Altered: Les survivants

like sci-fi? like gore? if, like me the answer is yes then check this little gem out. its dog soldiers meets signs with a hint of the evil dead. Convincing performances from all the players and a well paced plot make altered a great film that just plane works. In recent years B movies have been plagued with bad CGI effects and I for one cant stand them. Altered on the other hand has Thomas Floutz, who was the special makeup effects artist on films like Underworld 1 and 2, X-men 3 and The Cave(and many more). So were talking top notch, old school special makeup effects, with only one or two really nice CGI shots where needed. It also has a great little appearance from James Gammon as the local sheriff. All in all its a cool movie thats nicely shot with solid performances, good direction, a well paced plot and lots of lovely gore, so if that sounds like your kinda flick then don't hesitate, rent it kick back and enjoy.

The scared rednecks Duke (Brad William Henke), Otis (Mike C. Williams) and Cody (Paul McCarthy-Boyington) hunt and capture a dangerous creature in the Nixon Farm and drive to the isolated house of their friend Wyatt (Adam Kaufman) to ask what to do with it. They recall that fifteen years ago the quartet plus Cody's brother Timmy had been kidnapped in the Nixon Farm and submitted to experiments by aliens and Timmy did not survive. Nobody in town believed in their words and Cody was accused of killing his brother. However Wyatt advises them to not kill the alien since he could be tracked by his breed and they would jeopardize the human race. But the powerful extraterrestrial being controls the mind of Wyatt's girlfriend Hope (Catherine Mangan) and brings horror and death along the gruesome night.

"Altered" has a confused and boring beginning since neither the situation nor the characters are well developed by the screenplay. Further, the stupid trio of characters that open the film is non- charismatic. However, after 30 or 40 minutes running time, there is an explanation and the viewer finds that "Altered" is an original sci-fi story with touches of horror and the plot finally becomes interesting. In the end, this is the typical low-budget movie that uses few locations and special effects that works. Based on my experience, I suggest the viewer to give a chance to this film and he or she may like it. My vote is six.

Title (Brazil): "Aterrorizados" ("Terrified")

Seven years after the incredible success of indie horror film The Blair Witch Project, director Eduardo Sánchez returns with this effective sci-fi chiller that proves that he still has the ability to creep out the audience.

In Altered, a group of men, who were abducted by aliens when they were young, face a night of terror after they manage to capture a nasty extra-terrestrial. Sánchez, once again working on a low budget, manages to create a truly scary film with some nifty effects to boot.

Using the trusty old 'man in a rubber suit' method, rather than dodgy CGI, Sanchez delivers a convincing and rather nasty little ET which is the stuff of nightmares; this is the kind of toothy critter that thinks nothing of disembowelling its victims and then playing a game of tug of war with their entrails!

With a lean running time of only 84 minutes, the film never has time to get boring. The cast give good performances, the direction is solid, the creature is creepy and a guy gets a flesh eating disease and disintegrates during the course of the film. What more could you ask for?

Apparently, various crew members have posted comments and reviews on IMDb...that, ONLY, would explain the glowing responses to this really bad hunk-a-junk flick. Horrible acting...terrible script...it's all here.

"Blair Witch" was indeed a one-hit wonder.

This film cribs every scene; there isn't an original idea to be had in the 80 minutes of running time.

It's nice to see "Blair"'s Michael Williams back in action, however.

Not sure why IMDb lists the budget as $8 million - it's obviously incorrect.

Skip this one - watch "Blair" again.

UPDATE: One of the producers contacted me directly, to berate me for this review. That's kinda sad.

A movie with potential, and promise, but somehow fails to meet the ends. You could sum up the movie, by saying it performed best, with the quality it was given. In personal bias, I'll state the movie itself could expand, further with the ideas it had. Giving it, an average rating. Everything centered around that statistic, average acting, plot, but the concept of the enemy was what was interesting.

The holes in the plot are minor, but they still should have had depth. How did this happen? What about this? It didn't give a deep intrigue towards this, but gave the amount necessary to at least grasp it, albeit somewhat.

These are all personal thoughts, but i enjoyed the movie. A settling horror flick, around your friends, or alone, but not worth more than maybe 10 bucks.