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 BACTERIUM
(Shock-O-Rama)
Horror/Sci-Fi. 80 Min’s. PG-13. Language, nudity. Dr. Boskovic (Chuck
McMahon) is holed up in a secret lab. He is nervous, suffering from
frequent nightmares, and torn asunder attempting to destroy, or, at the
very least, counter-act the effects of a clandestine government biological
weapon currently in stasis. His local is a run-down, back-woods house lost
in the middle of nowhere. Surrounding the shack is a battalion of
government-hired soldiers bent on destroying the scientist but, at all
costs, recovering the contagion. And against the backdrop are four hapless
adults out for a little paint ball game who fall victim to one of the most
surprising occurrences of their young lives.
Beth (Allison Whitney) tags
her opposing-team member, Jiggs (Benjamin Kanes) with her paint and they
tumble to the ground, an obvious lovers tryst throughout though neither is
dating the other. In fact, each one’s respective significant other is
still out in the woods. Beth and Jiggs run across soldiers patrolling the
dilapidated shack and decide, rather ignorantly, to check it out. Once
inside, Beth is apprehended by a mysterious man in HAZMAT gear and made to
strip naked. Surprising is the full frontal nudity on display by Allison
Whitney, not bad, but uncharacteristic for a PG-13 film for sure. Jiggs is
left unconscious and eventually discovered by his girlfriend, Brook (Miya
Sagara).
Beth escapes, steals a gun
from the now-known scientist, Dr. Boskovic, and they strap him to a chair
with what must be an entire roll of duct tape. Soon, the contained
bacterium escapes its confines and engulfs the poor doctor. The
government, just miles away at yet another abandoned hovel, sends a team
to investigate the imminent disaster, and soon after both team members
become fodder for the mutating bio-weapon. The multiplying beast escapes
the lab and begins searching for a way out.
Back at the Pentagon, it is
up to a single Physicist to convince the government to release a ‘Black
Hole Bomb’ that will not only contain the threat, but also, potentially,
wipe out every existing organism within a twenty-mile radius. Even so,
they give the go ahead, and so it goes.
Surprisingly wonderful
effects abound in this low-budget thriller. The bacterium looks like a
combination between animated innards, slithering boogers, and The Blob.
They are obviously CGI in many parts, but this does nothing to take away
from the realism portrayed by the suffering humans. Yes, as a whole, the
acting was pretty hackneyed and less than amazing, especially the
government… they were about as realistic as our actual Senate. But, you
do get that nagging feeling that something is happening that could,
potentially, occur here and now: rather good poignancy. The additional
disc features were pretty cool. I liked the making-of featurette the most
as it goes into a bit of detail on the monster. All in all, a pretty cool
little flick with some nice sci-fi moments. Check it out. -Stew Miller
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