Remember back in the year 1999 when everyone sank to idiocy through the panic of the Y2K speculations? Well, that only really affected us right here at the Graveside and at every other graveyard in the world. You see, it became a huge load of work dropped on us from the simple minds who decided to have a ‘Birth Date’ to a ‘Death Date’ of 19– chiseled on their tombstones as we were switching to the modern millennium of 20–. As it turns out however, Y2K was pretty much a harmless way for media to cash in on people’s fears through horrible T.V. movies, and constant CNN updates. It’s now been 12 years and the panic has become a fond memory for those who were around to experience it, a funny retrospect of the world’s silly paranoia. But as Writer/Director Kenneth Cran explains in his new film Millennium Bug (from in house studio, No CGI Films), more went on that night than foolish nerds lovingly embracing their computers in a fit of sweaty disbelief over their imminent hard drive’s explosion.
When the Haskin family takes a road trip to a forested region in the Sierra Diablos mountains in hope of escaping Y2K paranoia on it’s final day, they are ambushed and captured by the Crawford’s, a backwoods family of hilarious morally confused inbreds. The inbreds are seemingly lead by the fittest member of the clan, Billa (John Charles Meyer), and his sights are on the Haskin’s only daughter, the young Clarissa (Christine Haeberman), as he attempts to wed her in tradition of the clan before using her body to soe the family’s seed. What next takes place is a classic Hills Have Eyes style battle between families which ends with surprising results before the true terror surfaces in the form of The Millennium Bug, an impressive rubber suit behemoth created in house by the team at NO CGI FILMS. The Bug rampages through the forest in the vain of Godzilla throwing yet another foe into the mix against the two families.
The impressively shot and well designed Millennium Bug is not without it’s flaws, some un-even acting from the inbreds tends to pull you right out of the scenery and the Haskin family seem too under developed to have our support in their struggle. These minor complaints however are over shadowed by the sheer talent being poured into this obvious labor of love. Cran and his team are amazing at creating believable characters through their respect and love of practical effects, fitting them perfectly in this fabricated universe. These practical effects come in the form of miniatures, costume effects, make up effects, and a respectable, imaginative body count.
NO CGI will be a label to watch for in the future at this rate as they already portray a worthy contender to all the major independent studios handling this genre. The Millennium Bug is an astonishing fun Kaiju nightmare through the backwoods of 80’s style and bad taste. Giant rubber suit monster movie fans rejoice!
