Lava Storm

Every now and then i see it on TV..I actually worked in transport dept of that move and i must say i met some good folk..A friend of mine who worked on it as well called me as a last min replacement,god luv here to..I had fun doin it.. Only got near ian zearing and he was a pompus ass just like he is on every other TV show and d rated movie..I said hello to him face to face and he just shrugged up his nose and brushed past me.. Oh yeah,the movie pppfffttt i just watched it to see the credits at the end and if anyone from the business/finance dept of this movie ever sees this "I STILL NEVER GOT PAID FOR MY TIME" Funny how they had my ph# twice to call me plus my info on paper work i filled out for them PLUS they knew who contacted me to work the movie but still forgot to pay me... Guess some of the upper management had to have their cozy cabins with assorted non legal adult enjoyment rather than pay at least this worker... Justto add salt(no pun) to ians work,that sharknado sucked to..

This was a total waste of my time...it's almost 2 hours of my life that God will never let me have back~! Our regular blend of horrific Canadian acting and bad FX~! But as an even worse ache in my lower intestine was the script and directing...imagine a town where absolutely nobody else comes into contact with anyone other than the main characters~! Imagine a time when a volcanic eruption doesn't attract the help and aid of emergency services across the country or even from another country~! Someone should have done something to at the very least make this script some what believable.... It's only use I can see would be a painful wipe when I run out of toilet tissue~!

This is poor, even by the standards of a typical Asylum or SyFy Channel disaster flick. The problem with LAVA STORM isn't with the nonsensical storyline or the bad acting - hell, we expect both of those, some of us EMBRACE them - but it's with the almost entire lack of incident. A lava storm threatens to engulf a US city, and it's up to a dedicated team of scientists and researchers to stop it. Aside from a ridiculous climactic 'blow up the dam' set-piece, nothing happens here.

A bunch of characters end up getting trapped underground so have to navigate subterranean passages for what seems like hours on end. The po-faced protagonist must race to stop things above ground, but his journey is so dull that the film-makers are forced to insert lots of stock footage of lava into their movie to try to make it interesting. There are the requisite CGI shots as well and yes, they're very poor.

It's hard to believe that SHARKNADO was a step up for actor Ian Ziering but after seeing his efforts in this mess that's the honest truth. There are no other familiar faces, and why an annoying teenage daughter was added to the character list I don't know; it just makes LAVA STORM all the worse. Dull, dull, dull, and one to avoid even for FANS of this genre.

Lava Storm uses the lava storm as a metaphor for a family on a brink of destruction. The insightful dialog references the underlining problem well. The disaster makes the family members regain the trust and care for each other.

Great application of HD cinematography. The accomplished depth of field, contrast and application of multiple shades of warm colors indicate mastership on the cinematographer's side.

Cute and compelling cast. Ian and Valerie make a seductive couple. The locations and visual effects work well to depict the disaster. The visuals are nothing short of ones seen in big blockbuster movies depicting similar situations. It's great to see how much can be done on a 100 times lesser budget. If you are into the genre but also appreciate good plot, I recommend this movie.

Even if a movie is bad, usually disaster or creature movies, you can still see if you get any entertainment value even if unintentional. There are movies out there that are not believable for a second and are too inept to really enjoy or get sucked in, and Lava Storm is one of them and of the worst kind. Visually Lava Storm is very choppy especially in the editing and the drab look of the production is not appealing at all. Likewise with the substandard at best special effects, the worst of them are an insult to the term amateurish. Yes, it is low budget but that doesn't excuse the quality being as poor as it is here. The music has no energy or intensity, it's completely lifeless with sluggish tempos, intrusive orchestration and misplacement (parts having music that jars with the mood) throughout. The direction is sloppy with no character or enthusiasm, not sure whether to put it down to inexperience or just plain amateurism and lack of enthusiasm. The acting is universally bad, especially from Ian Ziering who is wooden and annoying. Vlasta Vrana has been decent before but here gives a performance that is one-note and with no subtlety of any kind. The characters range from obnoxious to cardboard ciphers complete with relationships between them being constantly forced and awkwardly played, at no point do we relate to them and we end up being infuriated with them instead due to the stupid things and decisions they do and make. The writing is the worst culprit here, the dialogue is stiff, underwritten and cheesy as well as delivered to the extent that you can't take it seriously. In short the script is so bad that it makes the toes curl, some of the worst dialogue I've heard in a while. The story falls into ridiculousness (with continuity errors and holes so numerous it'd fill a book equalling the length of the longest Stephen King novel) and ham-fisted melodrama far too much and has a complete lack of suspense and thrills. Don't expect to be entertained, moved or biting your nails, you won't find any of that in Lava Storm, any emotions you'll most likely have are annoyance and anger. The constant going-through-the-motions quality in the production and performances is a major part of why, nobody seems to be aware or bothered about what's happening to them, if they have that whatever quality to them the viewer will certainly be like that too. To conclude, Lava Storm was truly atrocious with not one shred of a redeeming quality, and this is coming from somebody who nearly always look out for and points out redeeming qualities in bad movies. 1/10 Bethany Cox