Clive Barker's The Plague (2006)

Produced by master of horror Clive Barker (Hellbound: Hellraiser II Candyman) The Plague is an intense horror film starring James Van Der Beek (Varsity Blues TV's Dawson's Creek) and Dee Wallace Stone (The Howling E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial). All hell breaks loose when the children of the world who had mysteriously fallen into a coma awaken ten years later possessing otherworldly powers to wage an unholy battle against all adults.System Requirements:Running Time 82 Mins.Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: HORROR Rating: R UPC: 043396148093 Manufacturer No: 14809 Product Description

Shoot me - I liked it!

Boy, am I crawling out on a limb? I just watched this movie last night for the first time, and I enjoyed it! I'm not saying it's a great movie, I wouldn't even say it was above average - it's not as disturbing as "Hellraiser", or as scary as watching "Candyman" alone, in the dark, late at night, for the first time. But I also don't think it is nearly as bad as some of these reviews seem to indicate. One person said it was "predictable" - perhaps to them, but for me - I had to watch it until the very end before I knew what was going on. I thought there were enough "herrings" thrown into the mix to keep the audience off guard, but again, that is MY opinion. All I can say is the usual "safe" piece of advise to the potential viewer - use your own brain, make up your own mind, and never rely on somebody else's opinion as far as whether you will or won't give something new a chance. If it happens to be shown on TV, watch it, if you don't like it - turn it off! Personally, I think I've "discovered" more pleasant surprises by ignoring majority opinion and going my own way. I enjoyed it, so have others - you might, too! And if you end up not liking it - so what, not like it's the end of the world or anything. June 27, 2008

It is impossible to accurately describe how bad this movie is !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Other reviewers have done a better job than I can to describe and warn you away from this film.
- No real gore, this isn't a showcase of gore technology or anything that is state of the art, it seems like a PG-13 rating that was aspiring for a G rating.

- No plot, intrigue or explanation of why all the children fall into a coma to wake up on the same day 10 years later and attack all non coma afflicted in a coordinated manner.

- No t&a, the actresses aren't even extraordinarily appealing, all the zombie comatodes are pale and ashen and the heroines weren't in any danger of winning Homecoming Queen even at Skankville High School !

- This movie is a travesty and should just be burned, it is the poster child for censorship for lack of quality.

Right before this movie came on Cinemax, Jodi Foster's Contact was before it and in contact Jay Leno joked how disappointed aliens who recieve our TV broadcasts 26 years after we send them because of the vast distances, would be let down if the aliens are Cubs fans.

Well, if any aliens are peaceful or ambivalent about contacting us ---they'll feel compelled to annihilate us if they see this movie which a member of humanity produced !!! June 8, 2008

Smart And Consistent

Disregard the "pointless" reviews - it's simply an apocalyptic tale that stays true to its premise. All children fall comatose for ten years, then come back with sinister intentions. Yes, more survival horror, but with a good creepy build-up. You can tell an intelligent person designed the story. The film falls a little flat, but is surely watchable. It looks a little tv-movie fake, nothing serious. Hey - it's better than that pile Lord of Illusions... May 6, 2008

Absolutely meaningless

I saw this on television, and was spared buyer's remorse. This movie must have been entirely produced and written by Clive Barker, because it was absolutely devoid of any plot just like his other works. Why all the kids develop a hive mentality is left unexplained. Why it (whatever "it" is) only affects children is left unexplained. Why the reverend didn't apply his own rambling insights that were left in the reverend's letter is left unexplained. What on earth did the letter even say? We only heard half sentences uttered by the guy reading it. And since when do Zombies read the Grapes of Wrath or any other book? How can they be so sullen and incommunicative and yet somehow capable of reflective thought and problem solving? What on earth was Clive Barker (and anyone else involved) thinking? The only thing worse I can think of is the movie Hellraiser. This movie was absolutely plotless. And why was that one guy such a wimp that he let a chick break his ankle? I've said too much already. I don't want to dignify this garbage with further attention. Nuff said. April 18, 2008

What a mess! Unbelievably bad....

I am posting this review just to warn people off of this film. I agree with the posters here who have panned this movie and I won't recount the plot. But, because I am a writer, I can say that I was amazed that anyone (anyone!) would have put up the money to make this movie. The script starts off well enough (in premise, if not in dialogue) but when the characters started talking (i.e., before the kids wake up) there were warning signs. Almost nothing said by anyone in this script is logical, reasonable, or noteworthy. I kept waiting for the characters to at least follow the stereotypes for this "kind" of movie. But, in almost every scene, the characters say nothing (they just look at each other) or what they do say does nothing to move the story along. I kept talking back to the characters in the movie (a really bad sign for me) in a vain attempt to "encourage" the characters to start acting in a sensible way. I thought several times how the premise of this movie could have been used so powerfully had the producers bothered to actually read the script and then, seeing it was so senseless and bad, had the good financial sense to get a good scriptwriter to fix it. I won't go into how sad it is that the actors involved were wasted on it or, more pathetically, exploited by it (I refer to the actress who plays the mother of the girl who is tied up in the church and who eventually releases here just to be killed by her). I think it's sad when an older actor/actress takes a role in a crappy film just for the money. They deserve so much better.

I do want to mention one scene which was both needlessly offensive and revealing about the quality of the script. I refer to the short scene in the church when the deputy is waiting with the guy whose leg was broken (very easily broken by a young girl) for the others to come back with a vehicle. I was shocked when the deputy entered the room and asked if the guy with the broken leg wanted to eat "the Body of Christ". Come on guys, that line was stupid (it was a box of unconsecrated wafers) and needlessly offensive _unless_ it moved the story along. It didn't. The scene was more interesting a bit later when the two men are talking about what might "explain" the events they were witnessing (aliens, etc.). I laughed because I thought that even the characters were saying how dumb this script was...they were wondering aloud what it was all "about". Sadly, the fact that the two men are shortly gunned down had no meaning even if we take into account that the deputy suddenly is praying the "Our Father" prayer as he waits to be killed. I'm all for a story that looks into the nuances of religion or science or horror or aliens or _whatever_. But this story had no story at all because we (the viewers) never get to learn what the story is really "about", just like those two dead men who were never enlightened. By the final scene (where the camera zooms in on the copy of "The Grapes of Wrath" in the back pocket of the boy who killed the "survivor's" boyfriend) this viewer was left slack-jawed by a script that finally expects its audience to accept some sort of vague metaphysical (i.e., religious) allegory. The script plays around with the idea of a "soul" but builds no basis for the final 10 minutes of the script. Oh, well, I know I'm just rambling now. Sorry. I guess I hoped that by explaining things I might make sense of the senseless. I can't.

As I've just explained, the "the message" in a script is the important thing and is especially important in a bad script (because sometimes the message redeems other failings). I have to say that this script had no real message at all. Just what was this movie about? Zombies? Religious allegory? Teenage angst? Moral sacrifice? Adults "ruining" the world for children and they get pissed and decide to nap for 10 years then wake up and start killing unless someone is smart enough to sacrifice a "soul"? Huh? Maybe it was about nothing? Nothing at all. That's it: it was nothing.

The only "good" thing I can say is that I didn't pay to see this crap. I had a free rental coupon and in an impulse (it was a Clive Barker film, after all), I used the coupon to rent it. I should have checked the reviews here on Amazon as I usually do before renting something. In most cases, the people who are compelled to write a review here do so because they feel strongly (positive or negative) so although the reviewers are a self-selected group, usually the guidance here is useful. I say don't buy or even rent this dumb movie.

Oh, and I agree: Clive Barker should be ashamed. How the mighty have fallen.... February 25, 2008

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