Insectula! (2015)

Boring

In truth, there is barely enough story here to make a film.

This is a coming of age storyline that you've seen in one form or another for decades. It takes a truly unique voice to make yet another one worth watching.

The plot isn't so bad, but the pace of storytelling is too slow which makes people bored. Certain moments are so obvious and unnecessary for the main plot. I would've fast-forwarded those moments if it was an online streaming. The ending looks like implying a sequel, not sure if this movie will get one

INSECTULA! is a typically cheesy indie comedy monster spoof in which characters are menaced by a killer giant mosquito. It has a good and gruesome gag at the opening involving a severed head floating down a stream but that's about it. The story is full of the usual campiness and overacting from amateur performers who bring new meaning to the phrase 'tongue in cheek'. Plot elements include a mad scientist, a buxom woman, laboratory scenes, and lots of gooiness. It's cheap, trashy, and not very good.

ANOTHER MACROTIGER MOVIE REVIEW !!!Insectula (2015) MT Rating: 9/10Executive SummaryAn encyclopedia of sci-fi/horror genre. Joins Macro Tiger's list as one of the top four films ever shot in Minnesota. Some sound problems and perhaps excessive CGI marginally reduce watchability. Altogether, very funny, with tons of obscure genre references and inside jokes. The attention to detail that went into the film must have been humungous. Acting very solid. Some very fine camera set- ups, some less-so. Every indie producer/director/writer/crew should watch this film several times. At least one of the cast, A. Cezanne is a potential star.Plot:Giant insect from outer-space plops into White Bear Lake and starts stabbing people to death. Apparently some victims become zombies but that's left a little uncertain. Some psychological stylistic elements are introduced, especially with the two main scientists - one of them good, one of them bad, both troubled. This is in keeping with the genre, back then people had great hopes and faith in psychology. I am just old enough to have watched the films upon which Insectula is based on TV as a kid, and I watched them then without irony. I genuinely was concerned with the stomping of a town by the Man Who Grew 7 Feet a Day or the horrible monster destroying Tokyo. I was NOT old enough to have seen these films in the theater.Actresses : Yeah. Now you're talking. Others have mentioned the skimpy attire. Peterson et co instincts are on-the-money here. Trying to be a prude with a sci-fi/horror film? No way. I think I might have pushed this even farther, but all in all, Peterson hit the nail on the head here. All the actresses looked great. Arielle Cezanne was gorgeous as lead female. I would not give her an A+ on acting (yet) but she's got charisma and commands the viewers attention, more than can be said for a lot of Hollywood actors. She is a superb choice for this role. I recall an old girlfriend who would pan any movie if the lead female was not absolutely beautiful. Another angle on this is once you've seen the director is not afraid to have his actresses sexy then you know he is capable of doing anything, and that's when you start thinking you might need another bag of popcorn. Nuff said here. Sarah French (http://www.imdb.com/name/nm2720796/) and Hannah Hudson receive a lot of air time and look great on film.Actors : Sufficiently eccentric and creepy. Well-developed given the restrictions of the genre. I recognized several of these from my films, the great Edel, Thingvall, Gilmer to name a few. All were effective ... and more fully clothed than the ladies. In my films I have all the men fully nude. Some of us go there for our art. Some of us don't. Acting was solid and engaging.Cinematography : A lot to be admired here. A lot of clever angles and lighting. Camera movements nice and in keeping with genre. It is evident crew spent a lot more time on some shots than on others. This is understandable. I have no idea what the budget for this film is but without Hollywood money corners have to be cut. I liked the camera work and will study it for my own films. In particular I liked very much the scene in which Dr. Kempler (Harrison Matthews) plays a piece by Rachmaninoff on his piano and contemplates his career. Also the shot of Gen. Ripper at his desk (John Edel) was beautifully-done. I noticed Jon Springer has made a documentary about the Mekons, a group I've been in touch with about a couple things. Give my regard to Ms. Timms, I love Ghosts of American Astronauts.Costuming : Very nice. I think I would have dressed the army men in WW2-style uniforms and given them M1 Garand rifles, in keeping with the spirit of the film. Scientist garb is excellent. John Edel as Gen. Ripper (a la Dr. Strangelove?) and Jeff Gigler as Gen. Erickson are superbly outfitted. Of the actors I didn't know I was especially impressed by Christian Hanson's short screen-time as Dr. Banning, a rival scientist.Set Decoration : Superb. The laboratory equipment is first rate. I like the old phones. Ihought perhaps the mobile phones should have been dispensed with. Also would have preferred 1960s cars.Music and Sound : The music was spot-on. Only complaint is that, on the version i watched, the dialog is sometimes difficult to hear over the music.SFX and Editing :I liked a lot of the special effects. Here budgetry concerns bite hard, but I would have liked more physical modeling and less CGI. Editing: now here I will be a hypocrite given the snail's pace of a film I've been part of - the editing appears solid but I would have liked a faster pace in places. A couple more close-ups here and there could have been an improvement, but Im not complaining. Editing on the original scifi/horror films was often spotty.Miscellaneous :I liked very much the dancing girls at the end, although really that's a 1970s thing and violates the genre, but I'm not complaining. I engaged the same ending in Land of Sky Blue Water. I can't help adding one nagging issue, I really wish the film had been shot using actual film, perhaps in b&w 16mm, however I realize I am in a small minority here and there may be cost advantages to digital. In short, thanks for the film, Michael Peterson. I enjoyed it greatly and hope to catch it on the big screen. I hope you make a whole lot more!!!

Insectula parodies and pay homage to many B and Z science fiction films, and it pays off. This is surprisingly well done for a low budget film made independently over many years. Does this mean it is Citizen Kane? No. It is, however, one crazy fun ride, replete with INTENTIONALLY bad dialogue, cheesy effects, absurd circumstances, excessive fake blood, and strange performances. The actors must have known they were making this kind of film.The movie follows Aldo Delbiondo(known as Del) on a quest for justice for his girlfriend's murder. So the suave, sexy, middle aged, pudgy, short, balding, porn star mustachioed Del uses his clout as an agent for the Environmental Protection Agency to take charge of the FBI investigation into her death. But where would we be if the film didn't goof around a lot more before getting to the big confrontation with the alien killer? Over the course of the film we are treated to more strange and bizarre characters and situations. The alien mosquito looks good for hardly any budget, and there are more special effects than I expected for a labor of love project.As a native Minnesotan I also enjoyed seeing places I recognized as well. Seeing my own state capital being terrorized by a giant version of what we affectionately call "the state bird," was a hoot. If you do not get a chuckle out of movie cheese, then you will not like Insectula, but if you do, it is worth your time.

There is a lot going on in this movie, if everything had been worked out a bit more it could have been a TV series with a bigger plot and more realistic fleshed out characters than netflix daredevil.But I was very tempted to stop watching a minute in to the movie. For some reason they opted to make it look as if the movie was shot on worn out VHS tape. Lucky for me I got over that, somehow they managed to do everything so wrong in a manner that kept me interested, entertained and in wonderment how they managed to get people to play and the roles they played. I enjoyed it.