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!

Mimic 2 (2001)

Copyright Dimension Films

Here we are, at the start of another Happy Horrorween, and I've brought you some more massive, man-impersonating bugs!  I promised this article the day after the last one... which was January 1st.  A little late, I know, but anyone who's seen this site knows that deadlines can sometimes get the best of me.  Nevertheless, I've got a great month planned out for you, so let's kick things off with Mimic 2!

This one shifts focus from Susan Tyler (Mira Sorvino's character in the original) to Remy, her assistant, who is now a science teacher in an inner-city high school.  She's going to need all that scientific knowledge, as well as her experience as an entomologist, as a new member of the Judas Breed focuses in on her.

The film opens, much like the first, with another man running for his life from a cloaked figure.  Reaching the seeming safety of the streets, he's instead attacked and killed.  Later, when the police find him, he's been eviscerated and his face cut off.  The police identify the body and find a connection to Remy, who lives along in an apartment... an apartment where someone, or something, watches over her from outside the window.

This was an interesting one.  While overall, I don't feel it's better than the first, it does have its charms.  Instead of a whole colony of Judas Breed bugs, we largely have just one, and so far as I could tell, not a hint of CGI to it.  The effects worked well, too, and there were plenty of scares to be had.

The main woman, Remy, was played by Alix Koromzay, returning from the original.  When searching for other roles she's played on IMDb, I noticed that her character's name is spelled Remy for the first film, but Remi for the second one.  I went with the spelling from the first, since I figure that would probably override any script name changes.  She was also in 1997's Nightwatch, 1999's The Haunting, and Children of the Corn 666: Isaac's Return (another series I'd like to eventually cover on this site).  Bruno Campos portrays Detective Klasky.  He doesn't have a lot of genre type titles in his resumé, but he was the voice for Prince Naveen in The Princess and the Frog, he had a role on an episode of Ghost Whisperer, and played Dr. Quentin Costa on Nip/Tuck.  Edward Albert played Darksuit, leader of the military unit sent to wipe out the Judas Breed threat.  A well-accomplished actor, he had a major role in the 1980s series Beauty and the Beast, played the Red Ranger's father on Power Rangers: Time Force, and 1982's The House Where Evil Dwells.

When this film came out, the critics weren't too kind to it.  Personally, I really enjoyed it.  I give this another 4 out of 5.  It stands alongside the original film really well.  Tomorrow, we'll see why the third film didn't, despite an excellent cast.  Until then, this is Red Hawk signing out!

Mimic (1997 film)

Sometimes an insect will even mimic its predator. - Susan Tyler

Happy New Year, and welcome to the new start of Happy Horror!  Now, I know, you're probably thinking, "We just had a new start three years ago.  Why are you starting again?  Do we have to get ANOTHER review of the original Friday the 13th, Nightmare on Elm Street and Halloween?"  The answers are: Yes, we did; because I want to get a fresh start; and no, I'm not redoing those.  What I've done previously here stands on its own and I'm proud of that work.

However, every so often it's important to freshen up my work, and I have some major ideas for this place.  I'll detail those ideas as I go, though, because today, I want to bring you an almost forgotten classic in Mimic.  Based off of a short story of the same name, Mimic is the story of a disease called Strickler's Disease that spreads through cockroaches, affecting children.  A scientist from the CDC, Susan Tyler, genetically engineers a new breed of insect called the Judas Breed designed to wipe the roaches out.

Jump ahead three years and we find a priest running for his life onto a rainy roof as something massive pounds on the door behind him.  As the priest's pursuer starts knocking the door loose, the priest himself runs to jump to another building but finds the way too far.  The door busts in and a figure approaches him in the rain, getting closer and closer, finally pushing the Asian priest off the edge of the building and onto the street below to his death.  Meanwhile, a young, possibly autistic, boy observes the prone priest, seeing and naming the make, color and size shoes the priest has on from the view of his upper floor apartment.  As another figure approaches the priest's body, a strange clicking sound can be heard, which the boy imitates with a pain of spoons.  The figure drags the priest's body away as the little boy, Chuy, remarks, "Funny shoes."

The film was a fun ride.  I received it for Christmas in a 3-pack with its two sequels (which I'll also be covering).  The story, about giant bugs that can (barely) pass themselves off as human is an interesting concept.  The effects work well, both practical and CG, and the acting is great.  Mira Sorvino played Susan Tyler, the scientist who created the bugs and is called on when the Judas Breed makes an unexpected reappearance.  Miss Sorvino's first film role was an uncredited part in The Stuff, she also was in The Summer of Sam and The Final Cut.  Her father, Paul Sorvino, played the villain Rotti Largo in one of my favorite movies, Repo: The Genetic Opera.  Charles S. Dutton plays Officer Leonard Norton, a subway cop who initially blocks Susan's efforts to research, but ultimately helps out.  He was also in Alien 3, Stephen King's Cat's Eye, Surviving the Game, Seven and many others.  F. Murray Abraham played Dr. Gates, Susan's superior, who first grasps the danger of the Judas Breed situation.  A long established actor, some of his genre films include Thir13en Ghosts, Blood Monkey and Shark Storm.

I give this film a 4 out of 5.  I enjoyed it a lot, and it was a great start to what was, ultimately, a short series.  In 2010, director Benicio del Toro announced he was working on a director's cut of the film, which he released September 6, 2011.  I haven't seen that cut, yet, but I hope to find it sometime and see how it differs from the original finished product.  Tune in next time, where we'll cover the sequel, Mimic 2.  Until next time, as always, this is Red Hawk signing out!