Pluskylang Great Film overall

RipDelight This is a tender, generous movie that likes its characters and presents them as real people, full of flaws and strengths.

BeSummers Funny, strange, confrontational and subversive, this is one of the most interesting experiences you'll have at the cinema this year.

Keeley Coleman The thing I enjoyed most about the film is the fact that it doesn't shy away from being a super-sized-cliche;

Stephen Abell Man's greatest enemy turns out to be the cockroach that carries a deadly virus which is devastating the American population. Enter Entomologist Dr Susan Tyler who has genetically modified a group of insects to become the cockroach's greatest enemy.Years later when the pandemic has been averted, something else is starting to kill off the human race. We are not top of the food chain. Though the designed insects were sterile and were engineered to only live six months, nature found a way, as it always does, to set a new balance.This is a very clever Sci-Fi monster movie that adds thrills and scares into the genetically altered mix. There are plenty of animals in the world that disguises themselves so they can hide when being hunted... or when hunting. So why not disguise themselves as humans? The writers, Donald A Wollheim who wrote the original short story, Matthew Robins and Guillermo del Toro, do a great job of using this fact and making this feel realistic.The realism is also in thanks to Rob Bottin who designed the creature and the character shop and other special effects maestros who brought them to life. Though released in 1997 the effects are just as strong today twenty years on. I believe this is the case due to them not relying on CGI.Del Toro does a brilliant job of bringing the story to the screen and adding his own style and artistry. He also brings the best out of his cast to make the characters believable, though, with the likes of Mira Sorvino, Giancarlo Giannini, Charles S Dutton, Josh Brolin, and F Murray Abraham, it couldn't have been too difficult. For this type of film, this is a stellar cast.Though it's not the best film Guillermo del Toro has created, it isn't his worst. If you have yet to see this movie then I would say give it a try, especially if you like monster movies, science fiction, or horror.

Predrag This is an atmospheric thriller from Guillermo del Toro, director of "The Devil's Backbone" and "Cronos", who manages to mix great direction with good old fashioned monster horror to great effect. The concept itself is clever, even if the idea of bugs evolving to look very like humans is a little fa-fetched; however, once the action moves to the subway the fact that the bugs are clearly lethal no matter what they look like, makes this less important. The film is quite short and makes the action come quicker and seem more urgent. Several people get killed by the bug that wouldn't usually get killed in this sort of horror (children for example), this is very effective as it is quite scary to see the unexpected happen. The mood is dark throughout and Del Toro uses the sewers and subway to great effect, creating a real sense of claustrophobia, like the humans have entered the bug's world and not the other way round. The bugs are shown early on in the film - usually not a good idea (keep it hidden in the "Jaws" way), but here the special effects are good enough to make the bug really believable, yet the horror is not in seeing the bugs but in they way they hunt and kill, but the fear is in what could happen. The cast are great, Sorvino especially is very good in the lead. Jeremy Northam and Charles S. Dutton are good in support and Abraham Murray adds a bit of cameo class (though his role is quite unnecessary). The director is the real star, adding some genuine scares and real mood to a film that could have easily been just another creature-feature that goes straight to video and straight to the back of your mind.A few things I didn't like about this film was some of its more subtle things. Mira Sorvino was playing an entomologist, yet when she studies or investigate specimens, she takes no logical safety precautions. The same recklessness occurs repeatedly for her and every other cast throughout movie. Things like touching bugs that likely carry unknown diseases with your bare hands, or when they go underground to hunt for the roaches without any type of scientific or safety equipment is just very illogical to me. To think that in the beginning of the movie, the city undergone a catastrophic epidemic that were spread by roaches and for them to go on the rest of the movie every time without any planning or taking precaution is just unthinkable. The plot was nicely written and the story flowed well, but the reckless actions from supposedly "experts" just kills it. It doesn't just happen once or twice, but every single time. A number of scenes also seemed very forced and felt like they were put there just so the story can continue the way the director wanted, yet they made no logical sense.Overall rating: 7 out of 10.

gavin6942 Three years ago, entomologist Dr. Susan Tyler (Mira Sorvino) genetically created an insect to kill cockroaches carrying a virulent disease. Now, the insects are out to destroy their only predator, mankind.This film is loved by some people and that is clear by the sequels it received. Exactly why is unclear, as it is rather average and not a highlight of 1990s horror. Specifically why Del Toro disowned it is not known to me, but it does have to rank among the lowest of his career, so that is not surprising.There are some good concepts. The idea of genetic modification is always popular for a science-gone-wrong story. And we also have the idea of an invasive species: introducing a species to remove an old one, only to to find the new ones has things we may not like about it.

daggersineyes If you like Alien, Predator etc you will love this. Stop reading the reviews, ignore the ridiculously low rating and seek out the proper version of this movie (ie the Directors cut). Del Toro has produced a masterpiece here and it's a tragedy it's not better known. This is one of those examples at IMDb that makes me distrust the ratings system and yet again proves the better rated flicks are often not that good while the ones with mediocre ratings are very often well worth watching.The creatures are worth the price of admission all on their own. Plus Mira looks awesome when she's covered in bug excretion and subway grime! WATCH IT!! :)