Mimic (1997)

Three years ago entomologist Dr. Susan Tyler genetically created an insect to kill cockroaches carrying a virulent disease, now the insects are out to destroy their only predator, mankind!

Director:

Guillermo del Toro

Writers:

Donald A. Wollheim (short story "Mimic"), Matthew Robbins (screen story),

Stars:

Mira Sorvino, Jeremy Northam, Alexander Goodwin

3 wins & 6 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Mira Sorvino	...	Dr. Susan Tyler
Jeremy Northam	...	Dr. Peter Mann
Alexander Goodwin	...	Chuy
Giancarlo Giannini	...	Manny
Charles S. Dutton	...	Leonard
Josh Brolin	...	Josh
Alix Koromzay	...	Remy
F. Murray Abraham	...	Dr. Gates
James Costa	...	Ricky
Javon Barnwell	...	Davis
Norman Reedus	...	Jeremy
Pak-Kwong Ho	...	Preacher
Glenn Bang	...	Yang (as Glen Bang)
Margaret Ma	...	Chinese Woman
Warna Fisher	...	Bag Lady

Storyline

A disease carried by common cockroaches is killing Manhattan children. In an effort to stop the epidemic an entomologist, Susan Tyler, creates a mutant breed of insect that secretes a fluid to kill the roaches. This mutant breed was engineered to die after one generation, but three years later Susan finds out that the species has survived and evolved into a large, gruesome monster that can mimic human form.

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Plot Keywords:

insect | disease | entomologist | epidemic | cockroach | 

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Taglines:

For thousands of years, man has been evolution's greatest creation... until now.

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Genres:

Horror | Sci-Fi

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for terror/violence and language

Details

Official Sites:

Official Facebook Official site

Country:

USA

Language:

English Italian

Release Date:

22 August 1997 (USA)

Also Known As:

Judus

Filming Locations:

Disused lower platform, Bay subway station, Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Box Office

Budget:

$25,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

£487,821 (UK) (26 June 1998)

Gross:

£1,485,223 (UK) (17 July 1998)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Dimension Films, Miramax Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

105 min 112 min (director's cut)

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital SDDS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Originally planned as a single 30-min. short as part of a feature of sci-fi/horror/comedy shorts by Miramax. The other segments also grew into the features Impostor and Alien Love Triangle.

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Goofs

In the last scene where the male bug is struck by the train, you see it struggling to hold onto the front of the train for a while. It manages to hang in there for a little while before being pulled under and splattered everywhere. But when Dr Susan looks around the corner, after the bug is killed, she sees parts of the bug just meters away from where she was hiding. The bug should be further down the tracks, because it was dragged for ages before going under.

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Quotes

Susan Tyler: Sometimes an insect will even mimic its predator.

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Connections

Referenced in Vecinos: El ataque de las cucarachas (2005)

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Soundtracks

"By The Stream"
By Alec Gould
Provided by Association Production Music

User Reviews

Dark and atmospheric horror

In New York a disease carried by cockroaches threatens to wipe out a whole generation of children. A scientist, Susan Tyler, breeds a new bug that mimics the cockroach and wipes out the disease. However years later something is living in New York's subways that looks human. Tyler suspects that her breed has not died out but has evolved to imitate it's natural predator - us. Her investigations into the subway lead her to more than she bargained for.

This is an atmospheric thriller from Guillermo del Toro, director of The Devil's Backbone and Cronos. He manages to mix great director with good old fashioned monster horror to great effect. The concept itself is clever, even if the idea of bugs evolving to look very like humans is a little far fetched. However, once the action moves to the subway the fact that the bugs are clearly lethal no matter what they look like, makes this less important. The film is quite short and makes the action come quicker and seem more urgent. Several people get killed by the bug that wouldn't usually get killed in this sort of horror (children for example), this is very effective as it is quite scary to see the unexpected happen.

The mood is dark throughout and Del Toro uses the sewers and subway to great effect, creating a real sense of claustrophobia - like the humans have entered the bug's world and not the other way round. The bugs are shown early on in the film - usually not a good idea (keep it hidden in the Jaws way), but here the special effects are good enough to make the bug really believable. However the horror is not in seeing the bugs but in they way they hunt and kill - the fear is in what could happen. That's why seeing them doesn't take anything away.

The cast are great, Sorvino especially is very good in the lead. Jeremy Northam and Charles S. Dutton are good in support and Abraham Murray adds a bit of cameo class (though his role is quite unnecessary). But the director is the real star adding some genuine scares and real mood to a film that could have easily been just another creature-feature that goes straight to video and straight to the back of your mind.

Overall a superior creature horror film.