USA 2010 95m Directed by: Howard Wexler. Starring: Kelly Pendygraft, Alice Amter, Terry Becker, Bryan Brewer, Chuck Carter, Jenifer Cononico, Kent Faulcon, Verne Graham, Brian Guest, Cortney Lee, Molly McDowell, Kurt Meyer, Marcia Moran. Music by: Javier Abad.
A mystery surrounds a small town that was attacked on September 9, 2009. Now sixty years later, the last survivor, Sarah, sends a high profile reporter a letter suggesting what really happened on that day. The government calls 9/9/09 the start of the "Modern Plague", and the reporter soon realizes that the truth may be harder to uncover than the lies.
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Ouch! I was all up for giving this film some major slack as it looked, initially, like it would be a low budget version of Shivers or Slither but instead my patience was tested to the absolute limit as the film pulled every single punch and delivered a watery fart of an alien invasion film.
It all starts in the future with some journalist investigating something called the 'modern plague' that wiped out a town in the past, leading her to some old woman who recounts the story that unfolds
badly.
In our time, a guy called Deke (who it three feet tall and keeps saying 'this isn't my day') returns to his home town following spending some time in jail for murdering his stepfather. His ex-girlfriend isn't too pleased to see him, and neither is Billy, a guy who fancies her or indeed the sheriff (and this guy gets annoying really quickly). Fortunately, a meteorite crashes and immediately starts producing worm things that infect the populace. This happens fairly quickly. Sadly, nothing else does.
Problem one with this film is that the infected are the least threatening folks ever. One invades the local jail (where Deke is being held by the sheriff), but quickly just
goes somewhere else. Also, the sheriff isn't convinced and is only convinced when someone runs up to him in the street and knocks him over, and, kind of, runs away again. So it's up to Deke, his missus, Billy, the sheriff, and some other guys to stop the infection. Or something. It didn't make much sense.
Problem two is that although the set up happens quickly, and you're all ready for folks versus infected zombie types, not much of anything happens. Unless you like people standing around talking or arguing for hours on end, this film isn't going to do much for you. There's no gore, barely any action from the infected, but plenty of drama and tearful farewells. The sheriff is annoying as hell, some kind of cross between Gary Busey and a Baldwin, and you'd think there'd be all sorts of gunplay and sieges and what not, but you're gonna be disappointed! I cut films a lot of slack, more so than most folks. Ever seen Mutant? Most people don't like it, but it's exponentially better than this. Avoid like the (modern) plague. I watched this and Beast of Yucca Flats on the same night, and now I hate every single film ever made.
Review by Bezenby from the Internet Movie Database.