31 Horror Movies in 31 Days: Mimic Trilogy

by Dan Moore 

@SouthieDanimal

 

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Day Twenty-Two: Mimic  

 

 

Director: Guillermo del Toro

Starring: Mira Sorvino, Jeremy Northam, Josh Brolin, Charles S. Dutton, Giancarlo Giannini

F. Murray Abraham

Day Twenty-Three: Mimic 2 

 

 

Director: Jean de Segonzac

Starring: Edward Albert, Alix Koromzay, Will Estes, Bruno Campos

Day Twenty-Four: Mimic 3:Sentinel 

 

 

Director: JT Perry

Starring Lance Henriksen, Karl Geary, Alexis Dziena, Rebecca Mader

 

Del Toro's first English language movie has all the hallmarks of his later, more polished works. There's insects, monsters and dark creepy places. I'm a big fan of his, yet had never watched Mimic before. Did I make a mistake? 

 

Eh. It's ok. It's about an Entomologist (Sorvino, who uses a New York accent off and on) who's working on a big bug problem.  Cockroaches are spreading a deadly virus amongst the Big Apple's children. She genetically engineers a cross between a termite & a praying mantis called the Judas breed, which is only supposed to live for 6 months. This super bug releases an enzyme that kills all the roaches. Fast forward three years, and Susan comes upon a large Judas specimen that she determines is only a baby. So what's that mean? GIANT BUG KILLING MOVIE YEEEEAAAAH!  

 

The original sets the mythology for the rest of the flicks. The first one is an ok if uneven horror movie. For an Oscar winner, Sorvino isn't much of an actress in this. She's surrounded by plenty of able supporting actors however. There's some good gore in this movie. The mixture of practical and CGI effects works well. It's never really distracting. 

 

The second one in the series expands on a minor character from the first. It's more of the same though. Good kill scenes, middling plot, and characters so thin you could sneeze through them. It's about on par with the original in terms of quality. So it's also eh. 

 

And then we hit the surprisingly good third entry in the series. It's essentially Rear Window with giant killer bug men. For the first hour it's a solid, original horror movie. I was very into this flick. It goes into traditional territory for the last 35 minutes or so but man, that first hour is as good as you'll find in your direct to DVD bin. Really good stuff. 

 

THE GOOD: Part three is easily the best one. Del Toro's direction in the original. 

 

THE BAD: Part two is eminently forgettable. 

 

THE DUMB: Why are all these people hanging out in sewers and abandoned subway stations? Cut the shit. 

 

SHIT OR HIT: A mixture, really. You could skip the first two and not miss a beat with the superior third film. In fact, you probably should.