Seemingly I am a glutton for punishment. There's really no other explanation as to why every time I see a Sci-Fi Channel movie playing I instantly cue it up on my PVR to record it. Even after pretty much being burned by a majority of their past movies and after being sucked in with the promise, and usually disappointing results, of genre favourites like Jeffrey Combs appearing (as he did in Hammerhead), I still find myself unable to resist. Suffice it to say once I saw killer wasps and Robert Englund associated with Black Swarm, I fell into the trap again.

Set in the small town of Black Stone, New York this has Jane (Sarah Allen) and her young daughter Kelsey (Rebecca Windheim) returning home after her husband, an exterminator, died in a freak wasp hive accident nine years prior. Making the move back home even more difficult is the fact that her deceased hubby happened to have a twin brother, Devon (Sebastien Roberts). But that's just a minor thing since she's just taken a job as the police deputy and is happy to get her child out of the big city.

As is typical for these types of movies - you know the ones: where someone moves to a small town, takes a job of authority, and is quickly thrown to the wolves - things are askew in Black Stone. Not only are townsfolk around town acting strangely while giving off buzzing noises and having welts on them from wasp stings (something Kelsey witnesses up close when she goes to buy a treat from an ice cream truck), people are also turning up dead. There's also the slight problem that a good number of them happen to be coming back as reanimated corpses.

Jane's in the middle of this all trying to figure out what's going on, having to deal with entomologist Katherine (Jayne Heitmeyer), and teaming up with Devon to try and stop things before it's too late. Also on hand, in a more minor role and generally for name recognition, is Englund as grumpy local beekeeper, Eli. His character just seems like your typical eccentric curmudgeon but does end-up playing a more major part in Todd Samovitz and Ethlie Ann Vare's script when it takes a dopey twist in the last third pulling out a top secret underground laboratory, a government conspiracy, and some ridiculous action in the finale.

Compared to other Sci-Fi Channel flicks of this ilk, Black Swarm actually isn't a complete waste of time. The story is pretty standard and the last few reels are decidedly dodgy and dumb but the acting on hand is pretty decent with the debuting Windheim proving not all child actors are annoying and Englund brings a nice over-the-top quality to his role which makes him pretty fun to watch. There's also more effort early on to somewhat develop the characters which makes the first half a little bit talky but keeps things more interesting than they probably have the right to be.

Director David Winning is a veteran of television which tends to suit the movie just fine as, apart from a few bloody moments, the entire endeavour gave off the feeling of being one of many "movie of the week" telefilm's cranked out by the networks in the 1970's. I also kind of dug the sequence in the morgue where one victim comes back to life and was able to mostly forgive the barely there conspiracy silliness - even if it was harder to overlook the bad CGI of the attack helicopter and their missiles in the finale.

When all was said and done, I really didn't mind my time with Black Swarm. It's definitely a movie I'd group in with the standard "nature gone amuck" horror flicks of the past five years (Kaw, Mammoth) and is more watchable than a lot of the drivel Sci-Fi Channel passes off for entertainment these days - I'm looking at your Manticore and Anaconda 3. (Chris Hartley, 6/8/09)

Directed By: David Winning.
Written By: Todd Samovitz, Ethlie Ann Vare.

Starring: Robert Englund, Sebastien Roberts, Sarah Allen, Jayne Heitmeyer.