Larva
List Price:
Our Price: $3.91
You Save: $6.07 (61%)
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Buy Used: from $0.01 (click here)
Category: DVD
See more DVD details
Buy this DVD movie at online store in your country
Canada
Canada
DVD details
Actor: David Selby, Rachel Hunter, Robert Miano, Vincent Ventresca, William ForsytheBrand: First Look Pictures
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: Spanish (Subtitled); English (Original Language)
Format: Closed-captioned, Color, DVD, NTSC, Subtitled
Picture Format: 1.78:1
Running Time: 96 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2005-04-26
Audience Rating: R (Restricted)
Studio: First Look Pictures
DVD Reviews of Larva
DVD Review: Dumb yet oddly appealing
Summary: 3 Stars
This 2005 creature feature aired on the Sci Fi Channel. Yeah. I could stop reviewing right there because that's all you really need to know about this formulaic monster flick. Why go on? Nature run amok movie...Sci Fi Channel...clichéd. Nearly every film that ever aired on the Sci Fi Channel stinks in some significant way. Bad acting from second and third tier actors and actresses, lazy direction, cheap set pieces, bad CGI special effects, lame plots--it's always the same story with these guys. I'm not sure whom they've got in their stable of writers over there, but they need new blood fast. I suspect the same script just floats around in perpetuity with only the names of the characters and the type of beast changing on a regular basis. The plot always goes something like this: outsider or scientist type moves into small community, discovers a sinister corporate/military/evil white guy conspiracy that sacrifices nature in the quest for profits, and joins a small group of those in the know in order to destroy the threatening monstrosities in question. The end. Add a few twists to the plot, sprinkle in a ton of clichés, and you've got yourself the latest Sci Fi Channel movie of the week.
"Larva" meets all of the above requirements, and then some. The story's hero is Dr. Eli Rudkus (Vincent Ventresca), a new veterinarian moving to the little town of Host, Missouri in order to fill the vacancy left by his predecessor. The town desperately needs Emil's services since the main means of income in the little berg revolves around the cattle industry. In fact, a corporate concern (here we go) called Host Tender Meats pretty much controls the village. They buy up all the product in town and call the shots about what the cattle eat. That's why the company is especially stoked about a new feed they've developed. According to the company's PR flacks, the new food will guarantee adding serious weight to the cattle in town. More weight equals...wait for it...more beef and more profits. Everyone wins. WRONG! Host Tender Meats has a serious problem with their new product, a problem we witness in the opening scenes of the film when a weird creature bursts out of a dead cow in full view of several teenage witnesses. No one knows at the time what just happened, but they will soon. Host, Missouri is about to become a disaster area.
Rudkus learns about this strange phenomenon when a local rancher by the name of Jacob Lang (William Forsythe) calls him in to perform tests on this odd creature. The veterinarian discovers a couple of disturbing things. He learns that the larva likes human blood and grows larger after a feeding, and he suspects the new feed from Host Tender Meats is causing this aberration of nature. When he tries to tell the townspeople, they greet his claims with jeers. So do the higher ups at Host Tender Meats. The evil owner of the firm, Fletcher Odermatt (David Selby), and his attack dog lawyer Hayley Anderson (Rachel Hunter) laugh loudly and publicly at Rudkus's concerns. Eli's charges soon bear fruit when the larvae begin attacking human targets. Fortunately for the film, this involves an "Alien" like embryonic period followed by a cheesy CGI beastie bursting out of the victim's chest. Eli, Jacob Lang, and the newly educated Hayley Anderson join forces to save the town. Their mission is not easy. You see, the larvae soon develop the ability to fly through the air. Yes sir, flying larvae. No one is safe, and the very fate of the world rests in the hands of these unlikely heroes. Roll credits.
I detected several subtleties in the script that surprised me considering the low budget, clichéd mess that is "Larva". Check out Eli's last name. Rudkus is the surname of the main character in Upton Sinclair's seminal socialist, anti-meatpacking industry screed "The Jungle". In fact, a lot of the plot mirrors stuff that took place in Sinclair's novel. The monopoly Host Tender Meats uses to control the ranchers, for example, as well as having the town sheriff on the company payroll is lifted right out of the book. Pretty obvious where the screenwriters' sympathies lie, eh? The literary underpinnings of the movie fail to help in other areas, however. The cheap 'n cheesy CGI effects are laughable, as is the idea of Rachel Hunter playing a corporate lawyer. Also working against the film (or for it depending on your demeanor) is a number of unintentionally hilarious scenes. I couldn't stop laughing over the sequence involving two youngsters messing around with each other only to have their little skin party interrupted by the messy arrival of a larva bustin' out of the boyfriend's body. The following chase scene involving the girlfriend and the beastie keeps the guffaws coming. Heck, even the goofy picture on the DVD cover made me giggle.
First Look Pictures (a warning sign about the quality of the picture right there) brings "Larva" to DVD with no extras. Oh well. The film is still more than watchable. Sure, it's stupid on a metaphysical level with truly humongous plot holes, but the humorous aspects in a number of scenes coupled with decent acting (thank the lord for small favors) and several extremely gory kills make this movie a must see for creature feature fans. As I indicated above, it's not original in any way, shape, or form. Clichés abound. But every once in awhile we need to sit down with a movie, throttle our brains down into neutral, and just veg out in front of something truly mindless. "Larva" fits that bill quite nicely. I think I'll give the film three stars. That's probably one more than it deserves, but I'm feeling generous tonight. Have fun and don't consume any meat lest you become the next victim of LARVA! Bwaahahahahahaha!
Description of Larva
LARVA - DVD MovieBestsellers in DVD
![The Story of Jeremiah [VHS] Image](/images/noimg.gif)
The Story of Jeremiah [VHS]Vision Video; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Wresting With God [VHS]by Vision Video
Vision Video; Published: 1990-10-01; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Price in other shops:
Study Bible Video with Workbook [VHS]Spring Arbor Distributors; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Best price: $7.95
Price in other shops:
Tempo:Childrens TV Favourites Video [VHS]HarperCollins Audio; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Best price: $9.17
Price in other shops:
Tempo.Herbs:Parseley'Sb/ Party Video [VHS]HarperCollins Audio; VHS Tape; VHS Video
![Strike the Original Match [VHS] Image](/images/Strike-the-Original-Match-VHS-0001374079-X.jpg)
Strike the Original Match [VHS]New Liberty Films; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Price in other shops:
![Medjugorje The Miracles and the Message [VHS] Image](/images/Medjugorje-The-Miracles-and-the-Message-VHS-0001373293-X.jpg)
Medjugorje The Miracles and the Message [VHS]JPN Film Production; Release date: 1995-12-15; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Best price: $29.99
Mayo Clinic Echocardiography Review Course for Boards and Recertification DVD 2008by Mayo
DVD
Price in other shops:
Pediatric Diagnostic Imaging DVD: Single Userby Oakstone
DVD
Price in other shops:
Cost Accounting [VHS]by Charles T. Horngren, George Foster, Srikant M. Datar, Howard Teall
Pearson Canada, Toronto; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Similar DVDs, VHS Video, Audio CDs
MammothSTARZ/SPHE; Release date: 2008-01-08; DVD
Best price: $2.60
Price in other shops:
Deep EvilFirst Look Pictures; Release date: 2005-04-05; DVD
Best price: $2.99
Price in other shops:
BugDILLMAN,BRADFORD; Release date: 2004-09-14; DVD
Best price: $4.99
Price in other shops:
Mongolian Death WormLGF; Release date: 2011-04-26; DVD
Best price: $12.48
Price in other shops:
Flight of the Living Dead: Outbreak on a PlaneNew Line Home Video (Under War; Release date: 2007-10-02; DVD
Best price: $3.89
Price in other shops:
Piranha II: The SpawningRelease date: 2003-01-28; Published: 1981-01-01; DVD
Best price: $10.10
Price in other shops:
KawFLANERY,SEAN PATRIC; Release date: 2007-10-23; DVD
Best price: $2.30
Price in other shops:
AbominableFox; Release date: 2006-10-03; DVD
Best price: $4.00
Price in other shops:
Mosquito ManFirst Look Pictures; Release date: 2005-05-17; DVD
Best price: $3.92
Price in other shops:
BugsImage Entertainment; Release date: 2008-05-20; DVD
Best price: $9.07
Price in other shops: