Animals

After a football injury ended his career before it even began "Jarrett" (Marc Blucas) is now forced to work at a menial job with a boss who doesn't like him. His only respite is a bar where he goes to socialize with the owner "Jules" (Andy Comeau) and the waitress "Jane" (Eva Amurri Martino). One night a sexy young woman named "Nora" (Nicki Aycox) walks in and Jarrett is immediately attracted to her. Jane recognizes immediately that Nora is trouble and tries to warn Jarrett but her words fall on deaf ears. It appears that Nora has a unique malady which turns her into a ravenous beast similar to a werewolf and she wants Jarrett to be her new mate. Unfortunately, she already has a mate named "Vic" (Naveen Andrews) who she is desperately trying to escape from due to his cruelty and insane jealousy. Anyway, rather than disclose the entire details of the movie and risk spoiling it for those who haven't seen it I will just say that this was a pretty good low-budget horror film. Admittedly, the CGI wasn't that good but it had a good story and I liked the performances of Marc Blucas, Nicki Aycox and Naveen Andrews. However, I should probably caution viewers that there is quite a bit of sex and nudity which is certainly not appropriate for a general audience. Even so I thought it was a pretty good movie and I rate it as slightly above average.

When I stumbled upon this 2009 horror movie titled "Animals", by random chance here in 2024, I picked it up on account of it being a horror movie that I had never seen, much less actually ever heard about. And given my life-long romance with the horror genre, of course I needed no persuasion to sit down and watch what director Douglas Aarniokoski had to offer.

The storyline put together cy Craig Spector was pretty straightforward and actually had some good parts to it. However, it was somewhat diluted and tainted by an excessive amount of nudity and sex scenes. Sure, I get the aspect of the animalistic side to the movie, with becoming a beast and all, but I have to say that writer Craig Spector was just paying too much attention to sexual scenes and nudity. While I am certainly no prude, then I just don't really want to waste my time by watching nudity and sex scenes in a movie. I am watching it to be entertained by a story, not by carnal scenes.

I was under the impression that it was a werewolf movie, but turns out that it wasn't. And that was actually a nice surprise, as it transcended being merely another werewolf flick in the bunch.

Of the entire cast ensemble, I was only familiar with Marc Blucas and Naveen Andrews. It should be noted that the acting performances in the movie were fair.

There were a couple of rather brutally violent scenes with some gory results. And as a gorehound and a life-long fan of horror movies, then that really spruced up the movie for me. Thumbs up for that accomplishment.

The effects in the movie are fair. Sure, you will not be blown away or bedazzled, but the effects served their purpose in the movie. However, I don't really understand why the scenes with the creatures had to be blurry and had smoke in them. For suspense? Perhaps. Probably to save money on the effects, I suppose. But come on, people want to see the creatures in movies, not just flashy glimpses.

Had director Douglas Aarniokoski opted to tone down the nudity and sex scenes, then the movie would have been all the more entertaining, enjoyable and watchable. However, I have to say that the movie is one that came and went without leaving a lasting impression on me.

"Animals" is hardly a movie that warrants more than just a single viewing, as the storyline just didn't have enough contents and layers to support multiple viewings.

My rating of "Animals" lands on a five out of ten stars.

I got the book this is based on from a remainder bin and loved it. Movis is not as good. The wild streak that makes the hero a candidate is not as clear. good enough, the acting is fine. I like that the transformation is unlike other films although a bigger cgi budget would help. Great concept just a bit off the mark.

In Reno, Vic (Naveen Andrews) and Nora (Nicki Aycox) form an unusual couple of predators between human and animals that feed of human blood and enjoy having sex. Nora decides to leave Vic and heads to Clayton Valley, where she meets the former football player Jarrett (Marc Blucas) in the bar Jules' Joint. Jarrett was in college with a scholarship, but he had an accident that interrupted his promising career and he had returned to his hometown. His best friend Jules (Andy Corneau) idolizes him and has many pictures and trophies of Jarrett exposed in his bar; the bartender Jane (Eva Amurri) has a secret crush on him. Presently Jarrett has a problem with his chief Vaughn (Bart Johnson) that persecutes him at work. Nora is harassed by Vaughn in the bar, but she refuses his invitation and goes to Jarrett's house; she bites him while they have wild sex. Jarrett feels his senses more accurate but he does not understand what is happening to him. When Vic arrives in town seeking out Nora, Jarrett discovers that Vic is not human while Nora and his friends are jeopardized by the cruel creature.

"Animals" is a horror movie that blends gore and eroticism like an erotic thriller. Nicki Aycox is very hot in the sex scenes and the director Douglas Aarniokoski abuses in the exposition of the beautiful body of this actress. But this movie is not as bad as the IMDb Rating indicates. The screenplay and edition are confused; the special effects are above average; but the story could be an episode of "Supernatural', with these demoniac beings. My vote is six.

Title (Brazil): "Animais" ("Animals")

I finally got to see the final cut of this film and although I still think it's a good horror film, with a few fairly intense sex scenes, it's a bit less effective than I expected.

It is much better than the IMDb rating indicates. Only the cartoonish digital "animals"(imagine Scooby Doo's angry ghost) weaken what could have been a well-above-average film. I find it interesting that Reno is listed first in order on locations. Nearly all of this was shot in Utah. But I know there was some controversy about the close to "soft porn" sex and the Utah Film Commission. Just filling in the long pause at the end of the first sex scene with talk I heard on set, I suspect that long cut leaves out a lot to be desired.

I worked four days on this film as Bart Johnson's banker buddy, mostly in the bar scene. I loved watching the director working. Animals had a strong cast and crew and the editing and "most" of the effects are fine.

It's certainly worth the price of rental from Redbox!