Joe Begos‘ film Almost Human really caught me off guard the other day, when I sat down to watch it. Admittedly, I was expecting a low-budget alien film with crap-tastic creature effects, shoddy CGI, and all around poor production value. What I got instead was a gnarly little hybrid of Fire in the Sky, Invasion of the Body Snatchers, and Friday the 13th.
Joe is certainly a scholar in all things horror and it’s obvious when he brings in certain elements that one normally doesn’t expect in an abduction-style alien film. The slasher element is present and makes Almost Human stand out among many of the alien films of recent memory, giving this movie an identity all of its own.
When Mark Fisher goes missing, only his girlfriend and best friend know the truth. However, as time goes on, the town forgets and even his girlfriend moves on. Two years later, Mark reappears in the woods far from where he was abducted and he isn’t quite himself anymore, leaving a trail of dead bodies straight back to his ex girlfriend.
Almost Human has some pretty ambitious stuff going on and I can say that I personally enjoyed the fresh take on the sub-genre. While the acting can be laughable on occasion, this is still one hell of a fun film. IFC tends to put out some great stuff by directors that we would normally never get the opportunity to discover, unless we went to tons of film festivals and scoured conventions regularly. This is great for the average horror fan and fantastic for the directors getting discovered. Joe Begos has a long career in front of him and I can’t wait to see what he comes up with next!
This one gets my seal of approval with 3 shotgun shells out of 5.
After seeing the trailer for Joe Begos‘ film, Almost Human, I knew I just had to see it. It looked like an amazing mix of alien abductions and 80’s slasher flicks. While it certainly is both of those, it didn’t quite reach the level of awesomeness that I was expecting.
I enjoyed the fact that the cast was full of unknown actors to the genre because it helped to bring a level of authenticity to the characters. The performances, however, were sadly a mixed bag, ranging from bad acting to mediocre acting. I also felt that the script itself was lacking any real depth, which may have lent a hand to the weaker performances.
While I didn’t like the acting or writing, I did really enjoy the practical effects. I always have a fun time with science fiction and alien movies, while also having a great love for slashers, so I was very happy to see the types of kills that Joe Begos and his team were able to pull off. There was a nice variety in the kill scenes and each one looked fantastic.
If you are into abduction films and want to see one with a slasher twist, you should definitely check out Almost Human. It will be available on Blu-ray and DVD from IFC Films next Tuesday, June 17, so be sure to pick up a copy!
I give it 2 rocks to the head out of 5.
