Bugs starts with a cop (Xuan Fraser) chasing a suspect into subway tunnel construction site, once inside the cop is killed by something nasty lurking in the shadows... FBI agent Matt Pollack (Antonio Sabato Jr.) is called in when the cops limbless torso is discovered & is thought to be the work of a serial killer whom Pollack is after. Pollack disagrees but stays on the case when he finds some strange slime on the body, it is sent to entomologist Emily Foster (Angie Everhart) who confirms the substance is insect enzyme & she has never seen anything like it before. Meanwhile the half completed subway tunnel is hosting a VIP party on a train when the guests are attacked & slaughtered by large scorpion type insects that have been awoke from they're centuries long hibernation by the construction. Word of the massacre gets to Pollack & Foster who call in a special marine unit lead by officer Benton (Duane Murray) to prevent whatever's lurking down there from making it out...
This Canadian production was directed by Joseph Conti & I personally thought Bugs was a throughly entertaining & harmless way to pass 80 odd minutes (it states on the IMDb that with commercials it runs 120! Talk about ruining the pacing & flow of a film! But not the version I saw thankfully...). The script by Robinson Young, Patrick Doody & Chris Valenziano is at heart a pretty clichéd creature feature but I think one of the better ones that I have seen. Bugs has a conveyor belt script, the monster threat that become intelligent when the story needs them to be, the isolated location, the race against time, the hero, the scientist, the marines with big guns, the corrupt corporate official & the disposable creature food. Having said that the clichés aren't as annoying as usual, it moves along at a really nice pace has surprising amounts of gore, decent CGI & puppet creature effects, a neat underground subway location & has a good feel to it. One thing I did notice is how much it rips-off or pay homage, whichever way you want to look at it I suppose, to the film Aliens (1986) which in itself isn't a bad thing because every sci-fi horror lover knows how great Aliens is. I mean the marines sent into the creatures nest & their extermination relayed back via a video link & radio, the retreat from the nest to the safety of a getaway vehicle with the creatures in hot pursuit, the forming of barricades, the character's, one problem cropping up after another one being caused by an explosion, lots of dark tunnels & corridors, the strong female & male heroes, the fight with the queen at the end & just the overall feel of Bugs resembles Aliens very closely.
Director Conti does an OK job & it is certainly better than it's made for TV status would have suggested, it isn't the best film ever but I think Bugs is far from the worst. The creatures themselves look like a cross between a scorpion & spider & are pretty cool, Conti wisely keeps them in the shadows & flickering lights to maintain their creepiness & try to hide any deficiencies in the CGI which I thought was actually rather good. There are pleasing amounts of gore, the cop at the beginning is impaled & his limbless torso is found & medically examined, there are severed arms, sliced throats & Conti doesn't forget about the red stuff either as every attack seems to feature fountains of blood spraying everywhere which is by no means a bad thing.
Technically the Bugs is very good considering the TV budget limitations, it's somewhat bland & forgettable but it's well made & doesn't embarrass itself in any department. I must mention the computer systems in Bugs as they actually look plausible & realistic for a change. The acting was OK.
Bugs was a pleasant surprise, maybe I've seen so many bad 'creature feature' type films that a film like Bugs seems like a masterpiece. Hell, it's definitely better than Python (2000). I think Bugs is well worth a watch especially if you like these monster films.
This Canadian production was directed by Joseph Conti & I personally thought Bugs was a throughly entertaining & harmless way to pass 80 odd minutes (it states on the IMDb that with commercials it runs 120! Talk about ruining the pacing & flow of a film! But not the version I saw thankfully...). The script by Robinson Young, Patrick Doody & Chris Valenziano is at heart a pretty clichéd creature feature but I think one of the better ones that I have seen. Bugs has a conveyor belt script, the monster threat that become intelligent when the story needs them to be, the isolated location, the race against time, the hero, the scientist, the marines with big guns, the corrupt corporate official & the disposable creature food. Having said that the clichés aren't as annoying as usual, it moves along at a really nice pace has surprising amounts of gore, decent CGI & puppet creature effects, a neat underground subway location & has a good feel to it. One thing I did notice is how much it rips-off or pay homage, whichever way you want to look at it I suppose, to the film Aliens (1986) which in itself isn't a bad thing because every sci-fi horror lover knows how great Aliens is. I mean the marines sent into the creatures nest & their extermination relayed back via a video link & radio, the retreat from the nest to the safety of a getaway vehicle with the creatures in hot pursuit, the forming of barricades, the character's, one problem cropping up after another one being caused by an explosion, lots of dark tunnels & corridors, the strong female & male heroes, the fight with the queen at the end & just the overall feel of Bugs resembles Aliens very closely.
Director Conti does an OK job & it is certainly better than it's made for TV status would have suggested, it isn't the best film ever but I think Bugs is far from the worst. The creatures themselves look like a cross between a scorpion & spider & are pretty cool, Conti wisely keeps them in the shadows & flickering lights to maintain their creepiness & try to hide any deficiencies in the CGI which I thought was actually rather good. There are pleasing amounts of gore, the cop at the beginning is impaled & his limbless torso is found & medically examined, there are severed arms, sliced throats & Conti doesn't forget about the red stuff either as every attack seems to feature fountains of blood spraying everywhere which is by no means a bad thing.
Technically the Bugs is very good considering the TV budget limitations, it's somewhat bland & forgettable but it's well made & doesn't embarrass itself in any department. I must mention the computer systems in Bugs as they actually look plausible & realistic for a change. The acting was OK.
Bugs was a pleasant surprise, maybe I've seen so many bad 'creature feature' type films that a film like Bugs seems like a masterpiece. Hell, it's definitely better than Python (2000). I think Bugs is well worth a watch especially if you like these monster films.