Ticks

Alright, so having done quite a bit of Joe D'Amato, Bernard L. Kowalski and Spike Lee over the past couple weeks, I randomly chose another director I had experienced before, Tony Randal, and decided to study his movies for the week or so. I had experienced his work with his most popular movie, Hellraiser II. Naturally, my first instinct was to check out his Amityville entry: It's About Time, but checking his filmography, Ticks caught my eye, reminding me of similar movies like Slugs. Ready for a cheesefest, I turned it on, and while it ewasn't the biggest cheesefest... this was a lot of fun.

Psychologicallty screwed by a stunt his dad pulled when he was a kid, Tyler (Seth Green) is sent to an outdoor camp group for troubled teens, including the daughter of the campgrounds runner and a hoodlum from the streets. They have no idea that they're close to a marijuana operation run by a couple of hicks, as well as a bunch of mutant ticks who poison people, sending them hallucinations before they die.

OK, I'll admit that this was a pretty simple horror movie in this regard. We get a lot of horror movies like this. For a mid-90's movie, this felt like it belonged in the mid-80's. The direction and SFX kind of made that clear. Not to mention, none of the performers are really standing out, not even Seth Green. I mean, nobody here is that bad, but they aren't "good" either. And the major plot progression is more or less kinda simple.

Having said that, THIS MOVIE ****ING SCARED ME. Horror movies DON'T scare me. Even when I could predict the end result of a scare, I was having a wild ride. The scary moments are not only brought out by realistic tick puppetry, but skillfully directed and lit by Tony Randel in a way that feels like Malignant's little brother. And you should know, I really liked Malignant. I mean, that giant tick in the movie felt like a real monster, as if The Thing was being recreated. The climax felt real, fast-paced and action-centered without steering into action movie territory. And I recall the perfect lighting yet again (you could use some Advice from Tony Randel, Mr. Brett Kelly).

This brings me to the gore factor. It's never too much, even though some would classify this as a splatter film. The gore was definitely there, but it was never so much that it got in the way of the fear. It all felt real, even when squishing ticks. This is another way in which the SFX help the movie. We can also pair this with the delivery of the smaller details and subplots of the film, which go together well enough to make the movie an actual story of survival rather than just another monster cash grab.

Ticks is some solid fun for the B-Movie fan and is in the same league as Hellraiser II, which I thought was a decent sequel. Because of the surprising realism put in the effects and otherwise impossible plot, the movie is an understated classic with some obvious strengths and obvious flaws, and I would easily watch it again. Hell, it's the kind of movie I'd bring over to a friend's house for a Halloween marathon.

= 66/100.