Now that I have moved past my last review, I hope I will get some movies knocked out for reviews. I struggled to get through it, which happens to me from time to time. Anyway, I was ready to move on but wanted to get that other review done first. I did, so it was time to watch the Netflix DVD that I have at home called Virus X (2010). I generally find that movies are easier to review than books, but I also like to mix things up which is why I also do book reviews. I'm not sure when I actually added this movie to my Netflix DVD queue, but I do know it has been in it for a long time now.
Doctor Gravamen (Joe Zaso) has been hired by Danita Herrington (Sybil Danning) to come up with an H1N1 virus so strong that it will cause a panic once it is released. Gravamen is having trouble getting the virus to be that strong though, so he brings in Malcolm (Jai Day), another doctor who knows the virus well, in order to help his team. The team believes that they are working on an antidote, but are mutating the virus on purpose to see where it leads. Malcolm eventually discovers a strain that attacks the host right away and calls it X. This is what Gravamen and Danita are wanting, so they decide to test it. Their test subject manages to break out though and infects the team. Will they be able to find a cure for themselves?
Virus X was co-written by David S. Sterling, Jeremiah Campbell, and Ryan Stevens Harris, who also directed. This is a bit of a mixed film. While I enjoyed the overall story, the acting and directing held it back some. We eventually learn that an antidote has been made for the H1N1 virus and it apparently works on any mutations as well. Danita wants to release the new strain in order to sell the cure which would make her tons of money in the process. The way that the team was exposed to this new virus was different. It just wasn't some kind of lab accident that gets them exposed to it. They become trapped inside their own lab and become the test subjects to see how effective this new virus is. There is also something of a henchman that is nearby at all times as well who apparently isn't human. I think I know what he is supposed to be, but it is never fully explained. The only real problem I had with the story itself was with the two female team members making out with a couple of the guys. All of them are bloody and whatever so kind of weird to make out that way. Something I didn't like is the choice to have some scenes in an odd color. There are a few scenes that have a blue tint to everything that got annoying rather quickly. Harris also decides to make the camera shaky at times for no real reason. Personally, I think the shaky camera would be the best used for found footage type films where someone is moving around while filming Otherwise, I don't see any use for it other than making a scene hard to figure out what is going on in it. During some action scenes, Harris adds some static to the picture. Now there are cameras in the walls so I could see this happening if the people fighting hit the wall which could cause the picture to mess up. That wasn't the impression that I got while watching it though, so it just ended up making it hard to tell what was happening during those scenes.
Even though there is a good amount of fake blood on display at times during Virus X, I didn't find it to be all that gory. We see blood pouring out of someone's mouth more than once. People get shot which causes some nice blood splatters, but it felt fairly mild for a movie about a virus that is killing people in horrible ways. Not that the effects look bad really. I guess I was just expecting more from them. The acting is a mixed bag from average acting to not so great. It was cool to see Sybil Danning in a more recent horror movie, even if her scenes are somewhat limited. She isn't around a lot, but it her appearance is way more than a mere cameo. To be honest, I had to look at her IMDb page to see why horror fans were excited to see her. Once I figured out what she had been in, I found it pretty cool as well. Jai Day comes the closest to being the main character. He is a nice looking guy but I thought his acting was a bit hit and miss. I liked his acting better than some of the others at least. While I thought her acting was also hit and miss, I did enjoy watching Sasha Formoso. I do believe this was the first movie I have watched her in, so I just might try to find some of her other films.
My rating down below may not reflect it much, but I didn't find Virus X to be that bad of a film. I was almost willing to give it a three-star rating, but then I felt there were things about it that did bring it down one star, which is where I decided to keep it. If it wasn't for the odd choices that Harris made in some of the scenes, I probably would have been a bit more forgiving of the acting and called it an average film. As it is though, I can't really bring myself to do that. It isn't a movie that I would encourage anyone to go find unless I know that they are big into the killer virus type films. Even so, I don't want to discourage any of you from watching it if you decide to give it a go. It isn't a great film, but I have watched much worse. Give it a shot, it might surprise you.
2 out of 5 I don't think I would want to work with a deadly virus
Doctor Gravamen (Joe Zaso) has been hired by Danita Herrington (Sybil Danning) to come up with an H1N1 virus so strong that it will cause a panic once it is released. Gravamen is having trouble getting the virus to be that strong though, so he brings in Malcolm (Jai Day), another doctor who knows the virus well, in order to help his team. The team believes that they are working on an antidote, but are mutating the virus on purpose to see where it leads. Malcolm eventually discovers a strain that attacks the host right away and calls it X. This is what Gravamen and Danita are wanting, so they decide to test it. Their test subject manages to break out though and infects the team. Will they be able to find a cure for themselves?
Virus X was co-written by David S. Sterling, Jeremiah Campbell, and Ryan Stevens Harris, who also directed. This is a bit of a mixed film. While I enjoyed the overall story, the acting and directing held it back some. We eventually learn that an antidote has been made for the H1N1 virus and it apparently works on any mutations as well. Danita wants to release the new strain in order to sell the cure which would make her tons of money in the process. The way that the team was exposed to this new virus was different. It just wasn't some kind of lab accident that gets them exposed to it. They become trapped inside their own lab and become the test subjects to see how effective this new virus is. There is also something of a henchman that is nearby at all times as well who apparently isn't human. I think I know what he is supposed to be, but it is never fully explained. The only real problem I had with the story itself was with the two female team members making out with a couple of the guys. All of them are bloody and whatever so kind of weird to make out that way. Something I didn't like is the choice to have some scenes in an odd color. There are a few scenes that have a blue tint to everything that got annoying rather quickly. Harris also decides to make the camera shaky at times for no real reason. Personally, I think the shaky camera would be the best used for found footage type films where someone is moving around while filming Otherwise, I don't see any use for it other than making a scene hard to figure out what is going on in it. During some action scenes, Harris adds some static to the picture. Now there are cameras in the walls so I could see this happening if the people fighting hit the wall which could cause the picture to mess up. That wasn't the impression that I got while watching it though, so it just ended up making it hard to tell what was happening during those scenes.
Even though there is a good amount of fake blood on display at times during Virus X, I didn't find it to be all that gory. We see blood pouring out of someone's mouth more than once. People get shot which causes some nice blood splatters, but it felt fairly mild for a movie about a virus that is killing people in horrible ways. Not that the effects look bad really. I guess I was just expecting more from them. The acting is a mixed bag from average acting to not so great. It was cool to see Sybil Danning in a more recent horror movie, even if her scenes are somewhat limited. She isn't around a lot, but it her appearance is way more than a mere cameo. To be honest, I had to look at her IMDb page to see why horror fans were excited to see her. Once I figured out what she had been in, I found it pretty cool as well. Jai Day comes the closest to being the main character. He is a nice looking guy but I thought his acting was a bit hit and miss. I liked his acting better than some of the others at least. While I thought her acting was also hit and miss, I did enjoy watching Sasha Formoso. I do believe this was the first movie I have watched her in, so I just might try to find some of her other films.
My rating down below may not reflect it much, but I didn't find Virus X to be that bad of a film. I was almost willing to give it a three-star rating, but then I felt there were things about it that did bring it down one star, which is where I decided to keep it. If it wasn't for the odd choices that Harris made in some of the scenes, I probably would have been a bit more forgiving of the acting and called it an average film. As it is though, I can't really bring myself to do that. It isn't a movie that I would encourage anyone to go find unless I know that they are big into the killer virus type films. Even so, I don't want to discourage any of you from watching it if you decide to give it a go. It isn't a great film, but I have watched much worse. Give it a shot, it might surprise you.
2 out of 5 I don't think I would want to work with a deadly virus
