Review of Plague Town (2009) by Private U — 03 Jun 2009

Plague Town appears outwardly to be a very traditionalist survivalist horror film, along the same road as The Hills Have Eyes. It?s a tale about a dysfunctional family?s road trip through the English countryside that turns horribly wrong. The cast of characters lend instant dynamic drama to the situation based on their own internal conflicts. The father (David Lombard) has brought along his two daughters, Molly (Josslyn DeCrosta), who has emotional problems, and Jessica (Erica Rhodes), the self-centered one. Jessica's boyfriend tags along. A British boy by the name of Robin, who?s only goal it would seem is to get laid. Then their's Dad?s girlfriend Annette (Lindsey Goranson). When the family misses the last bus home from an afternoon picnic, they eventually find out that their British holiday has just turned into a nightmare.

As I was watching, I realized this movie isn't half bad for what it is - just a very low budget horror film. I thought they made best with what limited resources they were given, and made a half decent little film. Something I could respect. Then, after finding out the budget was somewhere over $1-million (still pretty low). Sure, Sam Raimi and Peter Jackson made it work well with far less than that - inflation included - and look where that got them. Sure, not everybody can be like Raimi or Jackson. The point is that limitations don't have to enable laziness ? they can force creativity and ingenuity.

Movies about killer kids are hardly a new idea, but fortunately Plague is somewhat a breath of fresh air, despite the glittering generalities of the plot points. As with Hills, the threat turns out to be mutants ? mutant children in this case. The girl ghoul on display in the movie's print advertising has jawbreaker-sized doll eyes strapped over her empty eye sockets. This is one of many attempts at surreal imagery. Sure, she looks pretty frighting for a little while, but loses it after awhile. Precious few of these surreal images work, mainly because director David Gregory keeps them in view for far too long.

Rating: C.