Top of the Food Chain (1999)

Director:

John Paizs

Writers:

Phil Bedard (written by)
Larry Lalonde (written by)

Release Date:

10 March 2000 (Canada)

Genre:

Comedy | Horror | Sci-Fi

Plot:

Something is eating the residents of Exceptional Vista!

Plot Keywords:

Scientist | Cult Favorite | Perversion | Playing With Food | Spoof

Awards:

6 nominations

Cast

Robert Bockstael	...	Jan Bathgate
Lorry Ayers	...	Pat aka Saris
Ron Gabriel	...	Leslie Binkley, General Store
Bernard Behrens	...	Mayor Claire, Exceptional Vista
James Allodi	...	Deputy Dana
Peter Donaldson	...	Kim Hickey
Fiona Loewi	...	Sandy Fawkes, Motel Owner
Campbell Scott	...	Dr. Karel Lamonte, Atomic Scientist
Maggie Butterfield	...	Mrs. Shelley Bathgate
Hardee T. Lineham	...	Officer Gayle
Tom Everett Scott	...	Guy Fawkes, Sandy's Bro
Nigel Bennett	...	Michel O'Shea
Elisa Moolecherry	...	Chris Marlowe
Kathryn Kirkpatrick	...	Abby the Witch
Steve Lucescu	...	Creature #1

Also Known As:

Invasion (USA) (DVD title)
Invasion! (USA) (DVD box title)
Welcome to Exceptional Vista (Europe)

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for gore and sex-related material.

Runtime:

99 min | Germany:86 min (TV version)

Country:

Canada

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

France:U | USA:PG-13

Filming Locations:

Caledon, Ontario, Canada

Company:

Bedard/Lalonde Amusements

Trivia:

The trophy fish Sandy takes off the wall to defend herself is a coelocanth. Coelocanths were thought to be extinct until one was caught in the 1930s.

Quotes:

Dr. Karel Lamonte, Atomic Scientist: We found the remains of a dead human corpse, deceased, in the hilly, lumpy, bumpy part of town outside of town.

A very funny movie that exceeds expectations in every way - see it!

This is a remarkable little movie. I didn't really expect much when I started watching it - after all it's a low-budget sci-fi spoof made in rather obscure circumstances. But it truly is excellent. It's finely written, well executed, and very, very funny - I stopped the playback of the movie numerous times just to give myself time to savour some of the great moments and laugh at them properly without missing anything else. The script is consistently sharp and intelligent... and the movie also has the other two requisites of great comedy - well-judged timing and high quality straight-men. It's sort of a spoof on old sci-fi movies such as The Thing and Invasion Of The Body Snatchers... but that's only the start... the movie just has an off-kilter insight into human craziness that's not quite like anything. Actually the film to which it bears the closest comparison is the Rocky Horror Picture Show... although it's not a musical. Still I could easily imagine audiences watching Top Of The Food Chain over and over again and reciting their favourite lines along with the characters. Unfortunately this probably won't happen... it's an obscure movie, and will probably lapse into oblivion without ever finding much of an audience - which would be a great shame... so go out of your way to see it - you won't regret it.