Serum (2006)

One of my all time favorites.

A story that's too fascinating to pass by...

Excellent and certainly provocative... If nothing else, the film is a real conversation starter.

The film may be flawed, but its message is not.

This was Steve Franke's first attempt to make a full feature. It shows that it was clearly a low budget because frankly, the effects are a bit laughable. In fact, they just changed one's face with a bladder. The acting was a bit wooden too and the overall quality of the reel, on my copy was a bit blurry, looked like a VHS copy. Maybe that was the intention to create a eighties look. Of course the director teased use in the first minutes with a voluptuous naked chick laying in the sun and when the stepmother came into the picture she was loaded too but tits doesn't make a flick. After that part the flick turns into a lot of blah blah. It's until the end that the brain eating guy appears.No gore or too much red stuff was used. It's just a cheesy flick with not that much to offer.Gore 1/5 Nudity 1/5 Effects 2/5 Story 2/5 Comedy 0/5

Dr. K(David H Hickey)has been trying to master a formula that would end all disease and handicaps, but needs live donors to complete his work. His doctor brother Richard(Dennis O'Neill)has a son named Eddie(Derek Philips)who is accepted to medical school. Eddie has a girlfriend named Sarah(Lizabeth Cardenas)who is pre-law and plans to attend law school herself the coming fall. She and Eddie resume their relationship when Sarah calls things off with her current boyfriend who is also shagging the lady of Walt(Bill Sebastian;Eddie's best friend who recently paid for his cheating girlfriend's boob job). Eddie accidentally gets hit by a car and appears on the throes of death when Dr. K makes a suggestion to Richard..let him "recuperate" Eddie using his secret, illegal methods. When Dr. K applies his serum to Eddie horrifying results occur. Eddie's face bulges massive warts while he has also acquired a taste for human flesh. Many will die so that Eddie can feed this uncontrollable appetite he can't quench. Soon he may even pose a threat to his father and girlfriend..Eddie Monster must be stopped.Typically awful direct-to-video horror flick suffers from a severe lack of budget, acting, and overall talent. The premise, which seems like an interesting fright-fest, fails to deliver even as a zombie flick. The gore is limited with a few munching scenes but most of the violence occurs off-camera. The use of time to move the story along can really get annoying.

I've been deciding between two films ..it was this one and the "other" was yet another movie using the whole "re-animator" idea behind it .... well i chose this movie to rent because i have a theory that has yet to lead me astray ... that is this "if the movie has no scenes from the actual film itself on the back of the DVD case then its a piece of crap, so low budget they are embarrassed to have the movie on the back" ...and thats stood well all this time .... well i chose this film over the other one because it showed scenes from the movie on the back the other one didn't ...well d a m if i was surprised at the great ideas and potential behind this one ...that all fell short ... very short .... i mean the story line was solid crazy doc trying to save nephew and all that after a car wreck ... but the lack of gore was sad .... the lack of nudity where appropriate was also very sad ..... all and all i wonder if i should have taken the chance on the other film ..and now will i ? .. um ... no ... probably not only from the fear of the same thing happening .... and it being far worst than this ....(4), vocalist - GOD IN A MACHINE

I love movies but am not a big fan of horror films. However, many of my students love them and tell me I should see this one or that one, which I do from time to time. I watched "Serum" and was greatly surprised. Naturally, there was the gore and violence that I do not normally like, but the film also had a story, which was refreshing. The filmmaker created an interesting plot and took the time to develop the characters, which made you more invested in them. Obviously, it was a small budget film, but it didn't matter because you liked the characters and wanted to find out what was going to happen next. And, I thought the production value was better than many other independent movies I've seen.