Animals (2008)

Fantastic!

It is neither dumb nor smart enough to be fun, and spends way too much time with its boring human characters.

The plot isn't so bad, but the pace of storytelling is too slow which makes people bored. Certain moments are so obvious and unnecessary for the main plot. I would've fast-forwarded those moments if it was an online streaming. The ending looks like implying a sequel, not sure if this movie will get one

One of the worst ways to make a cult movie is to set out to make a cult movie.

After a football injury ended his career before it even began "Jarrett" (Marc Blucas) is now forced to work at a menial job with a boss who doesn't like him. His only respite is a bar where he goes to socialize with the owner "Jules" (Andy Comeau) and the waitress "Jane" (Eva Amurri Martino). One night a sexy young woman named "Nora" (Nicki Aycox) walks in and Jarrett is immediately attracted to her. Jane recognizes immediately that Nora is trouble and tries to warn Jarrett but her words fall on deaf ears. It appears that Nora has a unique malady which turns her into a ravenous beast similar to a werewolf and she wants Jarrett to be her new mate. Unfortunately, she already has a mate named "Vic" (Naveen Andrews) who she is desperately trying to escape from due to his cruelty and insane jealousy. Anyway, rather than disclose the entire details of the movie and risk spoiling it for those who haven't seen it I will just say that this was a pretty good low-budget horror film. Admittedly, the CGI wasn't that good but it had a good story and I liked the performances of Marc Blucas, Nicki Aycox and Naveen Andrews. However, I should probably caution viewers that there is quite a bit of sex and nudity which is certainly not appropriate for a general audience. Even so I thought it was a pretty good movie and I rate it as slightly above average.

What's up with my favorite magazine. I have them all, from number one up to issue October 2010, talking about fangoria. They used to be the trend setter into horror but sadly they are more into reviewing Hollywood crap and other shite. But still I keep my subscription due to years of searching to have the whole collection. This flick had a two page review and was said to be the next porn flick you wished you had never seen. For one thing they were right. I indeed hoped that I never waisted 9O minutes of my life on it. What the hell was this. There is of course the nudity but what has it to do with the storyline, nothing. And if it's gratuitous than it bothers me. They said porn, well, you never ever, and I've seen the full uncut, see a kitty cat or his bouncing balls giving it to her. So porn, no way. Is there blood. Yes but maybe for only for 5 minutes. To make it all worser, when they become the so called animals it's all CGI. Just watch the last 10 minutes if you want to see the blood. Just take the cheap CGI with it. Sadly it isn't even SBIG (so bad it's good). Why o why fango are you letting me down already for a few times?

Animals starts as down on luck washed up loser Jarrett (Marc Blucas) drowns his sorrows at his friend Jules (Andy Comeau) bar when an alluring stranger named Nora (Nicki Aycox) walks in, Nora show's interest in Jarrett & they end up sleeping together at his place. A rough night of sex leaves Jarrett with scratches & also late for work for which his boss fires him, even though Nora is seductive Jarrett's life begins to fall apart. Then a man named Vic (Naveen Andrews) turns up claiming that Nora is hers, after Nora leaves Jarrett begins to change as his basic animal instincts seem to be heightened. Jarrett discovers that Nora has infected him with the ability to awaken his deep animalistic desires, instincts & powers but at the cost of the craving for human blood...Directed by Douglas Aarniokoski this horror thriller was based on the novel Animals by John Skipp, I have not read the novel but by all accounts it's far superior to this filmed adaptation which is pretty bad to be honest. The basic concept & idea behind Animals is fairly original with some sort of infection that allows people to unleash their inner animal, be it that their sex drive is much higher or they are more aggressive to killing in cold blood for food. However the reasons behind this are all very ambiguous & unclear, is this some sort of disease or supernatural force? Even though you can call forth your inner animal that still doesn't explain why the affected are virtually invulnerable & can heal quickly, does it? How can Vic land on spiked railings & just get up & walk away? How can Jarrett be blown up in a car & by the following morning he's alive & well without so much as a scar? Animals tries to mix horror with a couple of gory death's & killer monster animals creatures with a few steamy sex scenes which are actually pretty tame & offer little more than some bare breast's. There's no background to the animals, who started it? How long has it been going on for? How many are able to change? At just under 90 minutes Animals doesn't exactly fly by, it's rather dull most of the time & Vic the main villain doesn't even get any significant screen time until the hour mark & it takes until the last ten or fifteen minutes before we see any transformations & the animal creatures coming out to play.The CGI computer effects are poor, when the animal creatures eventually appear at the end they look like cartoon ghost's & are not what I expected. There's a bit of gore, a throat is bitten out, there's some blood splatter, there are a couple of dead bloody bodies, there's a ripped-out heart & some flesh eating. There's a bit of nudity on show but nothing graphic, a few bare breast's & that's it. The film is rather flat & a bit dull to watch, I mean it's competent but forgettable.The IMDb says this had a budget of about $5,500,000 which surprises me, it looks a lot lower budget than that & it's no surprise that it has had trouble finding anyone to distribute it. Filmed in Utah & Reno. The acting is average, it's not great but it's tolerable.Animals is a disappointing attempt to mix horror & sex with a thriller styled plot that just doesn't work. Poor effects, a poor story with no background or reasoning & a predictable plot sink it without trace.

I have to say that I enjoyed this film. I relished the stunning cinematography and dynamic acting skills of both the male and female leads, as well as the many, many, many, sex scenes (none of which contributed to the plot. Hey, who doesn't love gratuitous tits every now and then?) Though I feel the ratio of tits to man-ass was greatly skewed in the wrong direction.In addition I really love how the director utilized the soundtrack to alert the audience of an impending sexual encounter. The throbbing beat really hammers home just how passionate the characters on screen really are. I also love that the viewing audience is made aware of the difference between the female villain and heroin by the differing elevator music. Nasty sex with bad girl=bow chicka bow wow. Good girl sex=bow chicka bow wow+ adult contemporary acoustic guitar. Well done.I especially enjoyed the fantastic cutting edge special effects. Blue hyena werewolf hybrids? Check. Mighty morphing mouths with sharp teeth? Check. Glowing gold and blue eyes? Check.I know what you're thinking, this movie sounds amazing. It has everything. And you're right, it does.