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Released By: RHI Entertainment
Released On: 04/05/2011
Director: David Hogan
Cast: Ed Quinn, William B. Davis, Cindy Busby
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The Film:
From free health care to clean air and superior alcoholic beverages, there are a number of reasons I am proud to be Canadian. We've even made some pretty decent contributions to the film industry with the help of artistic Canucks such as David Cronenberg and Atom Egoyan, and “Hollywood North†has kicked out quite a few awesome movies that we can proudly say, “Yup, that was shot here. Go, Canada!†Behemoth, a recent DVD release from RHI Entertainment is definitely NOT one of those films.
Shot in beautiful British Columbia and touted as a “SyFy Original Movieâ€, Behemoth is not original…or good. At all. The story centers around Mount Lincoln, a volcanic peak on the outskirts of a small town. A series of large tremors in the mountain leads to the mysterious death of one of Thomas' (Ed Quinn) logging crew, a death that seems to be the result of a falling tree branch…to the leg. Stuck for answers on how such an injury could cause the demise of a man, Thomas returns to the home of his father, William Walsh (William B. Davis), who is off of his meds and carrying on about the end of the world while he maps out the unprecedented hurricanes and melting glaciers on his living room wall and intersperses his “research†with drawings of big, scary monsters. Unfortunately for the doubting Thomas (snicker), his dad may know more about the situation on Mount Lincoln than he thinks,
Meanwhile, Thomas' old fling Emily has returned to Mount Lincoln to investigate the seismic activity that she's been monitoring from outside of town. Discovering that there is a layer of carbon monoxide hanging approximately three feet above the ground, she approaches her Uncle Matt, the local sheriff, to ask him to evacuate the town. Uncle Matt has his doubts, of course, and by the time he finally agrees to concede with her wishes, the damage has been done. Thomas' crazy father, prophesising that man has fought the world so long that the world would start fighting back, proves to be absolutely correct when a large, tentacle-waving monster breaks free from the earth's crust, wreaking havoc on the small town. Teaming up with Emily, it's up to Thomas to save the day and the town.
The concepts explored in Behemoth are not new to film, and it's safe to say that they've probably been executed more poorly than they are in this film, but that's not saying anything positive. Behemoth is about as bad as it gets, with mediocre acting, bad dialogue, terrible effects…no, horribly horrifically terribly horrible effects, and no payoff whatsoever. Ed Quinn is about the only actor in this film who can actually claim to be acting; even William B. Davis, chilling in his portrayal as the Smoking Man in the X-Files TV series, is so bad that you'll want to leap through the television and sweep his corduroy-clad old man legs out from underneath him, and then laugh at his misfortune. The worst thing about Behemoth, however, is not the acting; it's the “special†effects. Boy, are they special. CGI rocks and CGI smoke stand out like a sore CGI thumb, and just when you think it can't get any worse, the Behemoth itself appears. Looking like a bad video game creation, the threat caused by the creature is non-existent, rendering every dangerous situation laughable. The television production values could be excused if this were a television show trimmed down to about 45 minutes with fewer effects, but at 90 minutes, Behemoth is just painful.
Video/Audio/Extras:
The 1.78:1 anamorphic transfer of Behemoth is decent, with some good colour and black levels. The mountain scenery of BC looks fantastic, until the bad things start happening. The Dolby Digital 5.1 audio track is decent enough, though you don't get too much action from the surrounds. There are zero extras on the disc.
The Final Word:
It's hard to figure out what the creators of Behemoth were thinking when they decided to put it to film. It's even harder to figure out why anyone would want to buy this on DVD. It's certainly not a film that is good enough to watch over and over again, nor does it fall into the “so bad, it's good†category. It actually serves the purpose of re-evaluating what a “bad†film actually is. Avoid. At all costs.
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