Bottom Feeder (2007)

Overrated

One of my all time favorites.

Good films always raise compelling questions, whether the format is fiction or documentary fact.

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.

Bottom Feeder starts as scientist Dr. Nathaniel Leech (James Binkley) meets up with his rich billionaire benefactor Charles Deaver (Richard Fitzpatrick) who has been funding his experiments into a serum called A12 which is supposed to regenerate dead cells. Deaver is desperate for the miracle serum since he was badly burnt in a car accident & is dying, Leech wants the serum to work because his wife Miranda is dying of leukaemia. Leech says he has perfected it but Deaver wants proof & gets his people to beat him badly while his ruthless female associate (Wendy Anderson) breaks his hand under her foot & shoots him in the legs. She then locks Leech in some underground tunnels after injecting him with the A12 serum to see whether it works & his body regenerates. Unfortunately Leech mutates into a mutant deformed half man half rat creature that has an appetite for human flesh...This Canadian production was written & directed by Randy Daudlin & one has to say I rather enjoyed Bottom Feeder in a simple run of the mill Creature Feature sort of way. I mean it's not original in any way, anyone who is familiar with the Creature Feature sub genre will be able to predict what happens fairly easily, it's clichéd & generally speaking it feels rather unadventurous but for what it is & what it tries to be it's an entertaining example of a Creature Feature. The basic storyline is the usual 21st Century genetic & scientific experiments gone wrong & some sort of monster is created which then decides to kill & eat every human being it comes across, there's the dark isolated location where a group of people are trapped & stalked by the monster, the whole thing about the US military wanting it as some sort of ultimate soldier/weapon is here & there's even the obligatory twist ending which leaves things wide open for a sequel. Once Bottom Feeder gets going it's an enjoyable Creature Feature, the character's are better than usual with some decent dialogue & I especially liked the way that no-one split up & their main priority was to stick together until they escape to safety although the self sacrificing villain at the end who decides to give up their life to rectify a wrong is the only time I felt the character's went into groan inducing cliché. It takes a while to get started but once it does it's a good solid horror flick that I enjoyed much, much more than I had expected.Director Daudlin does alright, he keeps things moving along & it actually looks like a proper film rather. A lot of low budget horror films look like they were shot on camcorders with shaky hand held cinematography but Bottom Feeder is really well shot where you can see whats going on & whats happening at all times. It's also edited properly as well with no 'blink & you'll miss it' quick fire cuts. A lot of low budget horror films these days use horrible CGI computer effects which look awful but Bottom Feeder uses good old fashioned on set special effects, fake blood, prosthetics & an impressive rubber monster suit. The creature looks good but it's long sticking out ears do look a little silly & to my eyes with it's humanoid shape, pointed ears & snout it looked more like a Werewolf than a rat but that doesn't really matter. There's some decent gore, heads are pulled off, jaws ripped off, ripped apart bodies are seen & there's a pleasing amount of blood splatter.Technically the film is very good & seems to have had high production values. Shot in Hamilton in Ontario in Canada. According to the 'Trivia' section on the IMDb for Bottom Feeder star Tom Sizemore quit the film after two days but eventually returned & finished it with the entire situation covered in Sizemore's reality show Shooting Sizemore (2007) which I would actually be interested in seeing but have no means to do so. It's very surprising that a quality well known actor like Sizemore would appear in such a film as Bottom Feeder but he could have picked worse films to be in that's for sure. The acting is fine with decent performances from all involved.Bottom Feeder is maybe the best Creature Feature I have seen in a while, it's not Shakespeare or Oscar worthy but for most horror fans it'll pass 90 odd minutes. Not to be confused with another film called Bottom Feeder (2006) which is a comedy made the same year, it's just typical isn't it? You wait a lifetime for a film called Bottom Feeder to be made & then two come along at once!

The last time we saw Tom Sizemore fight monsters he was in the undergrounds of Chicago fending for his life against the Kothoga in 'The Relic", now hes back fighting a monster in the undergrounds of ..who nos where yet again in "Bottom Feeders" a movie that did manage to entertain this monster movie fan but only marginally.Lets get to the good, you will not see crappy CGI in this movie only man in suit style monster mayhem which is usually the best kind. Second there is not a lot of cheesy moments that seem to plague the B-Monster movie genre. Don't get me wrong we do have people shooting when they should be running and we do have the one annoying character named Sarge that you will prey for a quick demise for but all in all this was not a bad DTV.The general premise is a millionaire has been severally scared from an auto accident. Using his dollars he has possibly found a cure to regenerate his skin tissue through a scientist who he makes a "deal" with. After the scientist proceeds to tell him of potential side effects the good millionaire decides to have his hired muscle beat the tar out of him and then throw him in the underground tunnels of the facility after injecting him with the "cure". A few hours later instant monster soup and were off and running.Sizemore and his band are Maintenance people who just happen to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. We get a few decent kills including a decapitation and a nice jaw removal scene just for kicks. We also get a rather interesting ending that made for a nice change of pace from the happily ever after we tend to get in these kind of films. The monster itself was OK, nothing great but definitely a step above the CGI garbage we are forced to endure nowadays. It comes off as looking like a mixture of dog,rat and human.Fans of monster movies may want to check this one out. Better than average production values help this one out but in the end its nothing ground breaking or spectacular. Give it a rental, keep your expectations low and you will be moderately entertained.Score: 5/10 Average, nothing to write home about but for a direct to video release it does entertain you for 90 minutes.

This movie's notoriety comes not from itself but rather as a rest stop in the Twilight Zone that is the life of Tom Sizemore. It was prominently showcased in the VH1 reality show about the events following rehab and the crystal meth induced flashbacks of Tom Sizemore's "Shooting Sizemore". It is clear from watching the show that this movie was not an option for Tom Sizemore. It is obvious that he had money problems at the time and would have done dog food commercials if anyone had offered. It is also the movie he quit two days into shooting. After a lot of soul searching, this movie was filmed and Tom was back on the road. This is a low-budget straight to video type movie. If Tom wasn't in this movie, no one would have probably blinked. There is no originality in anything this movie tries. The elements are piecemeal Frankenstein with Machiavellian conspiracies from the vantage point of custodians. The release of this movie in any form is an accomplishment in itself. I keep thinking this would have been perfect on an adult version of the Sci-Fi Channel. Oh right, thats Cinemax. A scientist develops a Wolverine-like serum with consequences (which are somewhat vague and leave the possibility for a sequel). An offspring of Pineapple Pokopo and Bruce VeSota attempts to get the serum for his own needs. The serum is not tested and the scientist is "volunteered" to test it. The rest is a Predator-like cat and mouse game, in some abandoned sewer-like corridors. First they try and capture it. When that doesn't work, elimination is the next option. Tom does an adequate job with a half-ass story and horrible dialog. This is the kind of dialog that belongs in a Steven Seagal movie. You can tell Tom is just going through the motions and he still outshines everyone else. I am not even going to wonder where they got the fake Jamaican hobo, Sarge. I haven't seen a performance that bad since Jar Jar Binks tried it. This is an appropriately titled movie, since Tom was rock-bottom at the time and everyone else has been scrapping the bottom of the acting barrel for years. I wouldn't be surprised if some of these "actors" had to act for food (a.k.a. porn). It isn't that this movie is enjoyable, it is more that it is not annoying (except for Sarge). Give it a chance as a rental, if you like low-budget modern schlock or Tom Sizemore.-Celluloid Rehab

Like most (heck, virtually all) mutant-monster films, Bottom Feeder doesn't bring anything new to the table, but, thanks to some decent acting, good chemistry, and plenty of monster cheese, it's quite an enjoyable romp. The plot follows a team of maintenance workers who run afoul of a crazy, burn-scarred billionaire's attempt to test an experimental super-healing serum, which of course creates a man-eating Rat Monster, as such ill-advised experiments invariably do. We're then treated to a three-way dungeon crawl involving the workers, the billionaire and his bodyguards, and a guy in a rubber suit. Very old-school, but still lots of fun.Best of all are the scenes between the head of the maintenance team, Vince (Tom Sizemore), and the billionaire's nasty henchwoman, Krendal (Wendy Anderson). They start as antagonists (she's working for the bad guys, after all), but after she throws in with our heroes in order to escape the monster, she becomes much more appealing, to the point where she and Vince seem to be flirting by the end of the film. And the bit where Vince grabs her cell phone to chew out the Burned Billionaire is just priceless.It's not Shakespeare, but if you want to spend an evening with a good, old-fashioned monster flick, grab some popcorn, pull up a seat, and enjoy.