Living Hell

Not at all what I expected, this was a good movie. A little like the Mist but better. There was even some scenes that would remind me of the alien films the plant seemed almost alive, not the mention very destructive. The Army was in fact very quick to move in and do what they like to do best and send in the plains and blow things up. I have to say that I thought the special effects were great and the story was well crafted. I recommend watching this film to people who enjoy science fiction. I do for-warn that there is some blood and Nudity in the movie so be sure that the kids are in bed before throwing this movie on.

The premise and support for much of the argument of the movie is decent unlike that of regular SciFi fare. Given that zombie, slasher etc type flicks are the films usually shown on SciFi, this movie deserves consideration simply on originality. Much of what was suggested wasn't too far fetched and more reasonable than the basis of most of the movies that get the usual 3 or 4 rating. The acting is still terrible and James McDaniel seems to be the only competent actor in this project. Still, if movies in this genre worth a 0 get a 3 or a 4 instead then this movie deserves at least a 6 and thats what I'm giving it.

The movie begins well with an interesting if not original take on the outbreak/monster escapes genre. However it doesn't remain any good for any length of time. The story premise is not bad, but the plot is terrible, the script is abysmal, most of the acting is dreadful, Erica Leerhsen is okay but how John Schaech's completely wooden and cheesy acting ever gets him work is beyond me. The physical effects are okay but the cgi is totally below par.

The premise: a boy is branded on his hands by his mother just before she kills herself and her husband. The boy never forgets level whatever it was and vault 12 because it's on his hands!! Cue years later and the army base which the message relates to is being decommissioned and the boy now a man remembers his mother's warning "don not disturb vault 12" so he drives into the base to warn em all.

Fans of intelligent sci-fi will despair. Brits (we're an intelligent bunch) don't even bother unless you want ninety minutes of shouting at the screen at the stupidity of it. But if that's your bag then go ahead, it's probably worth watching just for this gratuitous soft core 'cover me in blood' scene, like Arnie covered himself in mud in predator- it's so cringeworthingly bad they all deserve an award.

Or you could just skip to that scene and save yourself all the trouble - roughly 1hr 10 mins in.

No offense to stumpmee77, but to give this movie a "glowing, glowing report" is like calling McDonalds a whole foods supermarket. "Living Hell" is not only the title of the movie, but the experience one has while watching it. I won't go into detail (it's too painful). The general plot follows the sci-fi model of government experiment gone horribly wrong. Perhaps fans of this movie who believe it to be unique and exciting have never seen a sci-fi original in their lives, and to them I suggest sitting down in front of their televisions this Saturday and watching the newest film. We have the troubled protagonist, who's insane mother carved some plot device into his hand (it turns out he has a pretty messed up family - his dad's a government experiment). There's the saucy military-associated female cohort of his; this movie would not be a sci-fi movie unless the two of them hooked up. But they do more than just "hook up," why, the protagonist rubs his blood all over her in a scene that is equal parts confusing and disgusting. Really, there are so many factual inaccuracies in this movie I am left flabbergasted. Scientifically, this would be like if a movie decided to save California from separating from the rest of America due to plate tectonics it would be necessary to detonate nuclear bombs into the city. Oh, wait, sci-fi aired a movie that did just that. This movie is almost as absurd as a movie that would blow up the Loch Ness Monster in Michigan. Oh, yeah, sci-fi nailed that sucker too. But I digress. If one needs proof to realize this movie is not-so-good, I would direct them to the scene in which, for no reason, a minor female character rips off her shirt. The only "fear factor" present in this movie was the fear of my IQ dropping while watching. I suggest this movie for anyone who likes to laugh.

This is easily one of the better SciFi channel offerings. Competently acted, directed and written it was enjoyable and well worth watching. The only sub-standard aspect was some of the computer generated effects (blood spatter, fire) were distractingly unrealistic. The storyline certainly borrowed from other movies, but there were enough novel touches to keep it interesting. The pace drags a little toward the end, but it is head and shoulders above much of the dreck they have put out over the years.

I hope this signals a commitment on the part of the SciFi channel to improve their offerings. How the same channel can produce superb fare like "The Lost Room" also produces crapfests like "Path of Destruction" baffles me.