The Hive

I'm actually surprised that MTV had nothing to do with this film because it had MTV written all over it. Cast of beautiful people, poor dialogue, and a cheesy love story. Right from the get go this felt like the first episode to a really bad MTV series (not that any of them are good). I stuck with it because I hate to judge a movie without seeing it to the end, but I am kind of regretting that now.

So the film is centered on a picture perfect teenage boy who wakes up in a blood soaked cabin and tries to recall what exactly happened. The story is told through poorly done flashbacks that try to move as fast as possible. That's one of my big problems with this, the pace of the film is actually too fast. They try to rush everything along in order to hold the audience's attention but really all it did for me is make me lose interest in what was going on. I didn't establish any kind of connection with the characters or the story because the fast pacing just made everything feel really cheesy and cheap.

Maybe I'm not the perfect person to be reviewing this movie, I am not a teenager and I feel like the is that main demographic that this film was going after. The cheesy romance and the lame jokes just fell flat on me but those are things that the MTV audience will probably enjoy. For me though I thought this was a pretty terrible film, after an hour of it I was really eager for it to just end. Other than some decent gore I really don't have many good things to say, wouldn't recommend it unless you are a fan of MTV type stuff.

3/10

Right, well I gave "The Hive" a chance without knowing what it was, aside from it being a horror movie and having an interesting movie cover.

Turns out that director David Yarovesky didn't really tickle me in the right places with this 2014 movie. It was watchable for sure, but it was hardly an entertaining movie or a movie that I felt myself delving into as things progressed on the screen.

I will say that the special effects and the atmosphere portrayed and used in the movie were good, and they carried the movie quite the distance, because the movie was suffering from an inadequate script and plot.

The acting in the movie was fairly adequate, taking into consideration the anchor the actors and actresses had around their feet in terms of a lack of proper storyline and script. I enjoy watching a movie where the performers are unfamiliar faces, so that at least worked in favor of the movie.

I managed to sit through "The Hive" to the end, but I can't claim to have been thoroughly entertained by what I was watching. The movie is definitely watchable, but not an outstanding movie in the horror genre.

For me, at least, "The Hive" is a movie that came and went without leaving a dent or impression in anything. Actually so much that it wasn't before 5 years later after the movie was released that I came to know about it - and that was by sheer random luck. This is not a movie that warrants a second viewing by any means, because the movie just lacked the contents to support that.

My quick rating - 6,6/10. I was completely surprised by this movie (especially after reading a review or two). This was a very well crafted film, almost to the point that I think the creators may have overshot their original idea in the process. At one point it was almost like a "Holy smokes, we could do this now...." moment and the story shifted. I can't say for sure that happened since I have nothing to do with the flick, but check it out yourself. The acting was done well, for this type of film since 3/4 of the time, they had to be possessed and spit out tar lol. The makeup was done well since they all were coated in fluids almost throughout the film. I guess letting you know that a young adult wakes with complete amnesia locked in a room and must figure out what happens and why via notes left by himself? and also flashbacks he has. This involves paying attention to the movie or you will get lost since this is filmed in a music video style (or normal terms, no camera shot lasts more then 10 seconds). I think somewhere hidden in here was a deeper message that should be sorted out for each viewer. Overall, I see a very unheard of flick that flies in under the radar and should be given some serious attention. David Yarovsky has created a very deep film and I look forward to more of his work.

The Hive Directed by David Yarovesky. Written by David Yarovesky and Will Honley

Sometimes Fathom events will have a one night only screening of some independent movie usually of the horror variety. These movies have fascinated me every time I see them. I wonder how they get picked. What makes Primal Rage, The Hive and The Final Wish eligible for inclusion? Fathom events are usually special events and therefore cost more than an average movie. Very few people would take a chance like that. So naturally my curiosity is piqued.

So what makes The Hive, a little low budget movie about a virus that turns people into mindless black tar spewing monsters infecting a summer camp, eligible for inclusion for the Fathom events? I think it being produced by Nerdist might have something to do with it. They haven't produced a movie before or haven't produced a movie since. It is an interesting idea for a horror movie. A virus that forces people in the grisly way possible to be connected all at once. They can see what the others see, they can feel what they feel and you find out exactly how they use that and you can recall memories from the others infected. Visually this movie is like a Jackson Pollock painting riddled with caffeine pills on an empty stomach. It uses black light to a good effect. It uses the black blood and the gnarly veins to good effect. The color scheme to the movie makes it stand out among other low budget horror movies. It looks visually stunning. It doesn't look cheap. That's the big difference between something like this and Scream Park. Scream Park was not able to utlitize what it had to make things more cinematic. The Hive is able to do that.

The effects as mentioned are terrific. It's gruesome but unappealing. The color scheme works well with making things stand out and capture your attention. I was on board with the hive mind lunacy. The thing I felt lacked and brought this movie down some was the relationship between the protagonist and his best friend and love interest. I'm sure they have names but I can't remember them. The hero is a womanizing douchebag bedding down as many of the girls in camp as he possibly can. He tries these very same tricks with Jessie(I think that is her name but honestly I have no clue). She shuts him down because she knows all about the way he operates. He tries to profess his love. She is having none of this. We now have our character arc. Of course his best friend has feelings for a girl who his friend beds. He takes this personally. We have this soap opera bit going on amongst the disease and grue. It doesn't work. The music is telling me that it should work but it simply doesn't.

This is not a bad film. It is enjoyable and I dug what it was trying to do. It is not scary. It tries to be with its jump scares. It is visually insane and it makes up for its low budget with its camera work and great make up work. I give this movie a B.

Not much of horror as I had hoped. It is heavy on drama but it was quite interesting how the story was developed. There was a sort of filter on the film too, giving it a video game feel.