Immediately upon being fired as an office worker, Cooper Flynn (Christoper Marquette - 'Alpha Dog' / 'Girl Next Door') and his female boss Maureen (Deborah Geffner) hear an intense buzzing noise. Fast forward several days, and everyone across the globe is encased in webbed cocoons. Cooper unwebs himself and his boss, whose daughter Sara (Brooke Nevin - 'Animorphs' / 'The 4400') was outside waiting in a car when the buzzing occurred. Venturing outside to unweb Sara results in the boss' inferred death by a giant, winged insect, but Cooper and Sara go back inside. There they unweb several, a loose collection of survivors. Together, they eventually form a plan to unweb their family members, and hide in the bomb shelter Cooper's father (Ray Wise - 'Twin Peaks' / 'RoboCop') has. Of course, such plans never unfold the way they were meant to.
Initially, what drives the movie is each character's desire to make sure their loved ones are fine, as well as contacting appropriate authorities to deal with the situation. Although it isn't exactly an original premise to drive a movie along, the premise serves its purpose. Writer Kyle Rankin could've opted in favour of a claustrophobic ambience in the vein of 1968's 'Night of the Living Dead', where zero communication as well as being confined to an empty house subtly instills psychological unease into the viewer. As opposed to choosing that easier route however, Rankin selects the more difficult route of tackling the subject on a global scale. Does that reap dividends? Truth be told, no.
Christopher Marquette's lead turn as Cooper Flynn sees Marquette play a wise-cracking type, an unlikely hero whose personality traits don't endear him to the opposite gender. Character flaws occur, one being his frosty relationship with his father, and such flaws mean that Marquette's portrayal is credible. A love interest inevitably exists, and that comes in the form of Sara, who initially dislikes Cooper's smart aleck humour. While such a role doesn't require an Oscar performance, Nevin is adequate. Sara's capture by insects obviously prompts Cooper's desire to infiltrate their nest, which paves the way for 'Infestation''s finale.
Kinsey Packard provides a supporting role as Cindy, whose dumb blonde turn unfortunately is a cardboard stereotype. Such traits see Cindy applying lipstick in several instances, and where the group opt to leave the office building to visit their respective loved ones, she refuses to change her high heels to trainers at Sara's suggestion - despite the fact the sound of clattering heels attracts the blind insects. Two other characters conveniently form a part of the film, namely Leechee (Linda Park), and the father of Cooper, Ethan Flynn. Leechee just happens to have an extensive knowledge of venom and poisons, helping the pack, but she stays behind to free others from their webbing. Ethan, meanwhile, is a retired military employee who just happens to own a bomb shelter in the event of war breaking out.
The insects aren't a visually wonderful spectacle, to be frank, and fail to intimidate - for example, human / insect hybrids such as Cindy's brother Chad (Mike Straub) seem merely like humans with insect legs attached. These visuals are slightly greater than those within the fifties bug movies 'Infestation' pays tribute to, but budget constraints must be taken into account. After all, this is a B-movie.
Horror aficionados will enjoy 'Infestation', but those who demand much from horror films will not. Certainly not a genre classic, this won't inspire much discussion amongst horror circles. The movie's central failure lies in the fact its unclear of its identity; while 'Infestation' has been marketed as a horror comedy, only occasional laughs happen. 'Infestation' isn't exactly frightening either, nor does it exploit gore to repulse the viewer. To be successful as a horror comedy, the film would need to be quite funny, or to be successful as a horror film, it would need to frighten. Sadly, 'Infestation' does neither. Another great flaw is the movie's conclusion, which is a damp squib. A clever, powerful ending might've saved 'Infestation', but that never arrives - what arrives instead is a vague ending where conclusions are left for the viewer to decide.
Reviewed by Robert Gray
