BLUE MONKEY (1987)

BLUE MONKEY (1987)

Tagline:  THEY BREED. THEY HATCH. THEY KILL. Maybe it's just a phase they're going through.

(Horror, Survival, Giant Ants Will Eat Your Face ) [R]

Okay, so this is what’s going on in this thing. There is an old lady that has a greenhouse and is visited by a friend. He’s super interested in her but likes the plants too. It isn’t long before he’s bitten by an insect and has a bad reaction and needs to go to the hospital. There is a giant larva that comes out of him and the next thing you know an unknown bacteria is getting spread all over the hospital. The hospital is doing all kinds of advanced stuff, and among them is experimental growth hormones. It doesn’t take long before the government shuts down the hospital trapping everyone inside with one giant ant creature trying to multiply in the hospital's shut down wing. To add to the creepiness, that area used to be an insane asylum. 

First off, let me say what every review you will ever read on this thing is going to tell you. There is no “blue monkey” in this movie. In some countries, it’s actually renamed INSECT and in others, it’s named INVASION OF THE BODY SUCKERS (which is almost just as weird a title). A blue monkey is mentioned in the movie by one of the kids in the film when he’s talking about his dreams. The reason this movie comes up when you are looking for giant ant movies is that the creature or insect in this movie most closely resembles an ant. Even the INSECT cover art for this movie features an insect that is clearly an ant. By the way, the guy in the ant monster suit is Ivan E. Roth. The year before this movie he was in the legendary NIGHT OF THE CREEPS playing the rotted crazy psycho zombie. 

Because this whole movie starts out with a plant being the source of the bacteria slash insect etc, it feels like we kind of get cheated out of a real explanation for this ultra-violent sickness that seemingly only be killed by alcohol. Yep, for some damn reason, that is actually a small part of this plot. 

Acting-wise this movie isn’t bad at all. Steve Railsback is pretty solid as Detective Jim Bishop even though he apparently hates that he was involved in this movie. He also oddly went on to be involved in several movies that were actual dumpster fires, but whatever. Gwynyth Walsh is good in this as well playing Dr. Rachel Carlson. She is most known for being B’Etor in a couple different STAR TREK TV series. The extremely versatile Don Lake (who's been in everything from NCIS to TERMINATOR II: JUDGEMENT DAY) is pretty comical in some ways as this pretty over-the-top bug enthusiast. We also had Susan Anspach who plays Dr. Judith Glass who is just trying to figure out what the heck is going on. 

When you consider watching this, if you haven’t keep in mind this things got a b-movie budget but feels very much like a Paul Verhoeven film cinematically. It’s actually directed by William Fruet who directed 20+ GOOSEBUMPS episodes, so the tension is well done and the effects are pretty credible. Nothing looks campy, it’s all done in a very minimal “ALIENS” – ish way. It is easy to see why for horror fans this is a solid cult classic. Which to an extent explains the crazy high DVD price, but for those of you looking to check this out, it’s on YouTube right now with a crappy copy for free. 

Overall this is the most gnarly of the giant ants will eat your face movies I have reviewed, but it’s fairly well done. I give this thing a 5 out of 7. On a gross level, it’s not worse than say a few scenes in MONSTER HUNTER. 

GRAPHICS ARE THE PROPERTY OF MITHRAS AND ARE USED FOR REVIEW PURPOSES ONLY. 

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