Mimic 3: Sentinel (2003 film)

Copyright Dimension Films

Second day of Happy Horrorween, and we finish off the Mimic-palooza with Mimic 3: Sentinel.  Sentinel ups the terror by giving us two Judas Breed bugs, but also restricts one of our main characters to mostly one room.  Yes, it's Rear Window with human-sized killer insects!

The film focuses on Marvin, a shut-in due to health problems lingering from when he was stricken with Strickler's, the disease that was first mentioned in the original film (the disease the Mimic bugs were created to wipe out).  He spends his days looking out his window, photographing the comings and goings of his neighbors, putting together a collage of the people across the way.  When a combination of factors leads Marvin to suspect the Garbageman, a new neighbor, of foul play, the truth he, his sister, Rosy and his new friend, Carmen, discover is much worse...

This film, while not quite up to par with the original, still delivers on some chills and suspense.  Like I said, it sort of goes off of the template of Rear Window, so it has a good set of bones to build off of. The addition of the Judas Breed adds some further suspense to the proceedings, plus the mystery of the Garbageman, as well.  The acting was good, with a couple of then well-known actors, and at least one more who went on to bigger things.

Playing Simone, Marvin's mother, was Amanda Plummer.  Ms. Plummer played Nettie Cobb in Needful Things, as well as having roles in a lot of other films, like Pulp Fiction, The Prophecy, Satan's Little Helper, and Vampire.  Lance Henriksen plays the Garbageman.  He has been in a lot of films, including the Pumpkinhead series, Terminator, the Alien series as Bishop, The Pit and the Pendulum from Full Moon... the list of films he's done goes on and on.  Rebecca Mader played Carmen, the girl Marvin's pining over in the apartment complex.  This was her first film, but she went on to play on Lost and No Ordinary Family, as well as portraying the Wicked Witch of the West in Once Upon a Time.

All in all, I'll give this film a 3 out of 5.  It wasn't really as good as the first two, but it was better than some others I've covered on here.  Tune in next time, when I'll be kicking off Dracula Week: a week of Dracula films from across the years, starting with 1931's Dracula with the late, great Bela Lugosi.  I think it'll be a pretty fun time.  Take care, everyone, and this is Red Hawk signing out!