Currently streaming on Shudder is the French horror movie, Infested (aka Vermines). The film – directed and co-written by Sébastien Vanicek – stars Théo Christine, Sofia Lesaffre, and Jérôme Niel, and follows the story of a man who brings home a deadly spider, which creates chaos in his apartment block.
In the movie, Kaleb is a young man who deals in stolen goods. One day, while tying up one of his latest jobs, he cast his eye over some illegal exotic animals.
Kaleb has an interest in animals, particularly the unusual variety, and is keen on adding a new pet to his collection. So, when he spots an intriguing spider, he decides to bring the arachnid home, and keep it amongst the other wildlife in his bedroom.
Unbeknown to Kaleb, the spider is both venomous and deadly. It has been brought to his country illegally, causing death along the way, and after bringing the spider home, he puts the lives of all who live in his apartment building in danger.
If you consider yourself a fan of creature-features, and you have a high tolerance for creepy crawlies, then you may wish to lock your eyeballs on Infested. As the title suggests, the film focuses on more than one spider, in fact there’s bloody loads of ’em, and if spiders are your thing, you sure get your fill here.
After escaping from Kaleb’s room, the wild and lethal spider gives birth, leading to countless critters running amuck throughout the building. If one death-dealing spider sounded bad enough, then a whole horde of them is something else entirely.
And horde is certainly the correct way to describe the spiders in Infested, along with freaky, creepy, hair-raising, and any other word or phrase that essentially means “GIVE YOU THE FREAKIN’ ICK!!” I’m no arachnophobe – heck, when the bombs start falling, and the human race is almost entirely vaporised, I will gladly welcome our spider overlords – but that doesn’t mean we’re bosom buddies.
One spider is fine, two is acceptable, three is kind of pushing it (but I’ll let it slide), however, hundreds of the feckin’ things is taking things too far. So, watching Infested I did what any self-respecting person would do when presented with loads of spiders: I squirmed uncomfortably in my seat, I scratched every part of my body, and I prayed that someone in the film would set fire to the building as quickly as possible.
Did they? Well, you’ll have to watch the film to find out.
If you do watch Infested, then you’ll find yourself with a decent spider flick. Not an amazing one, but a decent one nonetheless, and one with some (mostly) solid creature effects.
Infested isn’t some low-rent tosh, with awful CGI spiders, the antagonistic arachnids look the business. Director/co-writer Sébastien Vanicek ensures the story he’s selling is up to standard in the visual department, and the eight-legged beasties engulf the screen effectively.
What also helps the film out is the cast, who sell the terror of being trapped in a spider-infested building rather well. There isn’t much to the story – spiders rampage the apartment block, residents attempt to survive, etc – but everyone makes the most of what’s being served up.
The important thing is, there is enough atmosphere, goodwill, and spiders to get this film from A to B. Infested does pretty much what you expect, so won’t be winning any major awards in the scripting department, but it’s still good stuff.
Is Infested the new Arachnophobia? Heck no – they are tonally different pictures; plus Arachnophobia has the edge, by being without doubt the greatest spider movie to feature Jeff Daniels. Infested doesn’t have Daniels, so loses points accordingly.
However, what you get with Infested is one-hour-and-forty-five minutes of well-handled spider terror. If this is something you are craving right now, you sick pervert, then enjoy accordingly!
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