La Parenté

After learning of his ailing mother's condition, a genetic researcher is tasked with heading to her secret laboratory hideout to retrieve data to finish the experiments ahead of a ruthless rival, but when he and his team discover the mutated results of the experiment must try to get away alive.

This was a fun enough if somewhat flawed genre effort. Among the more likable elements here is the mysterious atmosphere present here that demonstrates the build-up of the research being committed. With the first half focused pretty heavily on demonstrating the importance of the research to the various parties present and their desire to get at it, the series of expeditions out to the house by the parties in play serve this quite well. Getting an idea of the importance of the research and how far they're willing to go to get their hands on it, this provides a great starting point into the importance and need to handle the particular experiment quite well. That all ends up providing a series of enjoyable and generally fun cheesy creature feature attacks. Offering up plenty of fun with the practical effects, the encounters here are quite fun with the early sequence of it stowing away in the backseat of the car and unknowingly causing it to drive off the cliff, the ambush in the farmhouse that brings the creature's full form to light and the full-on fun of the attacks inside the house with the creatures' tentacles offering up some genuine shock tactics bursting out to grab at and ensnare victims. This generates a highly enjoyable and effective finale featuring some decent barricade tactics, practical creatures, and a frantic confrontation that gives this one quite a lot to like. This one does have some issues with it. One of the biggest drawbacks is the generally uninvolved setup that tends to make this one go on for quite a while until it becomes interesting. The focus on the meetings between the various doctors and medical personalities, the strange abduction of the accident victim from the roadside crash by the unknown mercenary, and the intimations that clandestine experiments are going awry waste all sorts of time here. It doesn't help that there's no real connection given for a lot of these storylines for quite a while into the running time meaning this takes a while before things start to make sense which isn't a good look for starting a movie off. The other big drawback to this one is the rather unnecessary and convoluted means through which this one tries to set up a secondary villain in the mod doctor out to steal the creature for himself. Not only is this entire segment written in a highly complicated matter concerning the devious member of the team trying to undermine the trip for him which isn't that creative anyway but also goes to show a generally lame reasoning for undergoing the ruse for the most point. It introduces bodies into the equation in the finale which is an expected side-effect but doesn't really do much else here with it being pretty much non-existent about why its' included which all brings this down somewhat.

Rated R: Graphic Violence and Grapic Language.

This film is not the best around but is certainly worth a watch. The monster itself is very cool, it is like a hybrid of Alien and the monster from The Suckling. In fact the reason I got this film is because it looked similar to The Suckling. The story and characters take a while to develop which does get a bit boring, and it takes a while before the monster arrives on the scene. But it's worth the wait. The bit where the monster pokes a claw through the floorboards and the dog starts barking at it had me in hysterics. Rod Steiger, who was another reason I got this film (I thought he was amazing in American Gothic) was OK but not up to his usual standards. There's some cool special effects like when the monster pokes one of its tentacles through the skin of a woman, but they are used very little.

Okay, first and foremost, let me take my pants off. Just kidding... No, First and foremost, this film will delight you ONLY if you are a real fan of films described in my summary above. It is ULTRA low budget, but you really have to admire how well they did with what they had. I thought for very low cost creature effects, the creators / directors of the film did an excellent job in making them as believable as possible and actually truly scary at times. You could tell that the directors had a nice natural sense of how to visualize what they wanted; for example, without giving too much away, just the simple scene with the little guy in the jar was really quite good. When compared to MANY other similar scenes in Horror or even Goofy, NOT-Serious Horror (A La 'GREMLINS', for example) where you would use similar effects, I really felt that they made it very believable and lifelike, which went a LONG way in involving and truly immersing you more in the film.

Sure, as some others have stated here, there are some pretty Cheeeeeeezy moments, but even compared to MOST of the Horror crap that has come out during that time and even within, say, ten years of this being made, I think this one very much holds it's own in drawing the audience in and creating a decent level of tension. There are also a nice twist or two that adds to the entertainment value of the movie. One transformation scene, which I WON'T go into because I do not want to enter Spoiler territory, was honestly quite effective and well done, despite some of the scornful comments from a couple of other reviewers here.

The acting is nothing to get too excited about; we don't see very much from the veterans here, except the usual Rod Steiger getting worked up to either an orgasm or heart attack, take your choice... I personally liked Brad though; he had a rather entertaining personality. Everyone else was adequate; the British girl was decent, of course the accent (to us easily impressed Americans) always helps.

I'm NOT trying to say that this is by ANY reach of the imagination an 'ALIEN', 'SESSION 9', or 'EVENT HORIZON', believe me; but for the modest intent of the film and for PRECISELY what it is, it comes across surprisingly well. So, like I mentioned before, IF you are indeed a fan of these kinds of films, then you should have a lot of fun watching it...

The era of the VHS spawned a lot of flicks that are still not released on DVD or Blu Ray. Synapse announced this one years ago and up to this writing it is still not available on that format. So if you want it, it's still a VHS hunt, go figure that!

Is it worth a hunt? Well, it's made just before the end of the horror era. It doesn't show luckily but it's cheesy as hell. But the effects are on-camera and done with the classic latex as seen in the classics so be happy that those are used and not some stupid CGI from that era.

Low budget as hell is shown if you look sharp, a few times the microphone is seen in shots. But if you like them cheesy and messy and with mediocre acting or even over acting try to find it. Be honest, no good storyline you only watch this for the effects.

It has been a while i've seen a 4:3 format on VHS, a trip down memory lane.

Gore 2/5 Nudity 0/5 Effects 3/5 Story 1,5/5 Comedy 0/5

After three years in a coma, Amanda Hollins awakens and tells her son, John. To destroy her life experiments and any information found in her secluded old house. He heads there with his girlfriend, some work colleagues and one of his mother's admirers. They eventually discover more then what they bargain for, as some of his mother's genetic engineered creations run amok.

I thought I've seen this one before, but I was wrong. This modest combination of 50's sci-fi / horror goes onto deliver a undervalued oddity, with a tip-top ensemble cast and sure-handling from dual directors Jeffrey Obrow and Stephen Carpenter. Suspense is lacking because the minimal story is just too typical and shredded with loopholes, but it's the surprisingly efficient make-up effects, which are over-the-top and horrifically creative that makes for a pleasurable treat. The excessive use of this icky business in some wicked (and at times silly) set pieces is the film's only real imaginative bone. A quick tempo, builds up after a slow opening and the shocks are well placed for maximum effect. Be it a laugh or a gasp. The material mostly plays it with a straight face, with slight slabs of humour and Rod Steiger's small meaty turn. The composed performances (with Steiger being the exception) are reasonably good from the cast. David Allen Brooks is likable in his steadfast delivery and the ravishing Amanda Pays shines in her shifty portrayal. Talia Balsam gives hearty support and Peter Frechette diverts. The classy Kim Hunter also gets some minor scenes as Amanda Hollins. Obrow and Carpenter's directorial style is systematically sturdy without an ounce of any visual flourishes. The look of the film generates a gloomy air, mainly due to Steven Carpenter's murky photography and dim lighting. David Newman's moody, understated music score is fairly unnoticeable.