‘They out you from the inside out!’
Larva is a 2005 American-German science-fiction horror film about a small-town vet that discovers cattle infected with a parasite.
Directed by Abram Cox [as Tim Cox] (Z Nation; Mammoth; Alien Lockdown) from a screenplay co-written by David Goodin, Kevin Moore, J. Paul V. Robert and T.M. Van Ostrand, based on a storyline by Ken M. Badish and Boaz Davidson.
The movie stars Vincent Ventresca (Mammoth; Dead & Breakfast; The Invisible Man TV series), Rachel Hunter (Piranhaconda; Black Widow, 2010), William Forsythe (I Am Fear; Dear Mr. Gacy; The Devil’s Rejects) and David Selby (Loon Lake; Batman: The Dark Knight Returns; Night of Dark Shadows).
Reviews:
“Sadly, Larva wallows in goofy scientific logic (or lack thereof) and idiotic characters played completely straight. It doesn’t work. If the Host Tender Meats company had purposely engineered the parasites due to the owner’s maniacal agenda, that might have caused the film to rise above the standard direct-to-video (or direct-to-Sci-Fi) dreck.” Celluloid Cemetery
“Courtesy of Tony Gardner, who had performed makeup effects duties on films like The Blob (1988), Army of Darkness (1992), Batman & Robin (1997) and a host of others, the larvae look like giant bats and make for a reasonably mobile and effective menace, We even get climactic scenes with them hunting the survivors into the sewers.” Moria
“Larva features its fair share of splatter, though mainly in the form of mangled animal corpses at first. But then there’s a gory Alien-style chest bursting moment as the parasites finally decide to exit one unlucky human host via his stomach. It’s hardly x-rated stuff but at least there’s enough feeding on show.” Popcorn Pictures
“Larva is for the most part, a fairly decent little SyFy Channel Original Movie. There’s some pretty funny stuff here […] some of the chest-bursting effects were kinda gory too. Unfortunately, once the worms evolve into the bat monsters, the flick takes a turn for the worse.” The Video Vacuum
“Larva offers nothing new in regards to the story, so don’t expect anything narratively original. What Larva has that sets itself above so many other equally platitudinous DVDs and b-films […] is the pace, the humor, the guts. Really, the only thing Larva completely lacks is gratuitous nudity… but then, nothing is ever perfect.” A Wasted Life
Cast and characters:
Vincent Ventresca … Doctor Eli Rudkus
Rachel Hunter … Hayley Anderson
William Forsythe … Jacob Long
David Selby … Fletcher Odermatt
Robert Miano … Sheriff Lester
James Daris
James Sheldon … Johnny
Zachary Stevens
Amanda Ianelli
Jessica Summers
Holly McWilliams
Sean Kissner … Milo Turner (as Sean Kisner)
David E. Ornston … (as David Ornston)
Erron Jay … Deputy (as Erron Shaw)
Sarah Ann Schultz … Barbara
Kyle Dick
Brandi Prine … Emily (as Brandy Prine)
Johnathon Prine … Jason
George Cron … Mortician
Aimée Flaherty … Nurse
Nicholas J. Coleman … Patrick (as Nicholas Coleman)
Greg Brock … Host Meat Griller
John Dickson … Tom Ridgeway
Nathan Grant
Curtis Harley … Hospital Visitor
Derek Mitchell … Townsperson
Terry Mitchell … Townsperson
Mercedes Peterson … Night shift front desk nurse
Jennifer Lyn Quackenbush … Reporter / Announcer (voice)
Phillip Secca … Hospital Doctor
Sarah Spiegel … (voice)
Mike Strain Jr. … Diner Customer
John Wilson … Hospital Patient
Carolyn Woodworth … Sally (as Carolyn Joyce Woodworth)
Filming locations:
Springfield, Missouri
Technical details:
96 minutes
Aspect ratio: 1.78: 1
Audio: Dolby Digital
Film Facts:
In France, the movie is known as Morphman. In Italy, it is titled Metamorphosis.
