Unnatural

I saw this boring B-movie under the title MANEATER and whichever title you give it, it's a real dog of a film. And that's coming from a reviewer who can gain mild enjoyment from the usual kind of monster nonsense churned out by the likes of both the SyFy Channel and Asylum, so I feel like I've got some experience with the genre.

The story is about a group of researchers in Alaska who uncover a nefarious government conspiracy style plot involving genetic testing on polar bears, of all things. What this boils down to, somewhat inevitably, is seeing a bunch of has-been actors being chased by a polar bear. Said actors include the likes of James Remar, Sherilyn Fenn, Graham Greene, and Ray Wise, all of whom look very tired and bored by the production. It's probably only the thought of their slim pay-cheque getting them through this.

By B-movie standards, MANEATER is a dull film. There's little in the way of genuine tension or horror and the action scenes are very badly staged. The special effects are really poor as well so it's little surprise that the actors are menaced by the unseen for the most part. This is a truly terrible film though and even with a decent monster it would have been poor.

While "Unnatural" was every bit as generic and stereotypical as these types of movies go, then it should be said that writers Arch Stanton and Ron Carlson actually managed to put together an entertaining man-eater feature.

The creature itself had some interesting aspects to it, but it was painstakingly clear that they had not blown their entire budget on the creature effects.

The storyline was straight to the point, albeit very predictable. And that fact was working against the overall enjoyment of the movie, of course.

They had some interesting enough names on the cast list to spice up the movie, such as James Remar and Sherilynn Fenn.

"Unnatural" is not the most innovative of movies, but still worth a watch if you got some time to kill - pardon the pun.

It's an hour before you see this dangerous mutated "polar bear" whose deleted half of the team, and by the time you do, you're already semi invested in some of the characters.

So when a dude in a football mascot outfit appears, you kinda feel like you have to finish the rest. Even though it would have been turned off if the creature was revealed in the first 10 minutes or so.

Really bad CGI "beast" A Bearly (🤣) watchable movie.

Nice location shots. Just so "mehhhh" on the creature.

This is an attempt at a classic creature feature. And it has all the Grade B elements to make it successful: hybrid alpha animal, secret machinations, vapid and ignorant characters, and the locals with intelligence trying to stop damage. Plus, there is some cultural referencing given actors appearing together from cult classic shows.

What is missing is greater plotting and character development to give Unnatural any sense of structure that compells the viewer to care about any characters or plot points.

Acting is decent from most of the people minus the "trapped in a stereotype" male fashion photographer. Production looks good, but once the animal starts attacking, we are in the deep night of an Alaskan winter. We can't see much of anything. It was easier to listen only to the film. In fact, maybe it was easier to listen to the film than watch it overall.

Unnatural,or Maneater which is the title I saw it under, is a fun nature-runs-amok horror movie.

Some of the reviews here made this movie out to be a statement on the ecological effects of global warming. I completely disagree. Although the subject gets its mention, its pretty much isolated to the final reels of the film; the audience is not beaten over the head with it. Like cooking with bourbon, the alcohol is in there, but not anywhere near enough to get you drunk. This is not an ecological thriller. Its a killer bear movie.

Although this film is not as effective as The Edge (probably the best movie dealing with a rampaging bear) or as the gore-soaked guilty pleasure Grizzly, its the better of the killer bear movies as of late.

Thanks to the a great cast of character actors who play this story straight, truly gorgeous photography & a high body count, Unnatural is entertaining movie junk food. No heavy thinking required here. Just some horror movie-loving buddies who brought beer & wings.