Review of Bug (1975) by Matt C — 21 Mar 2013

Bug is a film directed by William Friedkin (The French Connection, The Exorcist) and it stars Ashley Judd, Michael Shannon and Harry Connick Jr.

Agnes (Judd), is a lonely 30-something waitress who gets introduced to Peter (Shannon), a quiet and unassuming guy who seems attracted to Agnes' vulnerable and lost persona whilst Agnes feels comforted by how vastly different Peter is to the men from her past, namely her demented ex-husband, Jerry (Connick Jr). However, it turns out that Peter isn't quite the harmless guy he lets on to be. Peter tells Agnes that he believes the Military did horrific tests on him when he was in the Army, involving numerous medication, injections and implants. He tells her that he went A.W.O.L in order to escape, but fears that every move he makes is being watched by Government spies as they attempt to track him down. As his fears gets stranger and more intense, so does his personality and soon he starts to drag Agnes into believing his story. The core of Peter's fear is that he's convinced he has the eggsacs of bugs in his body, put there as part of the medical experiments he was subjected to. Agnes starts to believe that their lovemaking has now infected her too and both of them become obsessed with the idea that the bugs are crawling out of their pores and infesting the motel room that they're both holed up in.

The film plays out like a nightmare rather than giving us shocks and jumps that dominate horror films. As the dialogue gets stranger and more erratic, the power of the film is indeed in the mental exhaustion it causes it's audience. This works on one level but can get too intense on another and it's at this point where the film can become too unpleasant, psychologically. As fascinating as the story is, films such as Bug that rely heavily on dialogue, rather than CGI and effects can sometimes run out of steam. This film does have its problems in that area; the story occasionally struggles with development ideas, which isn't helped by it's long running time and it all being set in a small room. What keeps it breathing, however, is the talented cast in the three leads. I've not seen Ashley Judd in a better role and Harry Connick Jr plays the unpredictable ex-husband remarkably well, where he skilfully switches between both Agnes' tormentor and almost her saviour.

For horror/thriller aficionados, Bug is a rewarding experience. It certainly restores your faith that there are still film-makers out there prepared to take a risk in being different and it's a bonus when they succeed in pulling it off.