"SCREAMERS: THE HUNTING"
DVD Review
by Kevin Carr
| MOVIE: **1/2 (out of 5 stars)
DVD EXPERIENCE: *1/2 (out of 5 stars) STARRING Gina Holden as LT. VICTORIA BRONTE Jana Pallaske as SCHWARTZ Lance Henriksen as ORSOW Greg Bryk as CMDR. ANDY SEXTON Christopher Redman as RAFE DANIELLI Rim Rozon as MADDEN Rated R Studio: Sony Directed by: Sheldon Wilson Back to DVD Review Home |  |
WHAT IT’S ABOUT
In this sequel to the 1995 cult sci-fi hit “Screamers,” a rescue team has been dispatched to Sirius 6B where a civil war has wiped out most human life. Scientists on Sirius 6B created a weapon called Screamers, which were robotic assassins that would seek out and eliminate all life. However, the Screamers got smart, killed their makers and evolved into human-form creatures.
The rescue team is answering to a distress call. Upon reaching the planet, they find a warehouse with thousands of dormant Screamers as well as a violent pack of humans fighting to survive. The team tries to save the humans from the Screamers and an impending apocalyptic meteor storm, but things go sour very fast.
WHAT I LIKED
I saw the original “Screamers” when it came to video almost fifteen years ago, and I liked it to a certain degree. I do have a bit of a soft spot for direct-to-video sci-fi flicks. On this front, “Screamers: The Hunting” also served up a nice selection of low-budget sci-fi. As much as I enjoy the big budget theatrical releases, these smaller, more modest films have a certain fast-food decadence about them.
Sure, Peter Weller and Jennifer Rubin weren’t in the cast, which sported no one that I recognized (although I later learned that one of the leaders of the rescue team, Gina Holden, was in “AVPr” and in the quite dreadful and short-lived “Flash Gordon” series last year). There was also a nice, but all-too-brief, cameo of Lance Henriksen.
“Screamers: The Hunting” is your basic sci-fi action flick featuring a group of armed forces being chased by monsters. There’s a lot of shooting, a lot of violence and a lot of gore. It’s not bad for a rainy weekend or a late-night snack.
WHAT I DIDN’T LIKE
Even though the film wasn’t too complex and was pretty simple for a science fiction piece, it had a lot of unfulfilled potential. There was a lot that could have been explored with Lance Henriksen’s character, but it was clear by his very short amount of screen time that he was probably just brought in for a day or two of shooting, his role truncated by budgetary concerns.
I appreciated the gore and the brutal action. However, there’s so much more that could have been explored with the evolving Screamers and their potential to mimic humanity. If only the filmmakers had watched some episodes of “Battlestar Galactica” to discover the potential in this sci-fi archetype.
Still, there was a decent ending, if not predictable. I’d like to see what could be done creatively with “Screamers 3.”
DVD FEATURES
A basic but decently assembled behind-the-scenes featurette is included in the bonus material, along with a boat-load of trailers from the Sony direct-to-DVD market.
WHO’S GOING TO LIKE THIS MOVIE
Die-hard fans of the first film and anyone who likes sci-fi action fast food cinema.
