Tags:
Film: Almost Human
Year: 2013
Director: Joe Begos
Writer: Joe Begos
Starring: Graham Skipper, Josh Ethier and Vanessa Leigh
Review:
This was a movie that I learned about after seeing writer/director Joe Begos' films of VFW and Bliss. He uses the same actors in both and he is a filmmaker so I will watch whatever he does. That includes making Christmas Bloody Christmas from last year. This was picked by the randomizer for my segment on Journey with a Cinephile: A Horror Movie Podcast, which made me excited to visit this blind spot in the filmography.
Synopsis: Mark Fisher (Josh Ethier) disappeared from his home in a brilliant flash of blue light almost 2 years ago. His friend Seth Hampton (Graham Skipper) was the last to see him alive. Now a string of grisly, violent murders leads him to believe that Mark is back and something evil is inside of him.
We start in October of 1987 with Seth driving. He is hearing weird sounds and he's freaked out. He arrives at Mark's house. He bangs on the door to be let in. Mark asks where their other friend is and Seth says that a blue light took him out of the vehicle. Mark doesn't believe it and wants to go look for him. The commotion wakes up Mark's girlfriend, Jen Craven (Vanessa Leigh). They try to make sense of what is going on when the power goes out. Mark goes into a trance, heads outside and then disappeared in a blue light.
This then shifts two years into the future. What I like is that we're given different news broadcasts to fill in the backstory of what happened during that time. We then shift over to Seth who has struggled since then. He gets bloody noses and needs to get in to see his doctor. This is affecting him at work where he is on the verge of losing his job. He also was cleared in the disappearance of his two friends, but people around town still think he's involved.
We also get to see Jen as she copes. She moved on and is engaged to Clyde Dutton (Anthony Amaral III). She is working as a server and learns that her hours are cut. I get the idea there isn't a lot of work around this town so there isn't much she can do. I will point out here that this takes place in Maine. That makes things problematic when Seth comes in to talk to her as both have bad feelings about power outages happening like they did a couple years prior.
That is when we follow two hunters into the woods. They find Mark lying on the ground. He's naked and covered in a gooey substance. He gets up and attacks both. He takes their gun as well as clothes. This just starts the rampage like the synopsis said. He seems to be heading back to his hometown. There is something off about Mark and what his goal is if he can get to his friends and ex-girlfriend. It has world ending implications.
I think that is where I’ll leave my recap and introduction to the story. Where I’ll start is that this is Begos’ feature film debut. He did a couple shorts ahead of this. This is a good first film, to play my hand. I like what we’re doing here with a potential alien invasion. It does feel like it’s borrowing from Fire in the Sky and mixing it with The Terminator. That isn’t something I mean as a slight. They are using the same basic idea of alien abduction as well as how this character returns. It doesn’t follow the same concept for the latter aside from that, but this is a slasher inspired film for the latter.
This starts off in an interesting way. We have Seth freaking out about their friend disappearing. What I like is that we don’t necessarily know if what he’s saying is real. There is a creepy voice we hear, but that could be Seth having mental illness. We see that what he’s saying is real. Then following it up with news reports saying that similar events are happening. That sets the stage well and then gets us up to speed with the events that are unfolding.
From there, becomes a slasher of sorts as I said. We saw Mark disappear and then he came back. It sets the stage that, as I was saying, showing that in the two years since he’s been gone that Jen is engaged to someone else. It is interesting there because since then, Seth has lost his mind. Part of it is that he was accused of being part of the two disappearances from the night we saw. That would make me feel bad, especially since they were his best friends. He also had something happen to him that has effects on his health. I did like that and it helps that I’m a fan of Skipper. I thought he had a good performance early in his career.
Now this is also a take on the ‘body snatching’ narrative. That is also classic when you’re using aliens as the villain. I like the fact that we get to see Mark before he changes. I’ll credit Ethier here too. I know he and Skipper are Begos’ regulars so it is fun to see them appearing in something he did over ten years ago. When he comes back, he is emotionless and acting differently than when we saw him before disappearing. This is also where the slasher elements come in. He goes on a murder spree to get back to his hometown as well as to Seth and Jen. He is also turning others which is again a take on Invasion of the Body Snatchers or It Came from Outer Space. It’s not necessarily a new idea, but I like the different take use here. That sets it apart to me.
Let’s move from the story then and go over to the rest of the acting. I’ve already said how good Skipper and Ethier were. I thought Leigh was good. I do like seeing that she’s moved on even though Seth hasn’t. I’ll also say that Susan T. Travers, Michael A. LoCicero, Jami Tennille and the rest of the cast rounded this out for what was needed. It is amateur, but that is expected for the budget this works with.
All that is left then is filmmaking. Something that you can tell for this being early in Begos’ career is how he frames shots. The cinematography is good. I could tell that he’d go on to make the things that he has. The effects are also good. They are done practically, which I’m a huge fan of. This works as a slasher in that respect. Seeing the attack scenes as well as the aftereffects is good. There is a great head smash as well. Other than that, the soundtrack fits what was needed.
In conclusion, this is a great low budget start to Begos’ career. I like that we have a take on the body snatching narrative that turns into a slasher of sorts. There are vibes of Fire in the Sky with how Mark disappears, but I also like seeing the effects it has on Seth and Jen. This is made well enough for the budget. The effects were good. They were done practically which I’m always a fan of. The cinematography and framing are as well. It does capture that small town feel as well as the woods are close. If you’re a fan of these types of movies or out to see Begos’ filmography, give this a go.
My Rating: 8 out of 10