"Masters of Horror" The Screwfly Solution (2006)

Director:

Joe Dante

Writers:

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

TV Series:

"Masters of Horror" (2005)

Original Air Date:

8 December 2006 (Season 2, Episode 7)

Genre:

Horror | Thriller

Plot:

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. |

Plot Keywords:

Virus | Precocious Child | Shot In The Chest | Sergeant | Flashback

Cast

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
Michelle Jeanpierre	...	Stripper #1
Dalias Blake	...	Slade
Dena Fox	...	Stripper #2
Randy Flagler	...	Male Passenger
Raugi Yu	...	Phantom
Court Young	...	Cameron
Sean Allan	...	Allen
Thomas Orr-Loney	...	Ian
Anthony Harrison	...	Ant
Myfanwy Meilen	...	May
Myk Gordon	...	Gorden
Joshua Hinkson	...	Joshua
Matthew Gray	...	Billy
Brent Chapman	...	Dale
Agam Darshi	...	Travel Agent (as Agam Darsh)
Ian Brown	...	Male Flight Attendant
Bart Anderson	...	Bart
Silya Wiggens	...	Sweeney
Richard Hendery	...	Johnny
Marcia Moulton	...	Woman at airport
Sean Devine	...	Hunter #1
Ted Kozma	...	Hunter #2
Darla Fay	...	Actress (as Darla Vanderbosche)
Colin Chapin	...	Actor
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Artine Brown	...	Bartender (uncredited)
Angela Case	...	Bikini Girl (uncredited)
Diego Martinez-Tau	...	Actor (uncredited)
Juan Carlos Velis	...	Dude (uncredited)

Directed by
Joe Dante

Writing credits
Mick Garris		(creator)
Sam Hamm		(teleplay)
James Tiptree Jr.		(short story)

Produced by
Keith Addis	....	executive producer
Morris Berger	....	executive producer
Steve Best	....	associate producer
Stephen R. Brown	....	executive producer (as Steve Brown)
Ben Browning	....	co-producer
Andrew Deane	....	executive producer
Mick Garris	....	executive producer
Adam Goldworm	....	co-producer
John W. Hyde	....	executive producer
Lisa Richardson	....	producer
Tom Rowe	....	producer
Pascal Verschooris	....	line producer

Original Music by
Hummie Mann

Cinematography by
Attila Szalay		(director of photography)

Film Editing by
Marshall Harvey

Casting by
Stuart Aikins
Sean Cossey
Lindsey Hayes Kroeger
David Rapaport		(as David H. Rapaport)

Production Design by
David Fischer

Art Direction by
Teresa Weston

Set Decoration by
Ide Foyle

Costume Design by
Lyn Kelly

Makeup Department
Howard Berger	....	special effects makeup
Lyne Denomme	....	first assistant makeup
Mike Fields	....	on-set key makeup artist (as Michael Fields)
Sarah Graham	....	on-set key makeup artist
Marcy Hodel	....	first assistant hair stylist
Gregory Nicotero	....	special effects makeup
Adina Shore	....	key hair stylist
Margaret Solomon	....	key makeup

Production Management
Margo Coughlin Zimmerman	....	production manager: Starz Productions (as Margo Zimmerman)
Sally Dixon	....	post-production supervisor
Sheri Mayervich	....	unit production manager
Stacey Jade Smart	....	executive in charge of production: Starz Productions
Pascal Verschooris	....	production manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Ania Musiatowicz	....	third assistant director
Darren Robson	....	second assistant director
Ian Samoil	....	first assistant director

Art Department
Andrei Andrianko	....	assistant art director
Nick Dibley	....	property master (as Nicholas Dibley)
Dylan Dowd	....	lead greens person
Jim Geddes	....	construction coordinator
John McIntosh	....	greens
Jake Miller	....	assistant property master
Nathalie Morin	....	assistant set decorator (as Natalie Morin)
Zbibgniew Scheller	....	construction foreman (as Zbish Scheller)
John Wilcox	....	paint coordinator
Jean Brophey	....	on-set dresser (uncredited)
Izabela Domachowski	....	set dresser (uncredited)
Les Ford	....	computer graphics designer (uncredited)
Scott Riddell	....	second assistant props (uncredited)

Sound Department
Anke Bakker	....	sound supervisor
Kevin Belen	....	re-recording mixer
Brian Campbell	....	dialogue editor
Jay Cheetham	....	background sound editor
Jacqueline Cristianini	....	adr supervisor
Jacqueline Cristianini	....	dialogue supervisor
Kris Fenske	....	sound designer
Devan Kraushar	....	sound effects editor
Jason Mauza	....	foley editor
Laurie Melhus	....	audio post-production coordinator
Glen Noseworthy	....	adr mixer
Iain Pattison	....	re-recording mixer
Sebastian Salm	....	sound mixer
Paul A. Sharpe	....	re-recording mixer (as Paul Sharpe)
Shane Shemko	....	foley artist
Colin Smith	....	boom operator
Cam Wagner	....	foley artist
Matthew Wilson	....	sound effects editor
Todd R. Mason	....	sound effects recordist (uncredited)

Special Effects by
Randy Ball	....	effects crew: K.N.B. EFX Group
Derek Heselton	....	best boy special effects
Wayne Szybunka	....	special effects coordinator
Veronica Torres	....	effects crew: K.N.B. EFX Group
Mike Hyrman	....	special effects technician (uncredited)
Attila Vaski	....	lead/fab/asst (uncredited)

Visual Effects by
Derek Babchishin	....	cg artist
Matt Belbin	....	digital effects editor (as Matthew Belbin)
Sébastien Bergeron	....	digital effects supervisor
Andrew Domachowski	....	cg artist
Annabelle Kent	....	digital compositor
Todd Liddiard	....	digital compositor
Adam Marisett	....	cg artist
Les Quinn	....	digital compositor
Lisa K. Sepp	....	visual effects producer (as Lisa Sepp-Wilson)
Julie Sweetin	....	cg artist (as Julie Bergman)
Jonah West	....	digital compositor
Lee Wilson	....	visual effects supervisor
Jayson Castro	....	visual effects production assistant (uncredited)

Stunts
Jim Dunn	....	stunt coordinator

Camera and Electrical Department
Sandy Cooper	....	first assistant camera
Lane Koch	....	first assistant camera
Mike Kolafa	....	gaffer (as Michael Kolafa)
Brock Miller	....	best boy grip
Steve Sherlock	....	key grip
Jared Smith	....	best boy lighting
Peter Wilke	....	camera operator: "b" camera
Richard Wilson	....	camera operator: "a" camera
Ian Gariepy	....	dolly grip (uncredited)
Jeremy Spofford	....	second assistant camera (uncredited)

Casting Department
Sandra-Ken Freeman	....	extras casting

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Glenna Owen	....	assistant costume designer
Tyler Tone	....	set costume supervisor
Debra Torpe	....	costume truck supervisor (uncredited)

Editorial Department
Nathan Atkins	....	assistant editor
Richard Cordes	....	color timer
Andrea Dixon	....	color timer
Asim Matin	....	assistant editor
Troy Sitter	....	post-production assistant
Matt Venables	....	post-production coordinator
Mike Williamson	....	editorial coordinator

Music Department
Mike Beckett	....	music editor
Jennifer Ross	....	music supervisor
Ed Shearmur	....	composer: main title music (as Edward Shearmur)

Transportation Department
Louie Hausner	....	transportation captain
John Swetlikoe	....	transportation coordinator
Duane Shearer	....	office driver (uncredited)
Jovan Vujatovic	....	picture car coordinator (uncredited)

Other crew
Christine Barrie	....	stand-in
Michael Bishop	....	key production assistant
Laura Collini	....	script supervisor (as Laura June Colini)
Genessa Davis	....	assistant production coordinator
Jim Desroches	....	production coordinator (as James Desroches)
Annie Doyon	....	assistant accountant
Scott 'Big Dog' Franklin	....	assistant location manager (as Scott Franklin)
Chris Garbasauskas	....	production assistant
Cameron Grierson	....	assistant to producer
Cameron Grierson	....	script coordinator
Richter Hartig	....	production auditor: Starz Productions (as Richter Q. Hartig)
Dave Harvey	....	assistant accountant
Elissa Howarth	....	production administration manager: Starz Productions
Andrea Kaufman	....	production coordinator: Starz Productions (as Andrea M. Kaufman)
Katy Lew	....	executive administrator
Susan Nestibo	....	location manager
Ross Redhead	....	assistant to producers
Adrian Salpeter	....	assistant to producers
Stephen Tibbetts	....	stand-in (as Stephen Tibbets)
Bill Vigars	....	unit publicist
Steven Vlasak	....	operations manager
Beverly Wiens	....	production accountant
Stephanie Brown	....	production assistant (uncredited)
Nancy Heller	....	office manager: Anthem Visual Effects (uncredited)
Krista Johnston	....	clearance (uncredited)
Peter Munro	....	location scout (uncredited)
Simona Pandele	....	production assistant (uncredited)

Production Companies

• Starz Productions
• Nice Guy Productions
• Industry Entertainment

Distributors

• Cinemax (2008) (Hungary) (TV)
• Kadokawa Entertainment (2008) (Japan) (DVD)
• Premiere (2009) (Germany) (TV)
• Showtime Networks (2006) (USA) (TV)
• Splendid Film (2008) (Germany) (DVD)
• Starz Home Entertainment (2007) (Australia) (DVD)
• Starz Home Entertainment (2007) (USA) (DVD)
• Vertice Cine (2008) (Spain) (DVD)

Special Effects

• K.N.B. Effects Group (special make-up effects)
• Anthem Visual Effects (visual effects)

Other Companies

• Thomas Cobb Design  main title design (as The Thomas Cobb Group)
• Sharpe Sound Studios  audio post-production
• Background, The  walla artists
• Rainmaker  post-production services
• Reunion Pictures  production services

Runtime:

59 min

Country:

Canada | USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Certification:

USA:TV-MA | Australia:R (2007) | Italy:VM14 | Germany:18 | Spain:18

Filming Locations:

Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

Company:

Starz Productions

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.

Goofs:

Factual errors: The photos of the girl murdered in Jacksonville, FL. are titled "Duval County Sheriff's Department". While Jacksonville is located in Duval County, the city and county governments are consolidated. The photos should read "Jacksonville Sheriff's Office".

Movie Connections:

Features "Masters of Horror: Imprint (#1.13)" (2006)

Soundtrack:

Threnody

Wryyyyyy?

I'm conflicted about this MOH. On one hand, its original source material was clearly supposed to deal with gender relations and the fears of a sex which ultimately always has to wonder (maybe not so deep down inside) whether that nice, well-mannered fellow buying them a drink might be an axe murderer. On the other, we have gratuitous sex scenes and a nice long look at a titty bar, ostensibly because it's a murder scene. So clearly there's a conflict of interest here.

Ultimately, it's the idiocy of all the characters that really ruined it for me. The wife is a blubbering mess who can't control her bratty daughter, the bratty daughter is obviously pumped so full of faux Spice Girls feminism she thinks that shaking her ass in front of potentially murderous construction workers is a good idea, and the husband ultimately refuses to take a shot that could protect him from the screaming crazies (a shot I'm assuming is some form of chemical castration) because "I'd know if I had psychotic symptoms... right?" Basically, the women are mostly portrayed as screaming hysterics, and men as crazed religious freaks. The only redeeming character is Elliot Gould as Barney, a kindly gay man and the only purveyor of sanity in crazy town -- and he doesn't even have that big a role. Basically, this is like an episode of The Outer Limits -- ignore the fact that all the characters are incompetent idiots, and you might be able to enjoy the underlying idea.