Bio Slime (2010)

If the ambition is to provide two hours of instantly forgettable, popcorn-munching escapism, it succeeds.

This is one of the few movies I've ever seen where the whole audience broke into spontaneous, loud applause a third of the way in.

One of the worst ways to make a cult movie is to set out to make a cult movie.

The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.

A motley assortment of desperate people are trapped inside a rundown apartment building with a lethal and vicious flesh-eating slime monster. If these folks don't find some way to stop this thing and get out of the building, it's curtains for all of them. So far, so basic, but fortunately writer/director John Lechago manages to milk plenty of claustrophobic suspense from the tense, gripping, and increasingly dire premise, maintains a swift pace and a darkly serious tone throughout, presents an evenly balanced depiction of human beings in a crisis situation (some behave in a heroic and admirable manner while others only care about saving their own hides at any cost), delivers plenty of in-your-face graphic and disgusting goo-slinging splatter, and further spices up the already enjoyable proceedings with a generous amount of tasty bare female skin (some of the characters are involved in the porn industry). The sturdy acting from the capable cast rates as another major asset: Vinnie Bilancio makes for a sympathetic lead as boozy down and out struggling artist Troy, the always sexy and captivating Victoria De Mare contributes a strong performance as jaded and cynical adult film starlet Mary, Kelli Kaye likewise impresses as the battered, but resilient Shannon, plus there are sound turns by Gia Paloma as the brave and selfless Annie, Ronnie Lewis as Troy's nice guy best pal Hal, Magic J. Ellingson as antsy druggie Jack, Al Burke as the gruff land lord, Micol Bartolucci as the land lord's foxy mail order bride Constanza, and Monique Da Barr as the ditsy Donna. Tom Devlin's spectacularly icky and grotesque make-up f/x are convincing and every bit as revolting as they ought to be. Moreover, the dingy apartment setting gives the picture a firm grounding in a certain grimy reality while the savage monster attack set pieces pack a really hard'n'nasty punch and the creature's ability to take on the form of the people it absorbs adds an extra creepy and unnerving edge. A very effective and satisfying little fright flick.

I saw an exclusive showing of BIO SLIME at the Las Vegas IndieMeet. Of all the features, this one had viewers asking "How much was the budget on this?" It had some polish on it, especially in the effects area.Storywise, BIO SLIME is as basic as a horror flick gets - all the characters are trapped in an apartment building with the creature waiting just outside. Some of the occupants are interesting. You have the starving artist, who is facing eviction. He lives next to a porn producer, who shoots movies in his apartment. This provides plenty of naked girls, as potential monster food! BIO SLIME feels like a Sy Fy Channel feature. The impressive monster effects are the real star of this movie. Worth a look, if you're into slimy horror flicks!