The Screwfly Solution (8 Dec. 2006)

When a virus overcomes the male population of the United States and turns them into murderous psychopaths, a mother and daughter escape across a country where their safety is in question.

Director:

Joe Dante

Writers:

Mick Garris (creator), Sam Hamm (teleplay),

Stars:

Jason Priestley, Kerry Norton, Linda Darlow

Cast

Episode cast overview, first billed only:
Jason Priestley	...	Alan
Kerry Norton	...	Anne
Linda Darlow	...	Bella
Brenna O'Brien	...	Amy
Steve Lawlor	...	The Private
Elliott Gould	...	Barney
William S. Taylor	...	The Mayor
Don House	...	Storekeeper
Nels Lennarson	...	Barekeeper
Steve Makaj	...	Mankeeper
J. Winston Carroll	...	General (as J.W. Carroll)
Tara Leigh	...	Sabbath
Rob Morton	...	Max
Nelson Leis	...	Rodney Bearden (as Nelson Carter-Leis)
Bill Mackenzie	...	Church

Storyline

When a virus overcomes the male population of the United States and turns them into murderous psychopaths, a mother and daughter escape across a country where their safety is in question.

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Plot Keywords:

virus | epidemic | animal castration | sardonic | british columbia | 

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Genres:

Horror | Thriller

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Certificate:

TV-MA

Details

Country:

Canada USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

8 December 2006 (USA)

Filming Locations:

Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

Company Credits

Production Co:

Starz Productions, Nice Guy Productions, Industry Entertainment

Technical Specs

Runtime:

59 min

Color:

Color

Did You Know?

Trivia

During the scene in which the soldiers were shown pornographic movies in the lab, the clip of the Japanese women was taken from 'Imprint', the 13th episode of the first season. Since it was decided that 'Imprint' was too graphic for television so was not aired, this was the first time it was seen in the US before being released on DVD.

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Goofs

(at around 45 mins) The "Stewart, British Columbia, October" text screen is supposed to say "November" since the other texts are monthly, the previous one was already "October", and the next one is "December".

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Connections

References Alien (1979)

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Soundtracks

"Threnody"
performed by Chimaira

User Reviews

An excellent first half, tapers off from there on.

Joe Dante directed Homecoming last season, and this one is a huge step up from that point. Of course, while I enjoyed Homecoming, I recognized that it wasn't especially scary. The Screwfly Solution plays like a Stephen King story, but with a little bit more sci-fi than he usually indulges in.

Around the world, males start killing females. It is unexplained, although the perpetrators claim God told them to do it. A scientist (played by Jason Priestly) attempts to figure out what to do about this, while his wife heads to Canada in an attempt to escape the whole mess.

The episode is strangely unbalanced. With the plot supplied, it could easily fill a feature film (or miniseries), however, the second half of it feels very slow. This is a side effect of having to trim events down to only the highlights of her life on the run.

There is considerable horror in the story, but the sense of horror decreases as the story continues through the second half, and we are filled with a sense of resignation to the downer ending that is impending. I should clarify though – the first half of the film is excellent in pacing and horror.

An earlier reviewer wrote "why did they go about it in such a gratuitously sadistic and misogynistic fashion?" This question is clearly answered by the movie. The easiest way to eliminate a population is to prevent it from breeding. If males were wiped out, it'd still be possible to continue the species. Without females, the species has no chance of survival. The gratuitously sadistic aspect of their method of infestation removal is strictly in the eye of the beholder.