Virus X

If you're one of the few people out there who look forward to Albert Pyun's movies, I think you're in for a treat. We may actually have the first director actually inspired by Pyun here. Along with the awesome overacting (at least one of them must have gone to Billy Drago's school of acting), I was in B movie heaven. Featuring a rich psychopath who essentially wants to rule the world (right out of a James Bond movie) and a gun-wielding killer who ruminates philosophically before he kills his victims, Virus X really knows how to lay on the cheese, and yet it has this deadly earnestness, like all the best unintentionally funny movies. That's not to say that this is a poorly made movie. It's actually surprisingly competent, and I thought the directing shows promise. Maybe with more money and a better concept, we'll see some good scifi thrillers coming from him. As it stands, this is more of a rainy day rental than anything else. Cybil Danning shows up as the aforementioned rich psychopath, in case you're a fan. I'm not. But, hey, it just increases the B movie cred.

It's hard to describe this without feeling like I'm providing a spoiler in some way.

Yes, it's a low budget film and most of its weaknesses are connected to the lack of realism that a bigger budget would have brought. At the same time, the director disguises most of those problems and they don't distract from the story.

If you've ever seen the TV series Testees, this is something like that turned into a horror film. There's sort of a zombie tease going on with it too. Killing Room also comes to mind.

In short, doctors, labs, experiments, test subjects, secrets, blood, biting, infection, chemical weapons, funding from the rich and psychotic.

What a thriller! I have a particular enjoyment for B horror films and this one was a real treat. The whole film keeps me on the edge of my seat. The acting was nice all around and there were a few performances that shined through for me. Particularly the British actor and the guy who played the robot. The only problem I would say is that it was a little difficult to tell he was a robot. The cinematography did a stand up job along with the production team of capturing the right atmosphere. The art direction and production design were really spot on for this film. I can't wait to see more from this director! A great sci fi movie with a dark atmosphere.

You don't have to watch it for originality. You have seen it a thousand times, a deadly virus being made by a mad scientist (Joe Zaso) being under control of someone (Sybil Danning) who wants world domination. Here the virus is simple, it's just a deadly influenza, know as H1N1. The scientist working for the dominator got intoxicated by the virus. So it's a fight between life and death. The directing by Ryan Stevens Harris wasn't that bad. And the simple effects used were okay too, just some blood on faces and some sickening vomit, but it surely worked. Even the acting was okay, Joe played his typical role. But of course there is Sybil. She's the main role in it and only appears for a few moments but she's still okay. She's aging but still got the skills. It's just a simple flick that keeps you attracted by the editing, the only problem I got was that at the end, from around 55 minutes, it drops a bit of suspense and even the scene were Sybil got infected is a bit too long. Nice effort.

I thought a virus themed film would desensitize us from the heebie jeebies of COVID-19. It's not working, and "VirusX" (2010) was a non-diversion, that showed us, things could actually be worse. A wealthy socialight, portrayed by Sybil Danning, has assembled a team who are testing experimental viruses. And you guessed it, something goes horribly wrong. Enjoy Dylan Vox. So-so, but poetic justice in the finale.