The Hive (2015)

Fun premise, good actors, bad writing. This film seemed to have potential at the beginning but it quickly devolves into a trite action film. Ultimately it's very boring.

After playing with our expectations, this turns out to be a very different sort of film.

It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.

This is a dark and sometimes deeply uncomfortable drama

I tend not to look for horror films anymore. Call me jaded but I grew up in the '80s. By the time I turned twenty there was nothing I hadn't seen, whether it was done well or badly. CGI ruined the rest! But the past few years has seen a resurgence in excellently crafted and executed horror films and The Hive is the latest that I must rank so highly. I believe this to be one of the best of the decade.Don't think zombies when you see the trailer. Think Invasion of the Body Snatchers and Evil Dead. Don't think tweeny love story like it was marketed. Although it has those elements, and they are a driving force, they're done well and quite maturely.This is one of those movies that wades neck deep in the kind of horror that gave you nightmares as a kid and yet it also has the intelligence of Christopher Nolan's Memento, yet with a dash of Friday 13th and the late '90s Liev Schreiber sci-fi horror Phantoms.I had very few hang-ups, going in with zero expectations, and left with zero hang-ups, all but for the choice in music at the end credits and the slightly cliché end narration.The rest, from beginning to end, is an exercise in creepy, suspenseful, horror with a mind of its own; and possibly a secret subtext with a message about our modern society.That dormitory scene later on...

I didn't know what to exactly expect from The Hive, and after having watched it, my ambivalence remains, because despite including an interesting premise and an attractive visual style, the screenplay tends to deflate as we start to guess where the "big mystery" is heading, not to mention that some poor performances ruin various scenes which should have been shocking but end up being just irritating due to the null talent from the actors. Nevertheless, I appreciate the fact that director David Yarovesky decided to face such an unusual project in his first film. First, the pros: the mystery contained in The Hive is interesting, and it is well built in order to keep us in suspense about its origin and possible evolution. Co-screenwriters Yarovesky and Will Honley play with our expectations, offering us vague clues of an uncertain meaning... Are we in the middle of a zombie invasion, a multiple satanic possession or a simple epidemic of apocalyptic proportions? Fortunately, the answer is more complicated (even though it includes a bit of all that), and it's interesting to build the puzzle at the same time as the main character. At least, that's what I felt during the first half of The Hive. But eventually, new clues to solve the mystery are revealed, and that's when it feels a bit tiring to spin around the same events while the main character writes notes on the walls and experiments repetitive flashbacks to reach the "big revelation" we had been waiting from half an hour before. However, the main problem is the bad performances from Gabriel Basso as the main character and Jacob Zachar as his best friend. Both feel very forced in their roles, and as a consequence, it's difficult for the audience to root for their characters. Fortunately, the supporting actors make a decent work in their roles, including Kathryn Prescott, Gabrielle Walsh, Elya Baskin and Sean Gunn. In conclusion, The Hive managed to keep me interested, and I can give it a moderate recommendation as a curious fusion of horror and science fiction. Its second half decays a bit, but it still brings us new information to complement the mystery I felt kinda predictable. With better actors than Basso and Zachar and a more refined screenplay, The Hive might have been a hidden gem; but in its current state, it fell short of its big potential, and even though I found it interesting, it didn't leave me completely satisfied.

My quick rating - 6,6/10. I was completely surprised by this movie (especially after reading a review or two). This was a very well crafted film, almost to the point that I think the creators may have overshot their original idea in the process. At one point it was almost like a "Holy smokes, we could do this now...." moment and the story shifted. I can't say for sure that happened since I have nothing to do with the flick, but check it out yourself. The acting was done well, for this type of film since 3/4 of the time, they had to be possessed and spit out tar lol. The makeup was done well since they all were coated in fluids almost throughout the film. I guess letting you know that a young adult wakes with complete amnesia locked in a room and must figure out what happens and why via notes left by himself? and also flashbacks he has. This involves paying attention to the movie or you will get lost since this is filmed in a music video style (or normal terms, no camera shot lasts more then 10 seconds). I think somewhere hidden in here was a deeper message that should be sorted out for each viewer. Overall, I see a very unheard of flick that flies in under the radar and should be given some serious attention. David Yarovsky has created a very deep film and I look forward to more of his work.

I will say that I enjoyed this movie. Now I know there were some things in the movie I didn't believe completely meshed well and some scenes weren't explained well enough for me but overall I think they did a really good job.Went in this movie thinking that it could be a host of many clichéd themes and I should be prepared to drop it at the half way mark in the movie. After the 30 minute mark I can say that the movie had me at a point where I needed to watch it till the end. Now the ending was not as exciting as I hoped for but at least it gave me some type of finality.Now I know my review wasn't very descriptive on the storyline or the characters but I will say this, try to avoid any reviews that give anything away. The movie is much better when you have no clue on what's going on from the very beginning.