User reviews

Mark Fisher disappeared from his home in a brilliant flash of blue light almost two years ago. His friend Seth Hampton was the last to see him alive. Now a string of grisly, violent murders leads Seth to believe that Mark is back, and something evil is inside of him.

The film has some shortcomings, and these can largely be attributed to the independent, low budget status of the film. The filming does not look quite as professional as it could, and the acting is good but not necessarily great. But these things should be expected and not judged too harshly.

Overall, the film is effective and gets across what it is trying to present. Others have called it a cross between "Invasion of the Body Snatchers" and "The Thing", which is true. But it is not a ripoff of either of these and a new vision in its own right.

Almost Human comes across as a patchwork quilt of Invasion of the Body Snatchers, The Terminator, Alien and most notably the works of the legend John Carpenter. Unfortunately, the movie is not good enough to rise above these influences and become an entity of it's own. It has some amazing sequences of gore and violence with practical effects being used in place of horrible CGI. There is also some genuine suspense and dread which shows the director has some skill and could come up with some gems in the future.

However, the movie is badly hampered by some terrible acting and writing. Maybe if Begos had a better writer on board, he could have made a much better film. The actors swear for no reason and it comes across as stilted. They are okay when they are acting scared but when it comes to the dramatic stuff, they are found wanting. Begos has quite a lot of dramatic stuff for a slasher sci-fi flick and so this flaw is magnified that much.

Another thing this movie lacks is a sense of humour which Carpenter's films had. The movie plays it's premise too straight without a hint of satire. Sometimes, it comes off but in this case ,the bad writing and acting sticks out like a sore thumb.

All in all, Almost Human is a halfway-decent stab(*he he*) at a Slasher flick. Begos evidences some directorial talent and with his next film, he will hopefully improve his writing skills and come up with a very good film.

Nothing subtle occurs in this movie. It starts in a rush, resets for the opening credits, and then the killing spree begins (with a little pro forma explanation from Seth along the way). Seth and Jen don't remember what happened the night Mark disappeared, but they know it feels really weird, and now two years later they're feeling weird again. While they're feeling weird, Mark is back and killing everyone he runs across.

The story is quite linear, without an ounce of nuance: Mark disappears, he's back, and Seth and Jen are on a collision course with Mark. There's lots of bloody gunshots, stabbings, and other gruesome action. The action is good, more brutal than scary, though the director certainly wanted a bigger special effects budget to show the violence more explicitly. When Mark attacks Jen, there's a jump-the-shark development where the attack gets especially weird. There's not much character development, the acting is pretty wooden, no grander themes or allegory, no subplots or side characters--just a straightforward story with lots of brutal action. (And one rather comical scene: How long does it take to load a rifle?!) The movie is as entertaining as a car crash, just don't expect any deeper meaning.

Its an independent film with decent acting that wasn't painful to watch. Each actor lent a very good performance. However, the female lead (in comparison to the other actors) seemed as if she wasn't sure how to act, react or even was familiar with her lines; that was a bit distracting.

The movie kept me in suspense, despite random predictability. The directing/cinematography was immersing me into its world, while some shots I felt were too rushed or unnecessary.

It is worth a watch just to see something familiar done a little differently.

It seems like there exists an extremely strong desire among young and aspiring horror directors to travel back in time to the 1980s. Of all the "new" (2010 – 2017) horror movies I watched, almost half have of them either take place in the 80s or are a throwback in style and/or substance to that same decade. "Almost Human" is yet another example, set in respectively the years 1987 and 1989 and paying tribute to alien invasion and extraterrestrial body snatcher movies of that era. My guess is that these directors are nostalgic about their own youth and the classics that introduced them to the genre, and simultaneously they crave for making less complicated horror flicks in which they don't have to bother with cell phones, social media, internet, etc…

Speaking of young and aspiring horror directors, Joe Bigos is clearly an enthusiast genre fanatic himself and he undoubtedly watched all the classics as well as the obscure hidden gems worth seeking out; I'm sure of that. His film is straightforward and appealing, and he obviously gives priority to serving gore and entertainment rather than ensuring that his screenplay makes sense or doesn't contain any giant plot holes. During a dark October night in Maine in 1987, Mark got sucked into a flashy blue light that came out of the sky and he disappeared right before the eyes of his girlfriend Jen and best friend Seth. Two years later, the two are still flabbergasted about what happened but try to move on with their lives when they suddenly hear the news of a vicious murder spree in the area. Seth immediately suspects that his missing buddy is responsible for the killings, and indeed, Mark has returned! The alienated, brainwashed and – most likely – anally probed Mark axe- murders his way back to his old house, but he stores his victims in the shed where they go through a sort of rebirth process in a cocoon. It's probably best not to contemplate too much about all of the script's shortcomings, stupidities and senseless details… For example, what exactly is this alien race's intention? To cleanse and repopulate the world one person at the time, starting in some random hole up in Maine? What alien race, in fact? We never see any aliens or spaceships, we only see our buddy Mark. And if Mark really has been replaced by an emotionless alien parasite with an earthly mission, then why does he insist on returning to his old house and hook up with his former girlfriend again? Anyway, there are far more questions than the screenplay ever bothers to answer, but the good news is that there's a fair portion of gore and bloodshed to enjoy. The acting performances are so bad they become amusing again. Particularly the people in the supportive roles, like Jen's new lover Clyde, are in desperate need of some basic acting lessons. "Almost Human" is very short – less than 80 minutes – and at least it's never boring, so you won't have the impression that you wasted precious time watching it.

I guess I gotta echo what Gregburnscds has said here, it's a shame a little more time wasn't put into getting decent actors or at least building a story. That said, I'm a huge gorehound and I can see a lot of passion went into this little flick. I really looked forward to each kill and some were pretty damn good. It's strange, because while watching Almost Human I felt many times too it was a comedy. Many of the scenes are hilarious - but I'm not entirely sure that was the intention of the director. The gore scenes were above average, which included a Necrostorm style head squish with a rock, an evil dead style, up the skirt penetrating tentacle, a shotgun blast to the head, and various other impalements etc. I can't say I didn't enjoy the movie, because I did, and I don't think it deserves the one star rating someone has given it. In conclusion, for a low budget horror that only runs about 80mins I thought it was a reasonable effort, and maybe there's better to come from these guys.

This movie was decent and like all movies that have a low budget they try to make up for that with blood. In this case it kinda worked. The story is basically about a guy named mark who gets abducted and comes back a couple years later as a alien.

It's one of the movies that include many type of thing like a combination of the body snatchers and splinter. I admit that the story line wasn't that bad and even though I expected more gore ( even though it's pretty gory) it was an okay movie. Some people would rate it lower them only reason why I didn't rate it lower was because I expected a stupid movie. It's one of those movies that tries every way to be as gory as possible to entertain the viewer. The affects were okay the blood was good the alien tongue that mark has looks really fake but it's okay. And of course many people die and the movie ends like most movie ends with something else that might happen. All and all its an okay movie to watch if you like those type of things that I listed above but it one of those movies that you could laugh while you watch with your friends.

Yeah, it's true: the acting in 'Almost Human' isn't on a par with your standard Hollywood fare. Then again, it's better than most of the 'Star Wars' prequels' performances and you sat through those too, didn't you?

However, this should not deter you from watching the movie. If, like me, your attention was peaked by the 80's throwback poster, you know what you like in this type of movie.

The story, derivative as it is (think Body Snatchers), serves as a vehicle for a slasher-like succession of grisly, well-shot murders. In a sparse visual style, maybe even a little bleak due to the setting, we see the events unfold methodically and with increasing intensity to the suspenseful finale.

In a mere 80 minutes, 'Almost Human' shows what a gifted director can do: very much with very little. You will not be surprised, but you will be entertained.

P.S.: To the guy who kept hearing crickets during the second half of the movie: you might wanna get your ears checked. My copy was entirely cricket-free.

First of all, the beginning off the movie captured my attention but sadly the interest started to dwindle and found myself wanting the film to finish.

Flaws, quite a few of them and the continuity? looked as though the crew couldn't care much about it!

As for the acting; I do say it wasn't bad at all but there were times when I thought "how stupid can people be". You can tell they did this to either get the audience a little angry or tensed. I personally kept shaking my head and repeated the word "stupid"

Finally, it reminded me more of slasher movies. Lots of blood and murders. There didn't seem to be a real story behind it all. The why's and how's were missing and what's going to happen next, most of you may figure it out half way through the film.

Nothing exciting here to watch.

Low budget horror film that tries to combine Invasion Of The Body Snatchers with Carpenter's The Thing and, surprisingly, does a very good job of it.

A chap with a beard disappears in a flash of light then he wakes up naked in a forest two years later. He changes a bit in the time he's gone, and instead of throwing himself a welcome home party with a big cake, he starts killing people and inserting alien eggs into their bodies via a long, fleshy egg-pipe that comes out of his mouth. It all gets very bloody and then ends.

It's absolutely straight-up, with nothing complex or contrived, just a decent, well made horror film with some excellent, splatty practical effects. The only flaw is some of the acting is a little weak, one character in particular is amusingly bad in some scenes, otherwise it's a real little cracker and worth seeking out.

Originally at http://filmplop.blogspot.co.uk/

I watched 'Almost human' at IFC, presented by the director and most of the cast.

The movie is set at the end of the Eighties, and tells the (supposedly true story) of the abduction of two people in Maine by the aliens.

When one of them is found two years later in the woods by two hunters, it is immediately clear he is not entirely human anymore.

Despite the low budget the movie manages to accomplish a lot with little, and shows a few gems in the technical, makeup and sound mixing departments, as apparently the abducted man is in real life a professional sound mixer.

I also very much enjoyed the setting, a small Maine town out of a Stephen King book, that suddenly discovers horror and gruesome deaths.

This really is so bloody bad its painful ... I don't know who this guy is who made this but frankly FILM MAKING IS NOT YOUR FORTE ... This is the most amateur and just plain bad thing I've seen in years ... Maybe the director is 10 ... Who knows ? ... Who cares ? ... This should have been flushed down the toilet where the rest of this stuff goes ... Uninspired ... Dull ... Humorless ...Totally lacking in style or content ... I could go on endlessly ... There is NOTHING good about this ... Its just pathetic ... So for those who expect more than nothing when they spend 90 minutes or whatever watching something just give this rubbish a miss ... Cos it really is a waste of anybody's time

Watched this movie not expecting much and and I must say my expectations were met. Typical B movie material.

The acting is forced and the script is totally unoriginal. The effects are somebody's idea of special effects. Everybody at some point has a bloody nose, face or mouth. Not sure what that is all about.

Basically it is a movie with bits and pieces borrowed from other movies rolled into a "new" movie with a new name, new faces, new places, etc. It's basically Fire in the Sky meets, Invasion of the Body Snatchers, meets, The Hidden meets, Halloween meets, etc, you add your own... Please spare us and DON'T make a sequel. Not recommended unless you want a good laugh or too.

I hate to rag on indies that are clearly made by genre fans with far more passion and good intentions than the soulless fare that the mainstream studios churn out, but Joe Begos needs to take a long hard look in a mirror and realize that he is not a good writer and whatever his next venture may be, he should stick to directing only. The direction here was adequate but the script was horrible.

I'm not being highbrow when I say that either, in a movie about a returned alien abductee going on a killing spree, I'm not looking for subtext or nuance or theme. If I want that stuff I'll hit the dramas. But, and this is important, I am looking for a script that doesn't feel like a cobbled together bunch of scenes from far better movies. You want to rip off ideas from The Hidden, Invasion of the Bodysnatchers, Fire in The Sky etc.? That's cool, but for heaven's sake at least attempt to put your own fingerprints on it otherwise all you succeed in doing is making me wish I was watching any one of the other movies instead.

On top of the derivative nature of the whole thing, the writing fails in many other aspects too. The dialogue is often cringe worthy and I honestly believe that the reviews that say this movie had bad acting are actually mistaking bad acting for reasonable actors doing the best they can with atrocious lines.

The director may have been going for an 80s throwback vibe but he fails in that aspect too. Aside from the excellent retro poster, nothing about this felt old school. It lacks all the charm and cheese (and character development) of 80s horror and the direction style certainly isn't throwback either. If you want to see a contemporary movie that truly looks and feels like it came from a previous era, watch Ti West's 'House of the Devil' instead.

Still, I made it through to the end without turning it off, which is something since I have adhd pretty bad. The story was entertaining enough to just hold my attention through the mercifully short 80 minutes or so and I'd recommend it to non-demanding indie horror fans looking for something to fill up an evening but not expecting a gem.

Joe Begos, if you happen to read this review, focus on directing my friend - you've got some chops in that and they could blossom - but part of the job of any good director is to realize when he needs to put the pen aside and work with a talented writer instead.

Gory, nasty fun with some nice body horror elements. No it's not new or original but there's a lot to like here. A beardy alien terminator with lots of blood and goo... btw I'm a 50 year old housewife who loves horror: if you're a horror fan too then crack ooen a beer and enjoy.

There are NO ORIGINAL IDEAS in this movie. The plot is nothing but the best parts from several other movies COPIED BADLY; including John Carpenter's signature opening credit font and Derry, Maine the fictional town created by Stephen King. Don't copy someone unless you're capable of doing it better than them. And there's a difference between paying homage and BLATANTLY COPYING. The small budget is no excuse for not using their own ideas. Don't waste a single second of your time on this COPYCAT MOVIE. Instead watch or re-watch the movies they blatantly copied from: A lot was copied from "FIRE IN THE SKY"(1993). The shrieking is from "THE THING" (1982). All the other parts are from: "HALLOWEEN" (1978). "THE SHINING" (1980). "THE EVIL DEAD"(1981). "THE HIDDEN" (1987). "SLITHER" (2006). "FRIDAY THE 13TH". "INVASION OF THE BODY SNATCHERS" etc., etc., etc.

Yet another movie I saw at Frightfest Glasgow.

So, this was enjoyable. This is a low budget throw back to 80's movies of the same genre. That genre being horror/sci-fi.

It is paced rather well, something not all low budget movies are. I was never bored. It does a good job keeping you interested. The effects are done pretty well. All in all it is entertaining.

Josh Ethier does a good job in his role.

It never quite gets all the way up to movie greatness, but the crew have done a fine job. It was a Q&A after the movie, with some of the cast and crew involved, so I know a lot of hard work went into it.

If you like this type of movie, you'll be rather satisfied.

Almost Human did had a good promotion and is almost available in all countries so for people into the genre and searching this flick it cab't be difficult to pick it up. I found it in an ordinary shop, didn't had to order it overseas and it even had my native subs so how cool was that.

I knew by watching the trailer that this flick was a throwback to the eighties and after watching it I can only recommend it to the old school buffs because it doesn't have flashy camera shots or CGI. But that doesn't mean it's bad after all.

It did remind me of a lot of those eighties flicks, The screaming of the human body surely was a wink to The Thing (1982) and the white stuff, well the worth said it, The Stuff (1985). The effects used were basic but they left the best for last. Once the abducted body wants to have intercourse things go from off-camera towards on-camera effects. Indeed, some killings are off- camera and we only see the result but don't be afraid, you will have a lot of red stuff on your screen.

The acting for this kind of low budget was rather okay, it never annoyed me and I can't say I had any boring moments. It's just a no-brainer to watch, full of red stuff, not in the gory parts but if you dig those old school low budget horrors then this is your next thing to watch. I liked it.

Gore 1,5/5 Nudity 0,5/5 Effects 3/5 Story 3/5 Comedy 0/5

Considering this film is clearly influenced by John Carpenters The Thing, I mean, the sound design and score were basically remixed to create the mood for this film. Its actually decent and I will tell you why. Some jokes out there never look at the production design of a film, they say things like, Typical Slasher flick or some nonsense. When in truth, they don't know what they are talking about.

This film has plenty to like, the effects are actually pretty decent, and a few OMG parts. Does it look like Peter Jacksons BAD TASTE at times with the rubber head exploding, sure, but any good fun loving horror fan will get a kick out of the splatter. Also, its rare to see a slasher flick be an alien flick. Usually its some deranged guy killing folk, so to see its an alien is refreshing. Its clearly a film that does not take itself to serious and therefore you are aloud to have some fun and say "seriously, that is so cliché" but a part of me things that the writer director did this on purpose, or at least I hope so. The whole production design is wonderful, it takes place in Maine and you clearly get that you are in Maine, I have been to Maine, so I know this to be true. From the clothes to the locations. Well done.

you might be asking, if I liked it so much, why only a 4…..? Well, Acting and Dialogue. The acting all around stinks, it looks like this guy got everyone he knew, friends and family and just put them in the film. Would be 10 times better with better performances, I did not buy any of them. Also, because its an Alien film, you can get away with no nudity, and we only get one quick boob shot. Could be more considering what happens… (watch to find out) Then, dialogue - it is terrible, unbelievable and un-natural. new film makers always suffer from the same thing, too much dialogue, when film making is show me, not tell me. The interacting between the characters with words is forced exposition, and usually tells us what we already know, there is not much suspense to the film. Its a get some beer, popcorn and watch the blood flow sorta film. I got what I was expecting, so I had fun with it. Its worth it if your bored.

Now, if you still nee more convincing, these are the films that it clearly resembles and even took ideas from - The Thing, Alien, Fire in the Sky and Invasion of the Body Snatchers. Some of the same effects, ideas, sound and score were duplicated but with a lower budget. Considering the low budget, it is why I enjoyed it.