There’s a blast of horror in Lavalantula a scary little film in the comedic genre that will be released on DVD on November 3rd. It’s a reunion of sorts from Police Academy featuring several of the cast members that made that comedy a hit in 1984. Familiar faces who know how to work with tongue-in-cheek humor. It’s another film directed by Mike Mendez who brought one of my favorites Big Ass Spider to the screen. Not too scary, the film can be watched by teens and tweens to get their Halloween fix of horror.
Colton West (Steve Guttenberg) has had a very bad day on the set of his new film. Trying to make a comeback from his long layoff from acting as the popular Red Rocket he’s just not ready to do a grade C move featuring bugs. He leaves the set early putting his job in jeopardy and hits the freeway in an attempt to get home and take his teenage son Wyatt (Noah Hunt) to a baseball game.
On the freeway a volcanic earthquake erupts and motorists are backed up for miles. Balls of fire come raining down turning into to fire breathing spiders. Thus continues Colton West’s worse day ever as he tries to fight off the spiders, get off the freeway and get home to protect his family.
The film spools out at a fast pace with a lot of special effects ugly spiders and explosions adding a lot of action to the horror flick. Director Mike Mendez knows how to handle bug movies and with Lavalantula he adds the element of whimsical comedy to soften the fright a bit for pre-teens. He’s a master of the green screen, but in a few scenes you can see some of the actors struggling with the concept of shooting spiders that aren’t really there on the set. It’s all part of the fun though considering the cast has worked together on one of the best franchises in comedy Police Academy.
The cast of Police Academy included Steve Guttenberg as a new cadet at the training school who meets other cadets played by Michael Winslow, Marion Ramsey and Leslie Easterbrook. The horror comedy mix works well with the group and they put on a good show. And, Michael Winslow hasn’t lost his touch emitting the special sounds that made him famous.
Lavalantual has not been rated by the MPAA, but contains language and Sci-Fi violence. Most of the horror comes from the attacks of the spiders so you may want to be cautious that the very young can be easily upset if they are allowed to watch the film.
FINAL ANALYSIS: A cool little horror flick with a lot of action. (C+)
Specifications and additional video information:
Cast: Steve Guttenberg, Nia Peeples, Patrick Renna, Michael Winslow, Marion Ramsey, Patrick Renna, Ian Ziering, Noah Hunt
Director: Mike Mendez (Big Ass Spider)
MPAA Rating: Not Rated, contains language, sci-fi violence
Genre: Comedy, Action, Sci-fi, Horror
Running Time: 1 hr. 21 min.
Original Theatrical Release Date: July 25, 2015
Video Release Date: November 3, 2015
Language: English
Reviewed Format: DVD
Audio: Surround Sound 5.1
Video: Widescreen, 16×9 Full Screen, Aspect Radio 1.78:1
Subtitles: English SDH, Spanish
Number of Discs: 1 Disc
Distributed by: Alchemy
Writer, critic, film editor John Delia, Sr. has been on all sides of the movie business from publications to film making. He has worked as a film critic with ACED Magazine for more than 20 years and other publications for a total of 40 years. He earned a Bachelor’s degree in communications from the University of Florida. John is a member of the Southeastern Film Critics Association and Critics Association of Central Florida Send John a message at jdelia@acedmagazine.com
