LD 50 Lethal Dose

This isn't Scary Spice's (Melanie Brown) first movie. That would be Spice World, not that I would ever admit seeing that. It is her first movie since then, and she was an interesting character that met an unusual end.

The Brits are famous for horror. Remember Hammer? Now, it seems they are famous for movies about radicals releasing animals. We do that here, but I don't know that we make movies about it. I don't think that many people really care over here, so we leave it to Peta.

The thing is that the group left one of their members behind on a raid and he got three years. He sends them an e-mail about a secret lab that they should check out. That is when the fun begins; as this lab is underground and some really strange stuff is going on there.

Now, I won't spoil it by saying what is going on, except to say that it was an interesting concept. The problem is that I really didn't care about the people in this film, and whether they lived or died. Maybe Katharine Towne (But I'm a Cheerleader), but even that is stretching it.

Don't just scare me, but make me care.

I found this a really interesting and challenging film, not like your usual run-of-the-mill horror movie. I'm not going to give anything away because I think it is worth seeing, but there were some very clever plot twists that took me completely by surprise! The acting was good, I thought that all the actors really pulled together as a team and that really shows (also the mark of a good director!). I also think the direction itself was really tight and perfect for the creepy, slightly claustrophobic nature of the scenes underground. The supernatural elements were fascinating as well, a very modern take on a popular genre. All in all a really good evening's viewing, and well worth seeing! I would say don't miss it!

The premise of this movie is seemingly solid, and it begins like "28 Days Later" Animal Rights Activists break in to a lab and free the cute and fuzzy bunnies. One of them gets captured, and then it turns into some kind of "Altered States" heist movie.

Seems our Activists are now set on freeing their captured comrade from the lab where he has become the focus of a new experiment that is gradually stripping away his humanity in a "Lawnmower Man" kind of way.

Sounds cool, right? That's what I thought. The problem is that once the heist portion of the movie starts, it goes nowhere fast. There's a lot of pointless screaming as members of the crew start turning on each other. It's another entry into the current string of U.K. funded programming that features people turning on each other. For more of the same, watch "The Bunker". The Bad Guy doesn't make an appearance until the last ten minutes of the movie, and it's a pretty dull ride up to that point.

Dude this movie was HILARIOUS!!! its about this dude, and he couldn't find his car.

Sorry wrong movie but same intellectual level. Like the teen comedy "Dude, Where's My Car", "LD 50 Lethal Dose" bravely seeks the lowest rung of its genre's (in this case sci-fi, sort of) intelligence ladder. The only positive outcome is the possibility that first-time writer Matthew McGuchan is now ashamed enough about his sad screenplay to seek a permanent career in the food service industry.

Basically "LD 50 Lethal Dose" is what you would have if someone tried to remake 1970's "The Andromeda Strain" under a lot of budget constraints. Speaking of budgets, can anyone find the $8 Million allocated to this movie? Very little of even that modest amount makes it to the screen. And speaking of mysteries, how did they manage to find that kind of financing for this turkey?

"LD 50 Lethal Dose" has the same production design concept as the two "Saw" movies and "The Hole"; find an abandoned industrial building, go inside, and roll camera. But even though this particular claustrophobic set has more potential than the others, the finished product is not even remotely in their league. A few artsy interior shots can't salvage a premise this lame or a script this staggeringly bad.

If you enjoy life on the bottom rung of the sci-fi ladder you would be better served by something that at least has some innate charm (insert "Godzilla" here). "LD 50 Lethal Dose" might have eventual parody potential but I am not masochistic enough to watch it again for confirmation.

Then again, what do I know? I'm only a child.

In short: lame first 30 minutes, super duper middle 30 minutes, super duper lame final 30 minutes. That's it, in a nutshell.

Mel b can't act, and so can't the female lead. The male lead was Shinzon in Star Trek Nemesis, incidentally. He looks weird here, probably because the film had zero character development. And the girl using yoga to beat the bad guy at the end was funny. Funny in a "ha ha, that blows" sort of way, mind you.

The film currently has a 7-something rating. This is due to a low voting count. When more people see the flick, I suspect the rating will go down. Around 5-point would be my guess. Myself, I am giving it 6/10, just for the spooky middle. The rest isn't worth spit.

My grade 6/10, just cause I dig horror flicks, even if they're mostly lame.