LD 50 Lethal Dose

Dude this movie was HILARIOUS!!! its about this dude, and he couldn't find his car.

Sorry wrong movie but same intellectual level. Like the teen comedy "Dude, Where's My Car", "LD 50 Lethal Dose" bravely seeks the lowest rung of its genre's (in this case sci-fi, sort of) intelligence ladder. The only positive outcome is the possibility that first-time writer Matthew McGuchan is now ashamed enough about his sad screenplay to seek a permanent career in the food service industry.

Basically "LD 50 Lethal Dose" is what you would have if someone tried to remake 1970's "The Andromeda Strain" under a lot of budget constraints. Speaking of budgets, can anyone find the $8 Million allocated to this movie? Very little of even that modest amount makes it to the screen. And speaking of mysteries, how did they manage to find that kind of financing for this turkey?

"LD 50 Lethal Dose" has the same production design concept as the two "Saw" movies and "The Hole"; find an abandoned industrial building, go inside, and roll camera. But even though this particular claustrophobic set has more potential than the others, the finished product is not even remotely in their league. A few artsy interior shots can't salvage a premise this lame or a script this staggeringly bad.

If you enjoy life on the bottom rung of the sci-fi ladder you would be better served by something that at least has some innate charm (insert "Godzilla" here). "LD 50 Lethal Dose" might have eventual parody potential but I am not masochistic enough to watch it again for confirmation.

Then again, what do I know? I'm only a child.

A group of animal rights activists' trespasses a lab to release animals, and a bear trap catches Gary (Ross McCall), one of the members. He is arrested but he does not denounce his friends. He goes to jail alone for a three years sentence and the team disassembles. One year later, they reunify and become aware that Gary was a volunteer of an experiment to reduce his period in prison. Later, they received an encoded message from Gary asking for help. The place where he is lodged is an abandoned laboratory and they decide to rescue him. Once in the location, weird events happen with each member of the group. This movie has a good premise, but something does not work well. For example, why the guys decide to smoke grass during their assignment? How and why exist live animals in a desert place? This forgettable film can be recommended for killing time only. My vote is five.

Title (Brazil): `A Ameaça' (`The Menace')

Lethal Dose is a tedious excuse for a horror film, with characters you won't care about and a script that will put you to sleep. It revolves around an animal rights group that tries to rescue one of their own a year after they abandoned him during a raid. What they find is a mix of bad dialogue and pseudoscience.

The film is nowhere near as gruesome as its subject matter would suggest. The opening credits show photos of animals being experimented on, leading one to expect a violent piece of gorn. Instead, we get a bunch of poorly thought out science fiction mumbo-jumbo as our protagonists confront the results of an experiment gone wrong.

This might have been a decent film anyway if we had had some characters we could care about, but these people are stupid even by horror movie standards. It's hard to see how these activists avoided getting caught on their first raid, as they wore only some camouflage make up on their faces even though they knew they were on camera. Furthermore, they decide it is a great idea to smoke pot when they are in the middle of a mission in a government installation. At least slasher movie victims have the excuse of only being at a summer camp when they act like idiots.

I found this a really interesting and challenging film, not like your usual run-of-the-mill horror movie. I'm not going to give anything away because I think it is worth seeing, but there were some very clever plot twists that took me completely by surprise! The acting was good, I thought that all the actors really pulled together as a team and that really shows (also the mark of a good director!). I also think the direction itself was really tight and perfect for the creepy, slightly claustrophobic nature of the scenes underground. The supernatural elements were fascinating as well, a very modern take on a popular genre. All in all a really good evening's viewing, and well worth seeing! I would say don't miss it!

This movie wasn't horrible, but it was not very good either. I got about what I expected when I rented it... a low budget sci-fi/horror movie that was at least somewhat entertaining.

Plot: C+, It starts out with a pretty generic, boring plot, but it grows into something more intriguing. I think the way they suddenly just dump the concept on you detracts from its greatness though.

Acting: C-, Acting was sufficient, but not great. They are about par with what you'd expect in a mediocre horror film. No one of the actors really stood out amongst the others as being exceptionally good, but one or two stood out as being exceptionally crappy.

Special Effects: C, Not that great, but again, it was sufficient.

Character development: D+, you don't really get attached to these characters. Part of it may have been the mediocre acting. The characters that stand out the most are the ones that follow the usual cliché character types. You have the tough guy, the smart computer nerd, the annoying goof-off joker, and more. The characters that didn't follow one of these cliché types really just blend into the background.

Best aspect of the movie: The actual concept they present to you later in the movie (I won't reveal) is interesting.

Worst aspect of the movie: Lack of character attachment. It's no secret people die in this movie, and when they do you'll find yourself not caring that much in most cases.