Habitat (1997)

Director:

Rene Daalder

Writer:

Rene Daalder (writer)

Genre:

Sci-Fi | Fantasy

Tagline:

It'll Grow On You!

Plot:

In a future world where Earth's ozone layer has been completely destroyed, a brilliant but obsessed scientist...

Plot Keywords:

Ozone Layer | Bare Chested Male | Set In Future | Bare Chested Male Bondage | Hostile Environment

Cast

Balthazar Getty	...	Andreas Symes
Tchéky Karyo	...	Hank Symes
Alice Krige	...	Clarissa Symes
Kenneth Welsh	...	Coach Marlowe
Laura Harris	...	Deborah Marlowe
Brad Austin	...	Blaine
Christopher Heyerdahl	...	Eric Thornton (as Chris Heyerdahl)
Kristen Holden-Ried	...	Daryl (as Kris Holdenried)
Daniel Pilon	...	Strickland
Lynne Adams	...	Tara Fisher
Susan Almgren	...	Ellen Bark
Amanda Blitz	...	Chris
Gouchy Boy	...	Soldier #2
Daniel Gautier	...	Soldier #3
Terri Hanauer	...	Myra Johnson

MPAA:

Rated R for sexuality, language and some violence/gore.

Runtime:

USA:103 min (Cinémathèque Québécoise print) | Canada:120 min (including commercials)

Country:

Canada | Netherlands

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.78 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

Canada:14+ (Ontario) | Germany:16 | Portugal:M/12 (video premiere) | USA:R

Company:

August Entertainment

Trivia:

This is the only theatrical movie filmed in Sony's early analog High Definition format. Sony donated the equipment and technical support in an attempt to popularize the format. The High Definition video was then transferred to film for release.

Quotes:

Coach Marlowe: You ever heard of hygiene? Even animals lick themselves clean! I spend a lot of time with my boys in the shower, and I teach them that even body odour isn't just smell: it's bacteria, it's germs.

Soundtrack:

Tradedy

Interesting story with promise.

Decent ecological sci-fi film that tells the story of an Earth reduced to a barren wasteland, and a scientist that decides to change all that. An experiment with bacteria, algae, electricity and who knows what else, claims the life of the scientist, but then his family begin to notice their home slowly turning into a rain forest. The teenage son plays his role well, embarrassed by his flower child mother, and his stand off-ish father, he just wants to fit in. But despite being the target of his peers' ridicule, he manages to land the affections of one of the prettiest girls in school. If only that skinny dipping scene could've happen to me in high school! Anyway, as the house keeps growing, the son slowly develops certain powers that allow him to stand up to his oppressors.

Habitat has a good story, but seems to have run short on special effects funds with 25% of the movie left to film. Some of the interior shots of the growing house are both beautiful and grotesque, but then we end up with strange scenes like a certain explosion at the end, that looks like they rigged a train set model with firecrackers, lightly covered it with moss, and let it blow.

Another one in the "detach your brain before watching" genre. I like movies like this. There's so much seriousness in our day to day lives, that when I have the time to watch a movie like Habitat, I like to just sit back, and absorb it. Much like the house did to certain antagonists in this film.