Black Swarm (3½ Stars)

This is a Canadian made-for-television movie from 2007. I seem to be watching a lot of them lately. But before I get to the film itself, check out the photo above. I absolutely despise DVD cases with the little clips at the side that you have to open first. Since they're quite rare I never expect them, and I end up tugging at the case for ages before I figure out what to do. This is a reason I always have a small stack of replacement cases lying around. I'll try not to forget to trash this case as soon as I've finished this post.

After the death of her husband, policewoman Jane Kozick leaves the sleepy town Black Stone in upstate New York to move to Manhattan. Nine years later she decides that the big city is a bad place for her 10-year-old daughter Kelsey to grow up, so she moves back to Black Stone. It's the safest place on Earth, nothing ever happens.

Almost nothing. Jane's new next door neighbour is Eli Giles, an eccentric old man who lives in a trailer, played by Robert Englund. Eli has been secretly working on a government project to genetically engineer wasps to become super soldiers. Unfortunately the wasps escape, causing quite a problem for the local pest control. The wasps are equipped with stingers over an inch long. One sting is enough to kill a man, but the wasps never attack individually, they always come in a large swarm. This itself would be enough to make a horrifying film, but the wasps also lay eggs inside the dead victims, making them come back to life as human drones, staggering around the town like zombies, obeying the orders of the wasp queen. These undead humans carry wasp swarms in their bodies that they release by opening their mouths. Whoa! It's amazing what one scientist working alone in a trailer can accomplish. I've always known Robert Englund is a genius.

Before you say it can't get any worse (or any more unbelievable), the wasps decide to pick Kelsey to become their new queen. So poor Deputy Sheriff Cozick has to find a way to save the world without killing her daughter. Standing in her way is the government agent Katherine Randell, played by the deliciously evil Jayne Heitmeyer. I've never seen her play a bad guy before, but she acts the role as naturally as if she were born for it.

I personally would have enjoyed the film more if it had just been a killer wasp film. The wasp-spewing zombies are more comical than terrifying. Too many ideas were packed into the film. A simple story can be the best. Less is more. The film's biggest plus is Robert Englund. I have the greatest respect for him. Ever since he became famous for playing Freddy Krueger in "Nightmare on Elm Street" he's been appearing in trashy low budget horror films, but however bad the films may be he puts on world class performances. Any film he appears in is worth watching for him alone.