A Review long in the making! Well, I'm writing it all in one day, but you get the hyperbole. Today's Film is Seedpeople, a 1992 Full Moon Film that is kind of rare. Finding it wasn't like opening up a Bunker in Peru or anything- just random luck finding it in a multi-Film set. I've seen it advertised on numerous Full Moon Releases, but never found it until recently. Was it worth the wait? Will it make me finally track down and watch Shrunken Heads or any of those Killer Eye Sequels? The Film comes to us from a Director with only a handful of feature Credits. The most notable Film for him is either Arena or The Dungeonmaster (in which he only Directed a Segment). He apparently still does the occasional Full Moon cash grab- like a 'Film' that is just people watching Puppet Film Clips-, so good for him. Unlike Evil Bong (which has 8 Films?!?), this is a one-and-done, a Full Moon rarity. How they made multiple Killjoy Films, but only one of these is anyone's guess. The Plot involves evil seeds from outer space, silly monsters and mind-control. It's not exactly original. If you ever wanted a dumber version of Invasion of the Body Snatchers mixed with Critters, you're in luck. Also seek help, you weirdo! Is this forgettable or a hidden (sort of) gem? To find out, read on...
A man- our Lead- wakes up in some sort of room with a head injury. He's strapped down when a Government Agent starts to question him. He tells his story.
Not to jump ahead, but you see the Twist coming, right? It's super-obvious!!!
He returned home to Comet Valley, where he left behind personal drama. He's here to study more meteor rocks that just got discovered.
The Sheriff- aka his ex-lady's new beau- finds a weird Triffid-like Tree...which shoots him with ooze and makes a mutant double of him.
Said double is one of three creatures, which usually roll around like the aforementioned Critters.
They look silly, but just the right kind of silly for a Creature Feature.
Only one man figures out the truth without being corrupted. Naturally, he looks insane while doing so.
It all relates to a Meteor that struck the now-ironically-named Valley. Seeds are apparently the 'best way to travel in Space' according to him. That Meteor, naturally, was a giant seed.
Anyone going to question this logic? Nah.
The alien has controlled most of the Town by now and wants to spread its seed around to conquer the Earth.
That sounded more gross than I meant.
After a long, silly climax, they seemingly-free the people and burn the seeds in a fiery crash.
...only for it to be (obviously) revealed that they survived (HOW?!?), took over everyone again and they kill our Lead off-screen.
This is what happens when you write a Story and THEN add a Twist. The End.
A sometimes fun, but mostly-silly mess. The core premise- aliens and their seeds conquer a Town- is fine. It's not *original,* but it's fine. The problem is that they don't quite know how they want things to work. At one point, they seemingly-kill and replace people. At another point, they just expose you to the seeds and control you. They thrown in the idea that UV Light hurts them (I don't know why) and this somehow breaks the control over you. Why and how? You seeing the light hurts the thing inside of you somehow and it dies...I guess. They don't say, so how can I? It's also not clear why they need to keep you around if they can replace you...unless there's an Addendum to Rule C, Part 2 of Alien Body Takeover Rules that I missed. Ignoring that, the Acting is okay. One weird bit of casting- a Woman plays the Mother of a Girl...who's Actress is only 9 years younger! Eww and/or huh? The Lead has one of those generic looks that made me sometimes think of him as Steve Railsback, but other times as Randy Orton or the guy from Time Chasers. I should also note that Sonny Davis is here Full Moon Regular Sonny Davis is here as a random guy, making this one of his earliest Films with them. Coincidentally, his most recent credit is a Short Film called Seed. Fate works in mysterious ways, folks! If this was more of a Creature Feature, it would work. If it was more of a Body Snatcher Film, it would also work. Stupid and illogical twist aside, the Film is torn between its two halves like that girl from The Hitcher. Pick a Movie and go with it. At the very least, don't make it super-obvious when it was made too (if you want to avoid it being dated)…
Next time, another random Film for no reason. I can't tell you if I don't know, now can I? Stay tuned...
Not to jump ahead, but you see the Twist coming, right? It's super-obvious!!!
They look silly, but just the right kind of silly for a Creature Feature.
Anyone going to question this logic? Nah.
That sounded more gross than I meant.
This is what happens when you write a Story and THEN add a Twist. The End.
This one always perplexed me. It feels like there were multiple reshoots that messed it up; not that it would have been good in the first place, but it seems much messier in the way the finished film it set up. That ending in particular; it seems to suggest there was supposed to be more (maybe a standard "they think it's over but one survived" ending?), but then it cuts short for a downbeat ending that feels like it was tacked on post-production.
ReplyDeleteI once read Charles Band commenting that Seedpeople was the only Full Moon movie that they would never try to make a sequel from. That suggests either some copyright issues or some bad blood with the director. I never found out which...