Bug (2007)

BUG was another one of those movies that flew under the radar for me and I knew nothing about it until I saw it on a shelf in a shop. Seeing straight away that it was from the director of THE EXORCIST, William Friedkin’s I made a mental note and went home and done some research (Yeah, I know I’m sad!). In general BUG had received positive reviews from the general horror population. These things being said it still took me about 6 months before I got round to checking it out and I have to say I was disappointed.

Ashley Judd plays Agnes, a lonely waitress living in a run down motel in fear of her of her recently paroled, abusive ex-husband Jerry (Harry Connick Jr.). When her friend RC comes round with a drifter called Peter (Michael Shannon) an unlikely relationship begins between the two. However it becomes clear that Peter is not without problems. He has recently gone AWOL from the army due to tests, which were being carried out on him and others and he is now terrorised by bugs. At first it’s just a few in bed but after so long he is convinced that they are under his skin and it doesn’t take long until Agnes is the starts to see them too. There follows a whole lot of paranoia.

BUG is another difficult movie to talk about without giving too much away. It had elements I both liked and disliked. If I’m being positive, I loved the fact the movie made me feel paranoid from the beginning. I also felt that the gore was good with one moment in particular that was quite cringeworthy although for me there wasn’t enough of the red stuff to be seen. Another thing I thought that worked well was the fact that there were very few actors used which made me think a lot of SPLINTER and goes to show it isn't always neccessary to have a big cast. On the downside Harry Connick Jnr’s character was a tad unbelievable to me. With him being an ex-con he was never gonna be a nice guy but at the same time he never felt all that bad either. Sure, there was one little slap to Ashley Judd but that was the only real evidence that he was in anyway violent. The greatest downfall for me was in the ending – Yes it was executed well enough but I saw were the movie was going a good 30 minutes before it was finished - Just that bit too predictable for me.

BUG is certainly not your typical run-of the-mill Horror/Thriller but some may enjoy it. It's hard to say who would be the best suited audience as I doubt the mainstream crowd would enjoy it. A lot of horror hounds may also be disappointed with it's slow pacing and with the fact that not a lot actually happens. By all means watch it but just don’t say I didn’t warn you…

Date: 08/12/2008

Rating: 2.5/5

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