‘Chase your dreams’
Worm is a 2013 American science fiction horror film directed by Doug Mallette and produced by Untrademarked Productions. The movie stars John Ferguson, Jes Mercer, and Shane O’Brien.
In the US, the film was released by Synapse Films on August 12, 2014 with the following special features:
- Worm – Original Short
- Deleted Scenes
- Audio Commentary Featuring Jeremy Pearce, Julian Herrera, Jennifer Bonior and Doug Mallette
- Trailer
Buy: Amazon.com
The film is released on DVD in the UK on 16 January 2017 by Left Films.
Small town journalist, Posey Mapleton, does a Special Report on Fantasites, a genetically-engineered parasite that allows users to once again dream – an ability they all lost 30 years ago. Seeing the new miracle product as a way escape his boring life, socially inept, maintenance man, Charles, attempts to purchase Fantasites but discovers he can only afford the cheaper Economy version as opposed to the highly sought after Premium.
When his Economy worms aren’t enough to impress his neighbour, Reed (a Premium user), Charles considers giving up Fantasites all together. But when a delivery of Premium worms are left outside Reed’s apartment, Charles decides to start swapping them for his undesired Economy worms. With the Premium Fantasites in his possession, Charles is finally able to live out his wildest fantasies…
Buy: Amazon.co.uk
Reviews:
“…an exceptional film that masters its diverse mix of tone, proving its storytellers to be both ambitious and skilled.” Film Threat
” …a stand-out feature of the bunch because of the direction in social examination that it took. It features an interesting concept about a world where people are no longer able to dream, and blends together comedy and drama to tell an emotionally effective story.” Film Bizarro
“One might consider Worm something of a parable about the various “miracle cures” that turn out to have unforeseen, and deadly consequences. I don’t know if this was intentional, but the basic premise of Worm reminded me of David Cronenberg’s Shivers. The big difference is that Mallette’s worms are suppose to be benign, so much so, that there is a cartoon mascot for the company, Fantasites, as well as children’s masks and a stuffed Fantasites worm doll.” Coffee, Coffee and More Coffee
“…an original, modern tale of love and addiction plus the isolation and desperation that both these subjects can sometimes cause.” UK Horror Scene
“There’s a lot of high concept stuff going on here, and it’s worth the watch. I won’t say it’s the best film I’ve ever seen, but once I made it through to the second half I was totally involved.” HNN
Cast and characters:
- John Ferguson as Charles
- Jes Mercer as June
- Shane O’Brien as Reed
- Sarah Shoemaker as Posey Mapleton
- Scott Ferguson as Pop
- Josh Matthews as Stephen
- Mark DeMaio as Walt
