Film Review: Attack of the Giant Leeches (2008)

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SYNOPSIS:

In a small town, the silence is shattered by a rash of disappearances at the swamp near the old deserted factories. Bodies are being discovered with no blood left in their bodies. It s up to a park ranger and the town sheriff to discover what ungodly creature is responsible for these deaths. It s only a matter of time before they discover that what they seek are Leeches that have grown to unbelievable size. We bleed- they feed!

REVIEW:

With a name like “Attack of The Giant Leeches”, there’s no denying what your getting into. Our film from Midnight Releasing comes from the production of Brett Kelly Entertainment which is a low budget remake of the 1950’s movie of the same name. I admit to never seeing the original, so I don’t have any grounds for comparison. Though with the original being cited as campy, the remake somewhat follows in the same vein.

On first viewing there are some production issues that need to be mentioned as those usually set the tone for the rest to follow. I didn’t mind that is was shot on standard SD as that’s the norm you come to expect with these level releases. So in that sense it shouldn’t be a shock as many of these follow in that suite. Though one of the production tweaks I’ve become to know is the over use of digital filters to curb that video look in the goal of attaining more film ic presentations. Which to be honest is what I would do myself to tweak a SD shot film. Though in this case the contrast was a bit high for normal viewing. The blacks were definitely 100% black which means alot of detail was lost and some of the shots had some obvious camera resolution issues that gave it a wavy treatment at times that you get from going from analog to digital and then adding sharpening. This kind of effect is usually retained for a flashback or change of mood sequence but to use it overall can get overwhelming. There were also audio issues that changed levels throughout with obvious dropouts and cuts to better miked segments. I found myself constantly using the volume control on my remote.

Moving on to the film I think it is mostly subjective. In the opening scene an old coot gets attacked by the gigantic leech. Now if your looking for production level FX you will be disappointed, but if you find humor in a 5 foot rubber leech attacked to the coot per way of safety pins, I found that kind of funny. So for me I try and overlook the production issue when I can to find the films appeal for better or worst. Directed by Brett Kelly it was apparent that he knew there was ongoing to be certain amount of humor and camp in the ridiculous idea of giant leeches. The scenes with leeches are all shot in a local marsh as they call it with the obvious reluctantcy of locals to stay away even after being warned about something attacking folks in the area. Now as mentioned before there is something campy to the effect of giant leeches. Though the film doesn’t retain that aspect. So what we get is campy attack scenes and drama in between. Most of the drama is just relationship issues with the main characters. If it were my call I would have milked the campy aspect more and forgotten about trying to add drama to a sill concept.

Acting performances run from smooth to forced at times which is sensed on camera. Though the 3 party girls I’m sure were picked off the street on the way to the shoot to get a quick movie credit. Then again who doesn’t mind a watergun fight in skimpy bathing suits?

Attack moments are pretty obvious before hand which is similar to the forced tension you can sense in a Jaws movie complete woith audio buildups and POV camera shot.

I think if you come to the film with that agenda you’ll do alright. Though otherwise production issues will curb most viewers who are looking for a professionally shot product.

Actually I thought it boasts a pretty decent DVD cover and gets the point across. Which is “big leeches that kill”.

Hey, all in all its a silly movie about big fat wormy gelatinous leeches, you can have some fun with it over a few beers, a plate of nachos and some close friends who won’t give you weird looks for putting in such an odd little movie. The film “look” gets real annoying though after a while you tend to get used to it.

Attack of the Giant Leeches (2008)