I knew for my third review I wanted to cover a “bug horror” movie. I say bug rather than insect because the creatures are often arachnids and invertebrates instead of true insects. Bug horror is fun because even being a branch of nature horror, it itself branches off into different subgenres, often spilling into body horror or the campy giant bug horror. Some movies like this one blend these two concepts together.
Insecticidal is a 2005 movie that—exists. I can’t find a ton about it. The wiki page is incomplete and IMDB had about as much to say about it. That being a basic synopsis and a handful of actors that haven’t been in anything significant with the exception of Samantha McLeod who had a bit role in Snakes on a Plane, so we’ll be seeing her again in the future. The movie also features Travis Watters, a Canadian wrestler turned two-bit actor who may or may not be a standup comedian now. I’m not sure. Can’t find a ton about the guy and overall he seems to be a non-entity. I also love how that got the secondary girl for the cover.
A college girls experiment goes awry and giant bugs terrorize a sorority house. That’s the plot. To say more is spoiler territory because there just isn’t a lot going on in this movie. No real hook to sell you. Sorry. The CG looks more akin to the 90’s. The acting is at times surprisingly good, especially when characters point out the insanity of the situation. However, most of the dialogue is stilted and was probably memorized right before the scene took place. The music score sometimes works, but it’s off so much that I assume the times when it’s on is accidental. Not to mention the goofy sound effects. And no joke, some of the “effects” and props clearly came from a party store. Having said all that I actually recommend this movie.
No, I’m not having a stroke here. I really do recommend this. But to explain why I have to go into the spoiler review.
Cami is your stand ‘ugly duckling’ who is attractive but we should think she’s a nerd because she wears glasses. And as a nerd, she has to be into science stuff like insects. Truly this lost soul will never find her way in society. Actually, this is something good I can say about this movie. It jumps right into the meat of the story, what meat exists. The writers knew why I came to this movie, and they didn’t fuck around with my time getting to it. Well played writers.
So Cami’s scorpion gets loose because her boyfriend wanted to play with it (okay….) and it freaks out Josie, the house bitch and her forty-year-old boyfriend the Canadian wrestler. He has a name but he literally has no impact on the film, so I don’t care to look it up. Josie kills Cami’s bugs with bug spray, and this takes us to our credits intro, which was literally, not figuratively, two minutes of silence. No dramatic music, no creepy bugs sounds like buzzing or chittering. Nada for two minutes solid.
Then we get our first nude scene. On one hand, props to the studio for a full on nude scene. This girl is barely pretending to shower. She knows what this is and that as soon as she dies she’s getting paid. If you like easy eye candy in your horror flicks you will appreciate this. On the other hand, they used a red filter for some reason which I found off putting.
Also, that big ass scorpion is going back into that vent. I’m no expert but I don’t think they can compress their bodies that much. Just saying. Then we get some exposition from Cami. At this point, I didn’t really need an explanation, but the effort is appreciated. Basically, Cami has figured out that insects (and I assume arachnids) in days past were bigger and smarter than they are today, and she was unlocking these dormant genes that made them such. Couple problems with that. I would think if she figured this out she should be able to prove her work, get grants, etc. The other problem is how exactly she unlocked these genes, or why she felt the need to have these experimental creatures in her bedroom. The movie never feels the need to explain any of this, so not sure why it bothered to explain anything.
Now we come to a weird scene. Cami’s boyfriend is in the shower washing his eyes out because Josie sprayed him in the eyes with bug spray. Then she gets in the shower and they have sex, because the power of boners is stronger than nearly being blinded. Did I mention Josie was the bitch of the movie? Cause she’s also the slut.
Then some filler stuff happens and we meet Cami’s sister Sophie. There are a couple things I like about her, if you know what I mean.
She is easily the most relatable character in the whole movie. I love how she picks apart the movie’s plot when she’s talking to Cami. It’s almost like the movie is self-aware while not feeling forced. Almost a subtle wink to the audience. And thankfully she’s not the unbeliever that goes on unbelieving even as a monster spread her on toast. Her argument in-universe makes sense. Cami keeps seeing flashes of the bugs, but apparently not enough to convince her of what she’s seeing. Furthermore, Sophie drops some exposition that Cami might have a history of mental illness, so it’s possible Cami is unsure what she’s seeing, which adds a layer of believability to this. Also, she points out that the bugs had to come back to life, so actually this movie is about giant zombie bugs. Thanks for pointing that out Sophie, but leave the mocking to me, please.
This brings us to one of the unforgivably stupid parts of the movie. This beetle thing is going around sealing all the doors and windows with– I dunno– beetle splooge. And it’s pretty visible
I added the arrow for effect, but you see what I mean. That goop should be just as visible to Sophie and her girlfriend, but neither of them see it. For fucks sake Sophie, I just commended you for avoiding this trope. What’s worse is Cami does nothing to defend herself. All she has to do is point at the bug shit. But she doesn’t. Now maybe she thinks it’s just in her head, but that shouldn’t affect what other characters see.
And the bitch/slut became a zombie or something. It felt tacked on and I skipped it here. Although some of her lines from this point on are hilarious, whether intentional or not. So now we have the core group, which is actually pretty sizable for this kind of movie, which has the aforementioned girls plus the ninja girl I forgot to mention because she’s unimportant.
From here on it’s just a survival movie, albeit in a well-lit house, so way to eschew the traditional horror tropes. The girls improvise some weapons and a few more die.
The ending, though, is amazing. We get Cami narrating about how insects will always find a way to survive and all that noise, and Cami’s douche boyfriend never gets killed for sleeping with the slut, nor does Cami ever find out, so that’s another trope that was ignored. But here’s the thing. As Cami, douche boyfriend and Sophie walk out into the bright morning they pass what is clearly a zombie, and no one seems to notice or care. They just walk past it. Was it infected like the slut? Did a zombie apocalypse occur during the night? Is this the start of a zombie apocalypse? I don’t know if this is the movie fucking with me or giving me the finger.
And that is this movie in a nutshell. The good and the bad are swirled together so tightly that they become indifferential. The CG is garbage, and yet some of the characters reacting to them is better than I have seen in some bigger budget movies. The story is deep as a puddle, yet it gets right into the story, and I can’t say at any point was I bored. Honestly, I had a smile on my face for most of the movie because it’s generally fun. The acting varies from watchable to cringe-worthy, but then again I really like the main characters so I found I didn’t care so much about the acting. This movie is garbage, but I really enjoyed it, even laughing a few times, both at the badness and at some of the intentional jokes. This movie is a paradox of goodness and badness, and you really have to experience it for yourself.