The Hatching (2014)

Too much of everything

Thanks for the memories!

Surprisingly incoherent and boring

This is one of the few movies I've ever seen where the whole audience broke into spontaneous, loud applause a third of the way in.

Onviously a completey ridiculous story line but worth an hour and a half of anyones time. Acting was pretty good, decent production and raised a few smiles from Me throughout.

Returning back to his hometown, a young man who accidentally unleashed a vicious man-eating crocodile with his friends when he was a kid has started attacking and eating the villagers yet once they realize the crocodile isn't the only threat they head out to stop it.When this one works, it's due mainly to the fact that there's quite a lot to like here with the creature on the loose and stalking people. The opening sequence in the croc farm where it accidentally gets loose and turns on the kids in graphic fashion starts this off on a fine note, the creatures' rampage on the friends in the swamplands around town makes for a stellar series of chilling stalking scenes that delivers solidly and the group going out to first tackle the creature in the river gives this a solid outing that includes some fine action moments of them trying to use their plan to attack the creature which makes this one quite an enjoyable time. It also managed to have a great bit of fun afterward with the celebration at the town hall which keeps this one in a rather light and jovial setting, and once there keep on rolling through the second half where it gets the plot switchover into the cannibal slasher. This here picks up nicely in the final half due to the fine confrontations with the psychopathic duo in the swamplands where they all must break free to battle the new threat brought out at that time. Beyond the gore for the few kills, though, these here are all that work for this one since it does have some big problems. One of the main issues is the fact that there's just so little croc action throughout here that it really feels like a backseat character in its own film with the ease with which it's captured and then summarily dismissed for the cannibal duo. That storyline takes over the final half hour of the film without having the croc at all involved which does affect this one enough that it really lowers the film by really downplaying the central aspect it had spent so long establishing and throwing this side-plot that only had a few minor mentions beforehand into the main closing section of the film in its place. That limits the croc to even less screen time in an already cramped section here as this one hardly ever features the creature when it's the main point anyway as the slack pacing keeps it off- screen for long sections of time with only those few brief lively attacks to punctuate the time until that switchover which drops off even more, especially with the laughable duo brought to bear here which lowers that story even more. Lastly, the film's other problem is the special effects for the croc, which is so rubbery and lifeless that it really takes a lot of fear out of the creature with its fake creation quite prominent throughout here. These really hold this one back overall.Rated R: Graphic Violence, Graphic Language, Brief Nudity, violence against animals and graphic scenes of violence against children.

'The Hatching' tells the story of Tim (Andrew Lee Potts, known for the TV series 'Primeval' which had plenty of dinosaur fights to prepare him for this). 15 years ago as a kid, he released 2 crocodiles into an English swamp by mistake, after they stole eggs from the zoo nearby. Now he returns as a grown man because he inherited the company of his father. In between checking the books and partying with old friends, he goes fishing in the swamp - and finds two crocodiles grown to enormous size. And they're hungry. Many people disappear in that area or only parts of their bodies are found. Not all of the deaths are to blame on the crocodiles, though. Some members of the community have more terrible secrets to hide...I really enjoyed it and was surprised to see so few reviews here. This British movie is a nice variation from the typical American monster movie formula. Instead of screaming bikini chicks, you get a sick sense of humour here, and the story manages an unusual combination of monster movie and serial killer movie. I think it works, except for the unnecessary sequence attached after the actual ending: a narrator telling you what became of each character, as if it wasn't enough to know who died and who survived. They should have skipped that bit.

The Hatching is a weird but watchable horror spoof, from the UK.This film is so indescribably odd, its actually quite hard to review. Imagine, for a moment, a film script about a rustic village, a spot of serial killing, with a crocodile or two, throw in, just for fun. That's what you get and its such an exotic and implausible mix, on a certain level, it actually works. The standard of acting is reasonable, if not exceptional. The characterizations are for the most part, on the money but that's not to say there are not some noticeable shortcomings. The story meanders, more than a little and the characters don't really feel "complete". There's also a real lack of meaningful dialogue and whilst some opportunities for rustic Brit humour are taken up, just as many are missed. In short, not a bad film. Its quite watchable but nothing special either. Its a shame too, because with wittier, more concise scripting, it could have been more. Six out of ten from me.