Assimilate

It seems to me that when I am set up to believe a movie is probably going to be a not-so-great experience, I wind up liking it. Conversely, when reviewers rave about a movie, a lot of times I am disappointed. This is one of those movies where I wound up liking it in spite of the bad reviews. I was on the edge of my chair for much of the movie.

Yes, it was a remake of the pod people movies, but with some different twists. Just like with the endless iterations of zombie and vampire movies, it's a formula that works over and over again. ...Another guilty pleasure!

I think a lot of the other reviews are looking at how this is like the 6th time this type of movie has been remade. It is the 5th or 6th time, but it is actually pretty good. They should have done more character building, because you really don't get too attached to most of the characters. I wish they would have used Cam Gigandet more in this movie, I think he was the best part of it.

If you have seen one Invasion of the Body Snatchers movie, you have seen this one, but this one does have a few things different and I liked the twist at the end. If you enjoy horror movies, you will enjoy this one. It even has a little bit of found footage stuff in it, which I personally like.

But I've definitely seen worse... While the idea is far from original the acting is good and in truth how many creature feature/monster movie concepts are original these days? I mean when you get right down the the basics? Are vampire movies? Or werewolf? Other alien invasion ideas? Definitely not the zombie stuff that's been done to death repeatedly since The Walking Dead started. There will always be new movies of old concepts with their own influence and ideas. This movie does some things differently. I think its well directed, well acted and overall well put together. Maybe the fact that I haven't seen the Invasion of the Body Snatchers since I was a kid and never have seen the '07 remake (this isnt the type of story I gravitate to usually) make it easier for me to like this one. Nothing fresh in my mind to compare it to so I was able to judge it by its own merit and not compare and dissect it to death.

It is worth watching and if you can come to it with an open mind and not try and hold it up against other similar movies you will probably like it. Thats like holding all zombie movies ever made in comparison to the original. Seems a bit silly to do when one thinks of it that way with all the different directions they have taken over the years. Zombie movies are never an original idea anymore no matter which way its spun. So why must people be so hard on everything else that isn't an original idea? Its possible that this movie wasn't even trying to be a remake of that exact movie but is just their own concept on the whole alien invasion subgenre, or maybe they did want to do their own version of that particular movie. Either way it was a good movie.

Missouri town's folk are being duplicated, assimilated and replaced by otherworldly inhabitants. Two switched on streamers go about trying to expose the horror with the help of their friend and a cop before their small town is overrun.

From the outset strangely there is no credit to the source material despite clearly being an adaptation of the or remake of The Body Snatchers (1956), Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1978), Body Snatchers (1993) and/or Invasion (2007). While the similar film The Faculty (1998) was a homage of a number of sci-fi films director writer John Murlowski and fellow writer Steven Palmer Peterson, on the nose, assimilate the aforementioned adaptations.

Murlowski's direction has plenty of visually dark and interesting elements, the special effects, especially the creatures are notable. Along with Damian Horan's cinematography the on screen shenanigans offer dread and tension, which Sven Faulconer's music complements. To Peterson and Murlowski's credit the story with the POV, internet streaming aspect is sparingly put to good use and works within the story. The downbeat closing pulls no punches, and has a double little twist, a satisfying end on an end.

All the cast do a fine job, unlike most adult cast adaptations this has teen mostly leads. Joel Courtney as Zach and Andi Matichak as Kayla are particularly impressive. Notable with limited screen time is Cam Gigandet as Deputy Josh Haywood. Courtney and especially Matichak keep the proceedings, kinetic and grounded with solid performances.

It may be on the same level of some of its predecessors (or credit them); but thanks to a few fresh tweaks and the two young leads efforts, this 'adaptation' is certainly worth a watch.

This is actually a great film!!! So I have no idea why the rating is so low on here and why some people have given this a 1 out of 10, this is most definitely a 7!

It's a suspenseful film with unexpected twists and the acting's good, so what's the problem with this film then?

Apparently this film reminds some people of another, similar film. So what? You gotta get your inspiration somewhere, that doesn't make this a bad film.

And I liked the open ending, I'm hoping they'll make a sequel ;-)