Larva

Starring:Vincent Ventresca, Rachel Hunter, William Forsythe, David Selby, Robert Miano, James Daris, James Sheldon (IV), Zachary Stevens, Amanda Ianelli, Jessica Summers, Holly McWilliams, Sean Kissner, David E. Ornston, Erron J. Shaw, Sarah Ann Schultz, Kyle Dick, Brandi Prine, Johnathon Prine, George Cron, AimÃ©e Flaherty
Director: Tim Cox
Studio: First Look Pictures
Product Type: DVD

Average customer rating:

Dumb yet oddly appealing
Enjoy That Steak While You Still Can
Awesome Movie
Host Tender Meats - YUK
Can't Beat That Meat!

Larva
Starring: Vincent Ventresca , Rachel Hunter , William Forsythe , David Selby , and Robert Miano
Director: Tim Cox
Manufacturer: First Look Pictures
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: B0007LBLXM
Release Date: 2005-04-26

Customer Reviews:

Dumb yet oddly appealing.......2007-05-15

This 2005 creature feature aired on the Sci Fi Channel. Yeah. I could stop reviewing right there because that's all you really need to know about this formulaic monster flick. Why go on? Nature run amok movie...Sci Fi Channel...clichéd. Nearly every film that ever aired on the Sci Fi Channel stinks in some significant way. Bad acting from second and third tier actors and actresses, lazy direction, cheap set pieces, bad CGI special effects, lame plots--it's always the same story with these guys. I'm not sure whom they've got in their stable of writers over there, but they need new blood fast. I suspect the same script just floats around in perpetuity with only the names of the characters and the type of beast changing on a regular basis. The plot always goes something like this: outsider or scientist type moves into small community, discovers a sinister corporate/military/evil white guy conspiracy that sacrifices nature in the quest for profits, and joins a small group of those in the know in order to destroy the threatening monstrosities in question. The end. Add a few twists to the plot, sprinkle in a ton of clichés, and you've got yourself the latest Sci Fi Channel movie of the week.

"Larva" meets all of the above requirements, and then some. The story's hero is Dr. Eli Rudkus (Vincent Ventresca), a new veterinarian moving to the little town of Host, Missouri in order to fill the vacancy left by his predecessor. The town desperately needs Emil's services since the main means of income in the little berg revolves around the cattle industry. In fact, a corporate concern (here we go) called Host Tender Meats pretty much controls the village. They buy up all the product in town and call the shots about what the cattle eat. That's why the company is especially stoked about a new feed they've developed. According to the company's PR flacks, the new food will guarantee adding serious weight to the cattle in town. More weight equals...wait for it...more beef and more profits. Everyone wins. WRONG! Host Tender Meats has a serious problem with their new product, a problem we witness in the opening scenes of the film when a weird creature bursts out of a dead cow in full view of several teenage witnesses. No one knows at the time what just happened, but they will soon. Host, Missouri is about to become a disaster area.

Rudkus learns about this strange phenomenon when a local rancher by the name of Jacob Lang (William Forsythe) calls him in to perform tests on this odd creature. The veterinarian discovers a couple of disturbing things. He learns that the larva likes human blood and grows larger after a feeding, and he suspects the new feed from Host Tender Meats is causing this aberration of nature. When he tries to tell the townspeople, they greet his claims with jeers. So do the higher ups at Host Tender Meats. The evil owner of the firm, Fletcher Odermatt (David Selby), and his attack dog lawyer Hayley Anderson (Rachel Hunter) laugh loudly and publicly at Rudkus's concerns. Eli's charges soon bear fruit when the larvae begin attacking human targets. Fortunately for the film, this involves an "Alien" like embryonic period followed by a cheesy CGI beastie bursting out of the victim's chest. Eli, Jacob Lang, and the newly educated Hayley Anderson join forces to save the town. Their mission is not easy. You see, the larvae soon develop the ability to fly through the air. Yes sir, flying larvae. No one is safe, and the very fate of the world rests in the hands of these unlikely heroes. Roll credits.

I detected several subtleties in the script that surprised me considering the low budget, clichéd mess that is "Larva". Check out Eli's last name. Rudkus is the surname of the main character in Upton Sinclair's seminal socialist, anti-meatpacking industry screed "The Jungle". In fact, a lot of the plot mirrors stuff that took place in Sinclair's novel. The monopoly Host Tender Meats uses to control the ranchers, for example, as well as having the town sheriff on the company payroll is lifted right out of the book. Pretty obvious where the screenwriters' sympathies lie, eh? The literary underpinnings of the movie fail to help in other areas, however. The cheap 'n cheesy CGI effects are laughable, as is the idea of Rachel Hunter playing a corporate lawyer. Also working against the film (or for it depending on your demeanor) is a number of unintentionally hilarious scenes. I couldn't stop laughing over the sequence involving two youngsters messing around with each other only to have their little skin party interrupted by the messy arrival of a larva bustin' out of the boyfriend's body. The following chase scene involving the girlfriend and the beastie keeps the guffaws coming. Heck, even the goofy picture on the DVD cover made me giggle.

First Look Pictures (a warning sign about the quality of the picture right there) brings "Larva" to DVD with no extras. Oh well. The film is still more than watchable. Sure, it's stupid on a metaphysical level with truly humongous plot holes, but the humorous aspects in a number of scenes coupled with decent acting (thank the lord for small favors) and several extremely gory kills make this movie a must see for creature feature fans. As I indicated above, it's not original in any way, shape, or form. Clichés abound. But every once in awhile we need to sit down with a movie, throttle our brains down into neutral, and just veg out in front of something truly mindless. "Larva" fits that bill quite nicely. I think I'll give the film three stars. That's probably one more than it deserves, but I'm feeling generous tonight. Have fun and don't consume any meat lest you become the next victim of LARVA! Bwaahahahahahaha!

Enjoy That Steak While You Still Can.......2006-05-22

If any film can convince you to become a vegetarian, "Larva" is the flick. I actually saw this little spooker about a year ago, but it wasn't until I caught up with it on SciFi recently that I decided to review it. Starring the well-on-his-way to B-movie greatness Vincent Ventresca, goddess Rachel Hunter and William Forsythe, "Larva" is the cuddly tale of the small town of Host, where the local meat plant is testing new hormones in the feed for the local cattle. Little do the townspeople know, but there's a parasite in the feed, and once inside the cattle they grow, eventually bursting out of their host and into the world. They look for any source of blood, and get bigger with each meal. It's sort of like the critters in the first "Critters" flick. Unlike the "Critters," they look like a cross between a bat and a slug, making for a wickedly funny-looking monster.

Ventresca, along with a few buddies, does his best to stop the parasites from escaping into the food chain. How does he do it? Does he succeed? Check this flick out to see if he's successful.

It's a top-notch B-flick, intentionally trying to be serious and fun at the same time. The effects are somewhat silly, but the actors try very hard to make them believable. The story moves at a nice trot, and it never really gets boring or sluggish.

If you want to see an above average B-spooker, pick up "Larva." Fans of the genre will get most of the nods to other films, but you don't have to have a deep knowledge of bad flicks to grasp the humor and the horror of "Larva."

Awesome Movie.......2005-12-27

I think this movie was really good! Somewhat unrealistic, I mean larva growing bones and turning into bat looking creatures is funny and not real. The thing that puzzles me is why are there hundreds of larva crawling into a person and only one of them evolves and comes out of the person??? The real highlight was watching my ex have his brains splattered on the window in a SUV - PRICELESS! Yeah for Milo's brains (or lack of them) being lost on the window!!! If you don't know anyone in this movie, I wouldn't bother with it...I just give it a 4 star because when you get left for a 15 year old and get treated like dirt, it's always great to see the person killed (even if only in a movie) a month or so later!

Host Tender Meats - YUK.......2005-08-27

The name of the company (Host Tender Meats) is gross enough considering this is a horror film. Believe me, this movie is sure to satisfy any gore hound, just please give it 40 minutes, then the s**t hits the fan literally. Please do not eat anything that involves cow meat while watching, it will make you ill to your stomach.

Can't Beat That Meat!.......2005-08-10

In a small rural company town where just about everyone raises cattle for the local meat company, strange things have started to happen. Kids out cow tipping one night discover a dead cow. Soon there are others. The new local vet gets called in to look at the mysterious deaths. He can not see any problem until what looks like a normal parasite comes in contact with a drop of his blood. It grows and he sends it of for testing.

Soon the vet is convinced that something is very wrong and the cattle should be quarantined, an idea not met with much approval by the locals. Unfortunately the vet has a reputation for yelling fire prematurely.

The plot develops nicely and the suspense builds steadily. Effects and acting are better than most. The ending leaves a little unanswered but most won't notice it. All in all it was a very nice tribute to the great monster films of a few decades ago. Check it out.

Lupin the 3rd - For Larva Or Money (TV Series, Vol. 14)

Average customer rating:

Good classic anime Tv series

Lupin the 3rd - For Larva Or Money (TV Series, Vol. 14)
Starring: Yasuo Yamada , Kiyoshi Kobayashi , Eiko Masuyama , Makio Inoue , and Gorô Naya
Director: Hayao Miyazaki
Manufacturer: Geneon [Pioneer]
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: B000E6UJOM
Release Date: 2006-04-04

Description

Lupin and the gang travel around the world stealing the finest treasures. Cracking the unbreakable safe of "supernatonal" bank is just for starters, then the crew raise the Tokugawa Era's golden cannon from the deep sea by Japan. In Los Angeles, the talented thieves chase the sacred sapphire called the "Eyes of Solomon." Then Lupin competes with the powerful American and Soviet Union teams in the World Robbery Olympics. Finally the trio battle a human chameleon to steal back a diamond in South Africa.

Customer Reviews:

Good classic anime Tv series.......2006-03-17

I loved this show based in the comic books of Monkey Punch.It follows the adventures of master thief Lupin the Third nephew of the French Arsene Lupin and his gang composed by Goemon Ishikawa a master samurai and Deitsuke Jigen a cold blooded gunman.Sometimes joins to the band Fujiko Mine a bussom beautiful lady expert in conning and also thieving.Where the most valuable or expensive treasure or antique is Lupin the Third and his gang trying to rob it.The Dvd has 5 episodes that are in order as they originally broadcasted with the preview and even the commercials break.The series are well translated and the voices of the dubbers are quite similar to original japanese.The only flaw in this Dvd is that the English subtitles are the translation of the Japanese version not the English dubbed version.Sound and picture quality are more than average.I will wait for next volume.

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