Things have been a little slow so far this month, but I'm pretty sure I can still hit my goal. I was going to watch a new movie Wednesday night, but I was going to get the DVD for Growth (2010) Thursday, so I decided to wait an extra day and watch this movie instead. I will do my best to get back to my old way of watching movies, Netflix DVD, instant watch, and an at home movie. The nice thing about watching Growth is that I was able to mail it back the next day after getting it. Hopefully, I will have another film here by the time I am ready for it.
Years ago at a lab on an island, they created a parasite that they thought would help humans evolve. It was supposed to help us have better reflexes, be stronger, help us hear better, and so on. Of course, things didn't go as planned. Jamie (Mircea Monroe) was just a kid back then and doesn't remember much about it, but she does remember that she lost her mom during that time. Now, twenty years later, Jamie returns to the island after learning that a doctor that owned the land has left it to her. Jamie is willing to sell it off in order to help better her life. She brings along Justin (Christopher Shand), who she considers to be a brother, her friend Kristin (Nora Kirkpatrick) and boyfriend Marco (Brian Krause). They begin to figure out that not all is well on the island and the parasites are somehow still around.
Growth was written by Devin Adair, John Suits, and Gabriel Cowan, who also directed. Growth isn't too bad of a movie. I enjoyed watching it even though the pacing was a bit on the slow side. The story also doesn't make a lot of sense at times, but I was willing to overlook it some. They still bugged me though. For one, the parasites vary on how they affect their host. Some people die quickly, some seem to die slowly, and others are the superhuman the scientists were trying to create. This could have to do with which parasite got into the host, as there did appear to be a different shape and sized parasites. I actually liked that, but I was never sure if it was the same kind of parasite that just looked different during its life stages or there were different kinds of parasites in play. The parasites were never completely explained, just that the mistake in using them was that the parasites are always hungry, which burns out the host. There is a slight backstory taking place as Jamie slowly begins to remember what happened during the first outbreak. It doesn't explain why this is happening again, but it does center around Jamie's mom and what actually happened to her. It turns out that Jamie is tricked, in a way, to come back to the island because it is believed she has or knows about or is the antidote to the parasites. The way the movie ends was probably my biggest problem with the movie. It isn't the ending itself really, as it shows a heroic act by Jamie, but it concerns something important that is hidden away. Even if it was found, which I don't know why anyone would look where it is hidden at, there was no indication that anyone would know what it would be for.
The effects are part CGI and part practical. The CGI looked to be the parasites. We can see them moving around as a dark shape under the skin, breaking out from under the skin, coming out around the eyes and so on. These effects aren't too bad looking really since they don't go real far with it. The practical effects are also okay looking. The makeup for the different wounds look good, but there wasn't very much as far as gory effects. The one they tried, an arm being ripped off and the shoulder, looked fine for the most part, but there is hardly any blood to be found. The acting was okay as well. I didn't find any acting to be bad really, but no one really stood out all the much either. The main characters do well and I enjoyed some of the interaction between them all. I was a little surprised to find Richard Riehle in this movie. I can't say that I'm a fan of his, but I do remember him from other films. His character is mainly the guy that is trying to make sure the parasites don't get out of control and I think to keep the secret on the island.
One thing I liked about Growth was the flashbacks. Not the flashbacks themselves really, but the way they were done in an almost dream-like way. Jamie would be thinking about a memory and the colors would be muted slightly and we would be seeing what she is thinking about. It was a cool way to handle flashbacks without making them flashbacks in a way. I was a little surprised to learn that there seems to be a small town on the island. I guess it makes sense once I started to think about it, as it is a good way to keep employees from talking since they live and work on the island. Despite my problems with the story, it still held my interest through the entire film and did have some cool moments. These were a bit far between, but there was enough there to keep the film moving. Growth isn't a movie I would suggest to anyone unless I knew they liked an actor or love parasites, but if you happen to come across it someday, you might consider giving it a watch. Not a bad film, but it wasn't all that great either.
3 out of 5 I would hate feeling something crawling under my skin
Years ago at a lab on an island, they created a parasite that they thought would help humans evolve. It was supposed to help us have better reflexes, be stronger, help us hear better, and so on. Of course, things didn't go as planned. Jamie (Mircea Monroe) was just a kid back then and doesn't remember much about it, but she does remember that she lost her mom during that time. Now, twenty years later, Jamie returns to the island after learning that a doctor that owned the land has left it to her. Jamie is willing to sell it off in order to help better her life. She brings along Justin (Christopher Shand), who she considers to be a brother, her friend Kristin (Nora Kirkpatrick) and boyfriend Marco (Brian Krause). They begin to figure out that not all is well on the island and the parasites are somehow still around.
Growth was written by Devin Adair, John Suits, and Gabriel Cowan, who also directed. Growth isn't too bad of a movie. I enjoyed watching it even though the pacing was a bit on the slow side. The story also doesn't make a lot of sense at times, but I was willing to overlook it some. They still bugged me though. For one, the parasites vary on how they affect their host. Some people die quickly, some seem to die slowly, and others are the superhuman the scientists were trying to create. This could have to do with which parasite got into the host, as there did appear to be a different shape and sized parasites. I actually liked that, but I was never sure if it was the same kind of parasite that just looked different during its life stages or there were different kinds of parasites in play. The parasites were never completely explained, just that the mistake in using them was that the parasites are always hungry, which burns out the host. There is a slight backstory taking place as Jamie slowly begins to remember what happened during the first outbreak. It doesn't explain why this is happening again, but it does center around Jamie's mom and what actually happened to her. It turns out that Jamie is tricked, in a way, to come back to the island because it is believed she has or knows about or is the antidote to the parasites. The way the movie ends was probably my biggest problem with the movie. It isn't the ending itself really, as it shows a heroic act by Jamie, but it concerns something important that is hidden away. Even if it was found, which I don't know why anyone would look where it is hidden at, there was no indication that anyone would know what it would be for.
The effects are part CGI and part practical. The CGI looked to be the parasites. We can see them moving around as a dark shape under the skin, breaking out from under the skin, coming out around the eyes and so on. These effects aren't too bad looking really since they don't go real far with it. The practical effects are also okay looking. The makeup for the different wounds look good, but there wasn't very much as far as gory effects. The one they tried, an arm being ripped off and the shoulder, looked fine for the most part, but there is hardly any blood to be found. The acting was okay as well. I didn't find any acting to be bad really, but no one really stood out all the much either. The main characters do well and I enjoyed some of the interaction between them all. I was a little surprised to find Richard Riehle in this movie. I can't say that I'm a fan of his, but I do remember him from other films. His character is mainly the guy that is trying to make sure the parasites don't get out of control and I think to keep the secret on the island.
One thing I liked about Growth was the flashbacks. Not the flashbacks themselves really, but the way they were done in an almost dream-like way. Jamie would be thinking about a memory and the colors would be muted slightly and we would be seeing what she is thinking about. It was a cool way to handle flashbacks without making them flashbacks in a way. I was a little surprised to learn that there seems to be a small town on the island. I guess it makes sense once I started to think about it, as it is a good way to keep employees from talking since they live and work on the island. Despite my problems with the story, it still held my interest through the entire film and did have some cool moments. These were a bit far between, but there was enough there to keep the film moving. Growth isn't a movie I would suggest to anyone unless I knew they liked an actor or love parasites, but if you happen to come across it someday, you might consider giving it a watch. Not a bad film, but it wasn't all that great either.
3 out of 5 I would hate feeling something crawling under my skin
