faces anywhere. And that is a good thing, because you don't need to be a big, famous Hollywood star to be a good actor. There were some fairly good performances in the movie, but there were also some mediocre ones. And I would say the overall acting scale was just above mediocre, so don't get your hopes up for this one.

I had expected more suspense and thrills, perhaps even the occasional scare, but there was no such things. There were some build-ups for some, but they turned out in an anti-climatic way unfortunately.

"Virus X" comes out on the other side of the tunnel with a flat tire, so to speak. It was, to me, a disappointing movie, and I will not be making a second return to give it another chance. For movies of this caliber, there are others available that have better story lines, plots, and that are more interesting. Sadly, "Virus X" failed to deliver.

I found a cure to "Virus X" and that was the 'Stop' and 'Eject' buttons.

Hi, how are ya? How did you spend your evening last night? Did you watch the Oscars? I didn't. I spent my time watching a sh!%%y movie called "Virus X", released by Lionsgate. Maybe I should have stuck with what George C. Scott once called "a meat parade."

Danita Herrington (Sybil Danning) wants a virus, and she wants it now! Why? For world domination of course! I wish I was making that last part up, but I digress. Anyways, Dr. Graveman (indie horror vet and Timo Rose regular Joe Zaso) has it made-an advanced stain of the H1N1 virus that kills in 3 days. Well, it ends up infecting a group of medical scientists, so they need to be quarantined and all that jazz. Can they survive? Why does Jarren (Domiziano Arcangeli) have such laughable hair? Will you be able to stay awake?

While I'll give it minor points for the cinematography, color tones, nasty gore effects and the ambient score by Shawn K. Clement, "Virus X" is just a bore to sit through. The acting ranges from non-existent (Arcangeli) to over-done (everyone else.) In fact, so many of the performances feature actors overacting as if they have guns to their heads that it almost becomes unintentionally amusing in that aspect. There's also no real reason given to care at all about the medical scientists, as we aren't given any real back story about them, and so many of them are such bad actors. The movie also has an intriguing element to the plot-well, everything except Jarron and Herrington-what with the viral fears that seem to pop up every few years, but the movie is unable to do anything with them. It just ends up feeling like a rough draft than an actual movie.

There's no reason to see "Virus X", except for the interviews that serve as a special feature. They are all done for a show called "Eye on Entertainment", hosted by a bubble headed blond named Dawna Lee Heising, that feels more like a parody than it does the real thing. I even looked it up after watching said interviews to see if it was real, and sure enough, it is.

So yeah, I've seen worse this year (hello "Season of the Witch"), but that's no real excuse. By the time the whole thing is said and done, the only thing you'll catch from "Virus X" is boredom. Next time, I'm sitting with the cool kids and catching the Oscars or something. It can't be as bad as this.

I give movies 2 stars IF and ONLY if .. I can make it all the way through it without walking off. And that is where this belongs .. 2 stars and in the reject bin .. the one where you can buy 3 DVDs for a dollar. The acting was poor .. the audio/soundtrack was incredibly mediocre (and this was the best part!) .. the setting completely out of whack .. more like an abandoned cargo ship than a building .. the dialogue? .. it just doesn't get much worse than this .. (honestly .. I've heard worse but not by much) .. and there were all these little screw ups throughout .. so obviously made on a $15 budget .. they couldn't afford to re-shoot even a 2 minute scene that was screwed up.

Sybil Danning was the brightest spot in the whole movie .. all 8 or 9 minutes of her. She is the epitome of the B-movie actress .. competent .. but not a star. I wonder though .. is there ANY movie that Sybil is in that she doesn't appear either in the shower or the bath tub? Sadly .. she is showing her age and really should cut out doing those scenes.

If you're one of the few people out there who look forward to Albert Pyun's movies, I think you're in for a treat. We may actually have the first director actually inspired by Pyun here. Along with the awesome overacting (at least one of them must have gone to Billy Drago's school of acting), I was in B movie heaven. Featuring a rich psychopath who essentially wants to rule the world (right out of a James Bond movie) and a gun-wielding killer who ruminates philosophically before he kills his victims, Virus X really knows how to lay on the cheese, and yet it has this deadly earnestness, like all the best unintentionally funny movies. That's not to say that this is a poorly made movie. It's actually surprisingly competent, and I thought the directing shows promise. Maybe with more money and a better concept, we'll see some good scifi thrillers coming from him. As it stands, this is more of a rainy day rental than anything else. Cybil Danning shows up as the aforementioned rich psychopath, in case you're a fan. I'm not. But, hey, it just increases the B movie cred.

What a thriller! I have a particular enjoyment for B horror films and this one was a real treat. The whole film keeps me on the edge of my seat. The acting was nice all around and there were a few performances that shined through for me. Particularly the British actor and the guy who played the robot. The only problem I would say is that it was a little difficult to tell he was a robot. The cinematography did a stand up job along with the production team of capturing the right atmosphere. The art direction and production design were really spot on for this film. I can't wait to see more from this director! A great sci fi movie with a dark atmosphere.