HNUM²

It’s the middle of the Namib Desert and some prospectors have disappeared. Luckily for them they disappeared somewhere on the way to “C Camp” and a truck full of people from base camp are on their way to “C Camp” to drop off fuel and a Systems Analyst. Unluckily for them, the prospectors are not just missing. They’ve released something. And that something has devoured the flesh from their bones.

Upon discovering the corpses of two of the three prospectors, they decide to follow the tracks in the hope of capturing the suspect, the third man in the team. After a trek through the desert they find him. Or what’s left of him. His picked clean bones. I’m sure it’s a comfort to his corpse that he’s no longer a murder suspect. The guys soon discover what’s killing people. And wish it was just a crazy guy.

This movie is a bit of a mixed bag. On the one hand you’ve got some amazing cinematography, taking advantage of the desert location, you’ve got a nice buildup, you’ve got a really creepy monster, you’ve got some believable acting and you’ve generally got a well shot film.

On the other hand, though, you’ve got a third act that just goes into standard monster movie territory. And although I listed really creepy monster as a positive, there are times when some bad CG kinda hurts it. You’ve also got generic characters by the truckload. The wise native, the love interest, the tough guy, the “I’m just here to die” guy. And of course the Canadian Hero. Actually, that’s a new one. He figures everything out, though. And saves the day. And allegedly has sex with a teenager. Oh wait, that was IRL.

And it’s that third act that stops it from being anything more than OK. When they figure out what’s doing the killing is when the movie almost lost me. I was fine with it being what it is and could even buy the premise the hero came up with. I just found it hard to believe that a monster made up of ants and a big brain-ant could go from, as the main character speculated, instinctively killing someone, to being devious enough to lure someone into a trap. But that still was excusable.

The thing that really took the movie down several notches was them chasing it into a dark abandoned mine. A place when small black ants have several thousand places they could hide. And as we’ve seen, a few dozen of them, in a few seconds could skeletonize an arm, are you really going to take the risk of going in after them? Especially when you’re confident they are not going anywhere and are just looking for a new nesting spot. Blow up the entrance, seal the mine and get out of there. And if you must, come back later and more prepared.

Sure, it’s standard monster movie fare, but it felt more out of place with the logical scientist character who we’ve heard time and time again is a logical scientist character, and who just a scene or two ago was telling us that it’s no danger to them if they keep away, and it’s not going anywhere. Anyway, I’d find it hard to recommend this film because of the generic third act, but up until then it was certainly coming along nicely. And It was certainly impressive to look at.