This is the Full Moon version of Invasion Of The Body Snatchers complete with pods, clones, and paranoia. Although this is not one of my favorites from the studio, it still comes from the glory days of direct-to-video horror and has some practical creature effects which will usually bump things up a point for me in today's climate of bad CGI. The one thing that could have made this movie a lot better was the secret ingredient called suspense which I guess someone forgot to add.

Sam Hennings stars as Tom Baines, a scientist who goes to investigate meteorites in a small town called Comet Valley. Upon arrival, he checks in at a bed and breakfast run by his former flame Heidi (Andrea Roth) who is now involved with a local jock cop named Brad (Dane Witherspoon). Also on hand for the fun are a crazy old doctor named Doc Roller (Bernard Kates wishing he was in Back To The Future), a troubled teenager who likes to play with a video camera (Holly Fields from Wishmaster 2), a creepy housekeeper, and the usual smalltown supporting characters. Things begin to get marginally interesting when a plant seedling has an orgasm all over a character's face and body and he turns into a clone. This leads to to old story of not knowing who is a clone and who isn't at least until the characters turn into little plant monsters that look like they may have escaped from one of the Critters sequels.

This has all been done before and has been done better but I still can't say that I hated this movie. Maybe it was because I was feeling a bad case of Full Moon nostalgia when I watched it or maybe because the cheesy effects were done by old school effects artist John Carl Buechler. While not on the same level as more popular titles as Puppetmaster or Trancers series, this was still a silly yet uninspired outing from the folks at Full Moon. While it is a little boring and there is no skin, it is worth a look if you can find it for a few bucks in the clearance bin at your local video store.

Director Peter Manoogian also did Demonic Toys for Full Moon and has since settled into a career as a producer. Fans of Fast Times At Ridgemont High will recognize the greenhouse owner as Sonny Carl Davis who portrayed the annoying suit who got Judge Reinhold fired from the burger joint. (Josh Pasnak, 8/2/05)

Directed By: Peter Manoogian.
Written By: Jackson Barr.

Starring: Sam Hennings, Andrea Roth, Dane Witherspoon, Holly Fields.