Larva

Is this a horror film or sci-fi? Or maybe it is a not-so-subtle dig at the evil corporations that are forever riding roughshod over us little people in their relentless search for profit. Let's face it, nobody ever lost any friends for railing at big business, heck, even businessmen have bought into this narrative to some extent.

Here we see a new vet arriving in a small town that is on the cusp of a farming revolution, only thing is the company that is backing it has somehow created a mutant parasite that infects not only the new feed but the cattle, and then morphs into a giant bat, or something of that nature. Naturally our idealistic newcomer and his allies are engaged in a desperate rush to quarantine and destroy this pest before it takes over the state and the world, while the agents of the wicked corporation are intent only on hushing the whole thing up lest news leaks out and everybody turns vegetarian. And of course, the wicked capitalists have also succeeded in corrupting the local law enforcement.

As fairy tales go this one is fairly anodyne, that's if you don't read between the lines.

Larva (2005) is a movie that I recently watched on Tubi. The storyline follows some experiments on larva that get out of the lab and into the local cattle. As the cattle are slaughtered and turned into meat for the locals the cattle might not be the only ones infected by the parasites.

This movie is directed by Abram Cox (Mammoth) and stars Vincent Ventresca (The Invisible Man), Rachel Hunter (The Benchwarmers), William Forsythe (Raising Arizona) and Mercedes Peterson (Rattlers 2).

This has one of those predictable storylines where the entire movie you're waiting for the "experiment gone wrong" explanation. The acting is better than the writing and the dialogue is frustrating at times. The horror scenes are disappointing and the CGI isn't very good. The kills are just okay, which is too bad because there's a worthwhile concept buried deep in here.

Overall, this had a worthwhile premise that with better execution could have been very good. Unfortunately this falls short of its potential. I would score this a 3/10 and recommend skipping it.

I'll be honest in saying that I wasn't expecting much, and although it was better than expected I didn't get much either. The opening scene is actually quite good having a nice atmosphere to it, the make-up is generally impressive and there are two actors who do try hard and on the most part succeed, Vincent Ventesca is a charismatic lead and William Forsythe plays his role with crusty demeanor that suits him and his character well. However, the monster effects seem cool on paper but look silly on screen, consequently I found it difficult to be menaced by them. The haphazard editing also doesn't help, nor the generic and sometimes sluggish-sounding music. The action and gore is actually not badly paced or done, just that they are derivative of other films that have done certain scenes better, such as Alien with the exploding stomach idea. But the real problems with Larva(or MorphMan) are the clichéd characters(plus none of them are really that likable or well-developed, just how many times are we going to have the "dumb" sheriff idea?), formulaic and very predictable story(the ending you can actually see coming well before it happens because again I have seen endings like that before), the terrible, cheesy script such as someone going back for candy when they are running for their lives and the lack of any real suspense or thrills. I have definitely seen much worse acting, but acting-wise here only Ventesca and Forsythe really stood out. So all in all, lame but at the end of the day not too bad. 4/10 Bethany Cox

Having watched 1000+ movies, this one is just another one in the genre. It's has no exciting extra's at all. The story and plot are well known. Only a little different on the outside. Watching this movie is just as filling in the same mathematical formula, with other values for it's variables. Nothing new. The effect's are really bad done. Especially the 'monsters'. They just look like an old coat that is in someway washed but never ironed. The color is also not realistic. It's yellowed. Done with a meaning ? I don't know, it's just irritating to watch. I hate things like this to give a special setting to a movie. Do it with good acting, good special effects and a good story. Not with Yelowing the whole movie, I rather watch them in realistic coloring. All by all, if you're young and new to the movie-watching scene, it maybe worth a view. But if you're older and have seen a lot of movies, you really fall asleep by looking this one.

In Host, Missouri, the newcomer Dr. of Veterinary Science Eli Rudkus (Vincent Ventresca) is called by the farmer Jacob Long (William Forsythe) to exam one of his cows. The veterinarian finds a strange parasite in the animal and sends it to a friend in the Department of Agriculture for research. Later, he finds the same parasite in a creek and he summons the population for a meeting, warning that the cause might be the animal food. However, Fletcher Odermatt (David Selby), the wealthy owner of the local Host Tender Meals that has been providing free animal food for the farmers, brings his lawyer Hayley Anderson (Rachel Hunter) and discredits Eli. When a huge mutant parasite attacks Eli and Jacob, they discover that the meals are actually an experimental genetic cocktail that is growing parasites inside the kettles and people.

"Larva" is a surprisingly funny and entertaining B-movie. The flawed story is silly and trash and it is hilarious to see, for example, the veterinarian Eli using his bare hands touching the mutant parasite that has just been killed, or the chase in the hospital. Nevertheless the absurdness of the plot, I believe that fans of B-movies may like "Larva". My vote is six.

Title (Brazil): "Homem Larva" ("Larva Man")