It Came from the Desert (2017)

A pulpy monster movie inspired by the cult classic 1980s video game "It Came from the Desert," featuring rival motocross heroes and heroines, kegger parties in the desert, secret underground military bases...and of course giant ants!

Director:

Marko Mäkilaakso

Writers:

Trent Haaga, Marko Mäkilaakso (story)

Stars:

Harry Lister Smith, Alex Mills, Vanessa Grasse

4 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Harry Lister Smith	...	Brian
Alex Mills	...	Lukas
Vanessa Grasse	...	Lisa
Mark Arnold	...	Dr. Renard
Callum McGowan	...	Tim Guarisco
Andrew Horton	...	Craig Guarisco
James Alper	...	Vodka Guy
Michael Majalahti	...	Eradicator
José Varela	...	Jorge (as Jose Varela)
Jose Leonardo Garcia Torres	...	Flaco
Ross Ellis	...	Party Host
Gregory Rowbottom	...	Brad
Millie Smith	...	Hot Random Girl
Aino Sirje	...	Dancer
Joanas Salin	...	Camper Van Boy

Storyline

A pulpy, action monster movie, inspired by Cinemaware's cult 1980s video game "It Came from the Desert". A nostalgic tribute to creature features from the 1950's, It Came From The Desert features rival motocross heroes and heroines, kegger parties in the desert, secret underground military bases, romantic insecurities...and of course giant ants.

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Plot Keywords:

animal | weapon | adventuress | gun | car | 

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Taglines:

Get Ready to Scream!

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Genres:

Action | Adventure | Comedy | Horror | Sci-Fi | Thriller

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Did You Know?

Trivia

The narrator at the beginning of the movie says the exact thing that is said at the beginning of the computer game.

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Quotes

[last lines]
Lukas, Brian, Lisa: Ready? We're Steady... Watch It Burn

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Crazy Credits

Mid-Credit Scene shows different spots from the underground bunker before fixing on a locked door with a triangular label with "DANGER", "T.H.E.M.-001-X" and "ANT MIND" on their respective sides. Followed by an opening sound after it cut to black.

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Connections

Features It Came from the Desert (1992)

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Soundtracks

6(66) Feet Under
written by Arttu Kuosmanen
performed by Santa Cruz

User Reviews

Solid and enjoyable if flawed creature feature

Heading out to the desert, a guy and his brother trying to celebrate a racing championship with the friends stumble upon an abandoned military facility doing research on gigantic killer ants which get loose and terrorize the party forcing them to overcome their bravery and stop the colony from spreading.

Overall, this one was quite an exciting entry. One of the best elements present here is the old-school style tone and feel present throughout here. This one brings about a great sense of fun and charm which comes through not only in the general setup of the secret government getting loose but also from the idea of the experimental video played to inform them of what's happening which comes straight from that time period. with the type of action usually found in such a film also premiering rather frequently and there's a lot of good to be had with this old-school setup. That action holds this one up for the most part. The opening attacks set this going on a nice note, while the series of encounters within the facility where they first find the ants have plenty to like. The ants taking out the party offers some great moments of the swarm looking to overcome the different party members there as well as the chases on those who are attempting to flee the scene that provides plenty of swarming over their bodies in addition to the action-packed carnage. Coupled with the stellar action underground in the finale as thy free the captive partygoers and stop the queen ant using all manner of high-energy action confrontations, these here are the film's best aspects overall. There are a few issues to be had with this one. The biggest problem here is the fact that the tonal changes throughout here become quite distracting as the film constantly tries to switch between goofy old-school monster movie and creepy creature feature. As the ants are constantly mentioned to be a devastating threat due to the intelligence of the breed and their ravenous behavior from nearly every source they come across, the film's constantly manner of having the ants giggle, laugh and talk-trash to each other which is inherently goofy and disjointed tone with this one taking on these wildly varying tons so rapidly in a matter of a few minutes. The other real issue here is the utterly moronic leads that border on the dangerously stupid. The idea of the two releasing the ants from the colony has to take place here, but just simply rushing into an obviously abandoned and dangerous military facility just because of the rush doing so gives them is utterly idiotic. The idea of overlooking so much obvious ploys against their safety they just blindly go into means that there's very little interest or care for the characters here as they continually display such unrealistic rationale and motivations for everything they do or spout off such statements that they end up sounding so stupid as to be questionable functioning adults. Otherwise, there isn't much else really wrong here.

Rated Unrated/R: Graphic Language and Violence.

Details

Official Sites:

Official Facebook

Country:

Finland UK Canada

Language:

English Spanish

Release Date:

7 September 2018 (Finland)

Also Known As:

It Came from the Desert

Filming Locations:

Almeria, Andalucia, Spain

Box Office

Budget:

EUR400,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

AMP International, Cinemaware, Oy Bufo Ab

Technical Specs

Runtime:

90 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

16:9 HD