As you have probably guessed, this movie is very uneven. The first problem is that it is trying to be too many horror genres at once without achieving any semblance of hybridization.
First it wants to make you think it is a typical 70's-80's slasher flick by having a bunch of youth go to a secluded location and get offed one by one (4 of ten points). The director doesn't seem to care if you care about the main characters or not. They have no chemistry and just say the "F" word about a cagillion times. Then it tries to do "Deliverance" with some generic David Lynch by introducing the weirdo, inbred towns folks (8 points). The only problem here seems to be inability to find anyone that can do their roles believably. Then there is the obligatory sex scenes (6 points). Cerina Vincent is hot, but the director sadly underutilizes her (although she does most of the sex) and her boyfriend doesn't seem to notice (although the director does), except during the sex scenes. Finally the real star, the flesh eating virus hits our heroes and it tries to be a psychological thriller by keeping you wandering where the virus will strike next (8 points): I was pretty caught up in this part until the people started to speak. Again, better actors like those in "Rosemary's Baby" my have sent me jumping from my seat. Of course today, what would be horror without gore (5 points). Anyone that has seen more than 5 gore-fests have probably seen these tired old "skin eating" effects before and won't be to impressed. For good measure they threw in some "I Know What You Did Last Summer", but did not pursue it enough to make it more than filler. And last and certainly least is the "Government conspiracy, cover up" angle (4 points). There seemed to be no clear motivation as to why officials handled it the way they did.
In summary, this movie had a lot of great potential, but probably dropped the ball because of lack of money, talent, and time. It definitely needs to be re-made if we can get that MPAA monkey off the box-office back (can you say "Hayes Commission"?)
First it wants to make you think it is a typical 70's-80's slasher flick by having a bunch of youth go to a secluded location and get offed one by one (4 of ten points). The director doesn't seem to care if you care about the main characters or not. They have no chemistry and just say the "F" word about a cagillion times. Then it tries to do "Deliverance" with some generic David Lynch by introducing the weirdo, inbred towns folks (8 points). The only problem here seems to be inability to find anyone that can do their roles believably. Then there is the obligatory sex scenes (6 points). Cerina Vincent is hot, but the director sadly underutilizes her (although she does most of the sex) and her boyfriend doesn't seem to notice (although the director does), except during the sex scenes. Finally the real star, the flesh eating virus hits our heroes and it tries to be a psychological thriller by keeping you wandering where the virus will strike next (8 points): I was pretty caught up in this part until the people started to speak. Again, better actors like those in "Rosemary's Baby" my have sent me jumping from my seat. Of course today, what would be horror without gore (5 points). Anyone that has seen more than 5 gore-fests have probably seen these tired old "skin eating" effects before and won't be to impressed. For good measure they threw in some "I Know What You Did Last Summer", but did not pursue it enough to make it more than filler. And last and certainly least is the "Government conspiracy, cover up" angle (4 points). There seemed to be no clear motivation as to why officials handled it the way they did.
In summary, this movie had a lot of great potential, but probably dropped the ball because of lack of money, talent, and time. It definitely needs to be re-made if we can get that MPAA monkey off the box-office back (can you say "Hayes Commission"?)