Infestation (2009)

Written and directed by Kyle Rankin
Featuring Chris Marquette, Ray Wise, Brooke Nevin
First Look Studios DVD
Review by Matthew Funk

Infestation seeks no deeper meaning than an orgy of survival horror against an inexplicable man-eating insect assault. Its title has no profound connotation. It does not attempt social commentary. It is what it is. And what it is, is pretty damn satisfying...

At the core of Infestation is a tried-and-true story arc: The heroic journey. Leading man, Cooper goes from being a hedonistic shirker to getting the girl, getting the glory and getting to butcher a lot of animated bugs. He suffers mightily in the process. This is the same arc that “Chosen Ones” like Cooper have featured in since Babylonians got it in their head to write down some of the mythical mutterings they traded over sacrificial fires. It follows this formula so concisely that audiences craving more global significance to their story might feel jipped. But it does it so adeptly, so distinctly, that such audiences should really get over the uselessness of their Classics degrees and just enjoy the film for what it is.

The rag-tag group of sterotype-filled oddballs who band together to survive

What Infestation is begins fast and does not let up. It dependably delivers the dramatic goods and the disturbing moments, but in a way that escapes seeming dependable. We are plunged into the insect apocalypse within five minutes, and the twists along the way are fresh and swift enough to not be telegraphed. Even a seasoned viewer will have a handful of surprises to smile about afterwards.

Infestation delivers the goods in two ways. One is that it cleaves close to that Heroic Journey. Writer/Director Kyle Rankin does not screw around with explaining the infestation. He dispenses with tedious back story. We learn about our characters, and learn to care about them, through the action. Nothing is rushed and nothing is drawn in broad strokes. When the story is done, and Cooper is mantled in the ashes of the rival hive, with a girl on his hip and his future uncertain, the film ends. That ending is unapologetically open. Rankin makes a loud statement that after Cooper’s triumph, our story is over. This neat narrative produces a concentrated thrill ride that is stronger for its simplicity.

The second source of satisfaction is that Infestation treats its characters like actual characters—not roles to be filled or social statements to be made. The decisions they make are not typical; they’re inspired by distinct, often fragile egos. Rankin doesn’t crank up the pathos artificially. He doesn’t have to. His characters interact realistically, with all the insecurities, habits and foibles that patiently complicate our real lives. This makes for an unpredictability that’s refreshing. Any wise eye will try and shoe horn some characters into archetypes — Crazy Military Guy is featured, so is Wise, Old Black Patriarch. But their choices and dialogue are glowingly individual. As much as it can, Infestation tries to avoid being trite or derivative in its characters, and it succeeds.

The result is a crisp, high-octane one-two punch of a narrative: A story arc we all know and can’t help but embrace, and unique characters to inhabit it. As soon as something smacks of contrivance, Rankin is ready to wash it away with some raw misery or a rapid twist. He pulls it off without showing the stitching.

Where the illusion breaks is in the low budget. Infestation brings to mind some of the better survival horror of the 90s—the mindless, two-fisted crucibles of monster-fueled action that could give half a damn about deeper meaning—and it has special effects to match. The crudely superimposed bugs kept me looking for a glimpse of Kevin Bacon or Michael Madsen. Old school in spirit, Infestation was also old school in monster making, something clearly to be blamed on the lack of cash behind it. All the same, it doesn’t break the film too much, especially considering the cinematography has a keen eye for creating the brooding agoraphobia of a bug-dominated city—a place where empty space is your enemy.

The hot chick (what was her name?)

Acting and direction is also not top dollar. Infestation doesn’t suffer heavily from Rankin’s relative lack of experience. Chris Marquette is solidly cast as Cooper, and female lead, Brooke Nevin, inhabits her tough-but-retiring role. All the same, Rankin either fails to drop the dramatic mood from pathetic to soul-crushing torment at the appropriate moments, or his cast fails to hit those low notes. The result is that the mood always hovers around sardonic humor. Sadness is more a means to an end in the plot than a palpable emotion that the acting grabs your throat with.

Infestation loses few points for this. Its closest peer would be one of my favorite popcorn beastie flicks, Tremors, in that it plunges a vivid band of oddballs into action and doesn’t let up until the big explosion cleanses the alien menace. It is just looking to have fun. There is no need for dazzling effects or poignant heartache when the sinews of the basic story are strong and the entertainment is at a high pitch. It doesn’t bill itself as the second-coming of The Mist. It doesn’t want to poke slacker culture in the eye like Shaun of the Dead. It knows what story it wants to tell—the story of Oedipal little Cooper, squirming his way out of his domineering father’s shadow and landing a love to die for. It tells it, tells it well, and then credits roll.

The names on those credits can be proud. They produced a straight-to-DVD movie, but it’s a DVD that deserves to be passed around.

Matthew Funk is a professional writer in marketing for corporate America, a writing mentor and the author of several manuscripts that illuminate the beauty of human extremes. A graduate of the Professional Writing MFA at USC, his work is also featured on his Web site.