Parasites

Parasites. You can't live with 'em, you can't live...well, I guess you can live without 'em. Don't ya hate it when they destroy your property, or eat everything in your garden, or turn you into zombie-like killers? Okay, they last part has never happened, but it's something that's not too uncommon in horror. The mother of this sub-genre is clearly David Cronenberg's debut feature "Shivers", with more tongue-in-cheek but still great entries "Night of the Creeps" and "Slither" following in favor. Now, we can add Gabriel Cowan's 2009 film "Growth" to that list.

Taking place on an island called Cuttyhunk (*snicker*), "Growth" takes place 20 years after a horrible incident involving a scientific breakthrough gone horribly wrong. Well, Jamie Ackerman (Mircea Monroe) has returned has returned to the island, and what else, the slimy worms they were created by the scientific breakthrough return, and as it turns out, they increase their hosts strength and makes them more sexual-too bad said hosts tend to become more violent.

Though it sounds like a good horror flick, "Growth" ultimately resembles a mix between a Scy-Fy channel movie and an episode of "One Tree Hill." While the acting is hit and miss and Cowan isn't a bad director, the script is unspectacular and tends to jump around and not explain several plot points. What's with the cultists (though they are the only creepy thing about the movie-a scene in which one pursues the character of Kristen (Nora Kirkpatrick) stands out)? Why do the town's people want Jamie out? None of this is explained, and it all feels left over from another movie.

It also doesn't help that the whole plot revolving around Justin (Christopher Shand) is too goofy for it's own good, as he becomes a host for these worms that's as scary as a wet bag. In fact, the film is far too serious, not to mention at times boring because it doesn't offer any real reason to take interest in any of these characters. They're mostly just cardboard cut-outs, and you end up wishing the worms and whatever other evil that's around would take care of them sooner.

As a whole, I can't say that "Growth" made me too angry, but that's because I couldn't really feel anything while watching it. It's essentially a big bag of whatever.

In response to the first reviewer: I've seen Squirm and Slither. I liked Squirm and I loved Slither, but Growth was a mess. The difference is the former two didn't take themselves too seriously and it seemed they were made with more care than this.

Growth starts out with an interesting premise, and actually very good dialogue and characters. Unfortunately, the story and editing made me sorry I got my hopes up at all. First of all, the film takes itself deadly seriously, and suffers for it. Not that I wanted a horror/comedy, but the script just couldn't pull off a straight horror story, alas.

The other main complaints with the film are as previously mentioned, characters make bizarre decisions beyond the typical "stupid horror character decisions" and are not explained. The effects of the parasites are too amorphous: do they affect the will of the victim? And the weak story too heavily relies on flashbacks.

On the positives, I actually thought the CGI was decently well done, the dialogue/script believable and the casting was not objectionable.

I can see the director doesn't have much experience, so team him up with a better story editor and I'd see the next one.

If you love Squirm and Slither, then you will love this. It will give you the chills and even the most hardened horror fan will shudder when he sees the "things" burrow through into the flesh of an unsuspecting victim. Growth is a new body horror from the company that produced SAW, MY BLOODY VALENTINE 3D which was Lionsgate. I have to say I have been impressed by the horror movies that Lionsgate are releasing as most of them are good. I love nature gone bad movies and body horror movies, so I gave this a whirl. Well let's just say I was scratching my skin about 45 into the film. It really does make your skin crawl. Most of the time the parasites are CGI but they are CGI that you can believe in and be repulsed by and believe me they are repulsive. Through some scenes I actually even felt sick. It is a movie that plays with your mind and your body at the same time. believe me it will GROW on you.

This for me is no more than an average horror movie with the concept of a good story about the parasite thing and the folks on the island, yes I can see the slight connection with Wicker Man here but there are no known actors in this movie and the story is weak and the film suffers as a result.

I wont say it was not entertaining, on the contrary, the spoof moments were full of suspense and intrigue and the acting is fine, it is just the story promises so much and delivers so little, they could have done so much more with the story and they didn't.

This will likely appeal to a teenage audience and not much more. Not enough horror and solid story for me.

Hey Guys,

I love horror films. Have since I was a kid. I especially like The Thing, The Fly, the 70's version of Invasion of the Body Snatchers and films of that kind. For me, these are the "real" horror films - before torture porn was an industry.

This film is in the genre of the films I mentioned above. It's a low budget version of those films, but an interesting and compelling story with real rich characters. The dialogue is well written, the cinematography is terrific at parts, the acting is well played, the narrative isn't in a hurry - but doesn't drag, and overall the ending is fantastic! I felt that this team and this director were inexperienced, but filled with talent, original ideas, and vision. Keep watching until after the credits or you're missing something!

See this film, you just might like it!