Years ago, a dangerous virus became an epidemic in New York – causing the deaths of hundreds of children, before Dr Susan Tyler discovered that it was caused by cockroaches. She unleased another bug called the Judas which helped eradicate the virus. Now, a mutation of the bug has emerged and it is up to Susan, her husband Peter and a small band of others to bring it down.
Direction
Guillermo del Toro directs, in one of his first big budget film. He begins his gothic/horror themes here – and while it does seem like he’s honing his craft slightly – this may have been due to budgetary restraints ($30m) – or studio interference (del Toro has reportedly disowned this film due to the Weinstein’s)
Cast/Characters
Mira Sorvino, who was riding high in her mid 90s fame (and post Oscar win). She is solid here, and showed that she COULD have had a continued presence in Hollywood if it wasn’t for HW – the producer of this film.
Jeremy Northam plays her husband Peter. He too was an up and comer in the 1990s, but his presence dropped off after a string of big films like The Net, this and a few others, favouring to return to his native England.
Josh Brolin in one of his early roles is good too, but doesn’t get much to do.
Charles S Dutton’s police officer is to some degree a cliche’ characterisation of the ‘cop who doesn’t listen’ and ‘token black guy’ intertwined. This sort of character would likely not be included if it were made today, and would be more progressive if it was.
Screenplay/Setting/Themes
Del Toro begins his ‘gothic horror’ direction style, with great use of the dark – especially in the underground sewers of New York – where the primary action is set.
There feels more of a part one/part two set up as well, as the bulk of the narrative – where the characters discover what has occurred (Tyler’s original bug, which was supposed to die off after one generation, has survived for hundreds if not thousands, and goes straight to trying to stop them and kill them off.
It also gives a fairly good representation of autism, in the character Chuy – as a parent of an autistic child myself – I have seen kids just like Chuy in his classroom, and considering the age of this film (almost 30 years), I thought this was handled quite well.
I really liked how the film subverted expectations of ‘who is safe’ and ‘who isn’t’ as the film was willing to go against the norm and kill off a couple of characters that would normally survive such a movie. I’m somewhat of a fan of the ‘one by one’ they die kind of film. While this mid movie scene did well (and would become a usual staple for Del Toro), I found the “Hollywood” ending a little frustrating.
Marco Beltrami adds a pretty good score, as he was fairly regular in the mid 1990s and had recently done some horror scores.
Overall
Sound late 1990s horror theme, despite the behind the scenes drama that the Weinstein brothers caused.
3/5
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