Altered (2006 film)

"Uglier than I remembered." - Duke

Like The Return, I went into this film with no preconceived notions over any aspect of it.  I don't even remember seeing a preview for it!  It was included in a movie 4-pack along with the previous three movies, and so I decided to work all four into the month.  With this one, I was rather pleasantly surprised.

The film opens with three friends driving through the woods.  They get out of the van and start hunting something in the forest that also seems to be hunting them.  One of the friends, Cody, gets caught in a bear trap about the same time that the creature, an alien, does the same.  Firing his harpoon gun and missing, Cody tries to reload as the alien breaks free of the bear trap and starts to charge him... falling into a pit trap.  Their quarry captured, the three friends take it to the one person who knows more than anyone about the aliens, their old friend, Wyatt.  This leads into a night of terror with the seemingly captive alien soon proving to be not so helpless.

I really enjoyed this one.  The cast worked well together, playing off each other, the alien looked properly menacing, the blood effects were good, and the film felt properly intense.  Viewers who can't handle a lot of gruesome visuals should be warned, there's a game of intestinal tug-of-war at one point that even had me wincing!

Adam Kaufman played Wyatt, the expert who'd had more involvement with the aliens previously than any of the others.  He was also on Buffy the Vampire Slayer as Parker Abrams and also on Steven Spielberg's alien abduction series Taken.  NFL player Brad William Henke played Duke, my favorite of the three who caught the alien.  He also played on Dexter and LOST.  Michael C. Williams played Otis, the more weak-willed of the trio.  He was also in The Blair Witch Project.  Joe Unger has a cameo as Mr. Towner, Cody's father.  He was also in the original A Nightmare on Elm Street (which I covered last year), Leatherface: The Texas Chainsaw Massacre III and Escape from New York.

The film was originally envisioned as a comic take of revenge on abducting aliens in the vein of Sam Raimi and Troma Films named Probed, but decided a horror-comedy might not sell so well.  While I'm curious how the original take would have been, I did like this one enough to give it a 5 out of 5.  And so, until next time, when we start the Week of Wax, this is Red Hawk signing out!

Slither (2006 film on DVD)

I'm tellin' you, this mornin', I sensed a real change in Grant. - Starla

Welcome to the start of Happy Horrorween for 2014!  Every year, I try to round up an interesting array of well-known classic films and somewhat more obscure fare, and I think I've done a pretty good job this time, if I do say so myself.  I've got the big three at the end of the month, as usual.  I've got a Week of Wax coming up.  I've got Don't Week lined up, plus a week-long look at one of the greatest slasher films of all time, plus its sequels, a remake, and a slight permutation.  So, let's kick things off with one from 8 years ago!

The film starts with intercut scenes of a meteor falling towards Earth and a pair of police officers on speed patrol outside of Wheelsy, South Carolina.  We see the meteor crash in the woods behind the cop car, with both officers oblivious to it.  Later, after being spurned by his wife, Starla, Grant Grant picks up another woman, Brenda, at the local bar's karaoke night, and they head out to the woods.  Getting cold feet about the affair, Grant sees the meteorite and follows a trail to a strange slimy thing that, upon getting poked by Grant, shoots a needle into his chest.  Soon, Grant's eating raw meat by the pound and going through a few dangerous changes...

This film intrigued me when I first saw the ads for it.  It looked weird and did sort of remind me of 1986's Night of the Creeps.  I didn't actually get to see the film until we originally rented it on video.  With all the creepy-crawlies, I could see myself with my feet lifted onto a theater seat if I had!  The special effects were great, the make-up on Grant as his condition worsens throughout the movie is just amazing, and the CGI blended pretty well, too.

The cast worked well in this one.  Nathan Fillion (Bill Pardy) got some good one-liners as the town's chief of police who finds himself over his head in the sudden situation.  He was also in Dracula 2000, has voiced Hal Jordan in various animated DC Comics features, as well as Malcolm Reynolds in Firefly and it's movie spin-off, Serenity.  He's most recently been on ABC's Castle playing the title character there.  Elizabeth Banks (Starla Grant) did well with her southern accent here.  She had a really strong role as the monster's wife.  She was also in 2009's The Uninvited (based off of Korea's A Tale of Two Sisters), the original Spider-Man trilogy, and the Hunger Games films as Effie.  Michael Rooker (Grant Grant) plays his part to the hilt, seeming to have fun with it.  He played the title role in Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer (which I reviewed last year) and plays Merle Dixon on The Walking Dead, as well as portraying Sheriff Alan Pangborn in The Dark Half.

When the film came out, Slither drew a lot of comparisons to the aforementioned Night of the Creeps.  While there are certain similarities (alien slugs turning people into zombies), they aren't exactly the same.  In Night of the Creeps, the slugs reproduced inside their victims' brains, with more coming out than went in.  In Slither, the slugs are just used to link their victims to Grant's mind, making them extensions of himself.  Also, the idea of a hive mind is exclusive to Slither.

Due to some unneeded animal violence, I can't give this one a perfect score, but I did really enjoy it.  Therefore, I'm giving this film a 4 out of 5.  Tomorrow, we'll be featuring a film with Jon Bon Jovi!  Until then, this is Red Hawk signing out!