The Seed is a 2021 British sci-fi comedy horror film about a girls weekend away in the Mojave desert that turns into a nightmare. The fun girlie getaway soon becomes a harrowing experience involving alien invasion, horror and untimely death.
Written and directed by Sam Walker (shorts: Bite Horse; Pool Shark; Duck Children), making his feature debut. Produced by Kathleen Debrincat (line producer), Chris Hardman, Matt Hookings and James Norrie.
The Camelot Films-Hardman Pictures production stars Lucy Martin (Vikings TV series), Sophie Vavasseur (Exorcismus; Resident Evil: Apocalypse), Chelsea Edge (End of Term; Dead in October; I Hate Suzie), Anthony Edridge, Shirley Barchou Pisani and Jamie Wittebrood.
Plot:
Lifelong friends Deidre (Lucy Martin), Heather (Sophie Vavasseur), and Charlotte (Chelsea Edge) are finally getting some time away together, using the upcoming meteor shower to gather more followers for their social media channels.
However, what begins as a girls’ getaway in the Mojave Desert descends into a battle for survival with the arrival of an invasive alien force whose air of mystery soon proves to be alluring and irresistible to them. Before long the situation devolves into a battle to the death, where the stakes have galaxy-wide implications…
Reviews:
“Inventive visuals including graphic kills and grotesque body horror are found in the latter half of the movie. There is even a fun twist ending. It is unfortunate the entire film is unable to deliver.” AIPT
“The film won’t throw viewers into the psychedelic ecstasy that it does for its manipulated characters, but it surely works as a nifty showcase for naked flesh submerged in alien skin and tentacles. Disgusting an audience is one thing, but disgusting them in the name of fun is something The Seed does modestly well on a budget.” Grade: B – The Artful Critic
“A slick, pointless, predictable, plodding throwback to 80s horror movies with practical effects that also includes pointless misogyny. Why does this movie hate female influencers anyway?” 2.5/10 Bleeding Cool
“ …The Seed never finds whatever quirky tone it aimlessly searches for. I would have taken Lost in Space campiness, Creepshow kookiness, David Lynch weirdness, Troma crudeness, or something, anything that might add more frights or more fun to give The Seed a distinct identity instead of the flavorless feeling it ends up with.” Culture Crypt
“Attempting to describe the plot of this movie sounds like a bad acid trip, but I have to say, The Seed is a fun ride. Featuring a fantastic cast, who perfectly embody the obsession with social media, wild creature effects, and an intense, blood-splattered final act, The Seed is a highly enjoyable horror-comedy.” 3.5/5 Daily Dead
“The Seed starts well but it quickly unravels into a non-sensical headache-inducing mess. The campy vibe of the first half is replaced by batshit crazy in the second half, and very little of it makes sense by the end. Visually it’s certainly a feast for the eyes but it’s a bit like junk food, it feels good at the time but by the end of it you’re left with regret and feeling a bit sick.” Entertainment Focus
” …Walker managing to make a horror film that tonally weaves from the sharp and witty to the darkly disturbing with surprising ease. The bright and sharp look throughout helps the juxtaposition (and it’s a great job on the cinematography by Ben Braham Ziryab), and the fairly minimalistic score from Lucrecia Dalt does a fine job, but Walker seems to have maintained a clear vision from start to finish…” 8/10 For It Is Man’s Number
“Although the set-up is familiar, Walker infuses the early scenes with snarky attitude and self-aware genre humor, sort of in the tradition of Night of the Comet. Yet, Walker just can’t match the energy of the 1980s cult classic. On the other hand, plenty of potshots are fired off at influencer culture and a fair amount of them connect.” J.B. Spins
“Some elements are wildly inventive, but it defaults to overfamiliar stuff (black oil leaking from eyes) and I kind of miss the era of Inseminoid and Xtro where British alien impregnation movies didn’t completely pretend to be American. It has a good look, thanks to great locations, and an excellent score by Lucretia Dal which will get her a lot more work.” The Kim Newman Web Site
“So little about this film feels fresh and that retro vibe only carries it so far. The beast itself is sometimes laughable, but not often enough to be fun, which is par for the course with the film. Walker wades into dark comedy/satire territory for the first two acts, then abandons it entirely for a dusty, predictable, humorless finale.” 2/5 Maddwolf
“Walker’s direction is solid, the actors do what they can with their limited characters, and there are more than a few entertaining moments and ideas in the film. The potential is there, and maybe Walker’s next movie will tie everything together — but for now, at least, The Seed feels more like an understandably patchy first attempt.” Mashable
” …I was glad it left out gross-out humor in this instance. The running joke of descriptive terms used to talk about the creature is one of the more stifled laughing checkpoints. The Seed movie is an enjoyable weird horror-comedy. Perhaps one that won’t knock your socks off. However, if you don’t find yourself mouthing “what the….?” at some point, you’re probably not paying attention.” 3/5 Mother of Movies
“The film appears to run out of ideas as to how to utilise its limited location (Malta standing in for the Mojave desert), and it takes too long for the horror element to finally kick in. When it does, it never quite gels with the comedic tone the film has established, lurching into a straight piece of sci-fi horror in the final act.” The Movie Waffler
“I found my eyes drifting from the screen multiple times during the 91-minute runtime. That’s not to say there wasn’t stuff going on but for a horror/comedy this was really lacking in both. I probably could sit here and list the things I disliked from the boring dialogue to the lack of an engaging story but I refuse to simply sh*t on someone else’s hard work.” 2/5 Punch Drunk Critics
” …the movie suffers from inconsistent pacing, as if it’s trying to fill time to get to the good stuff. There are themes here worth digging into, but Walker barely considers them beyond the surface level. A stronger balance of theme and scares would make “The Seed” something remarkable. Instead, it’s more like a top-notch effects reel with a lengthy prologue.” RogerEbert.com
“Though it doesn’t have the sort of existential dread of Carpenter’s The Thing or Color Out of Space, it does have impressive special effects and off-kilter humor. While not quite out of this world, The Seed is a fun time. Part takedown of influencer culture and part alien creature feature, it’s not afraid to lean into some of its B-movie influences, especially in the third act.” Signal Horizon
“The creature itself is a practical effect and looks like a larger version of the baby from David Lynch’s Eraserhead. There’s also some rather nasty alien birth footage, but that also gets seen through flashing lights which rob it of its impact […] Unfortunately, they can’t overcome The Seed’s lack of plot or characters who are more than cardboard cutouts.” Voices from the Balcony
“While it’s tempting to forgive a first-time feature director for pacing or tonal issues — many of the comedy and horror elements do work, and the film finds its footing again in the third act after floundering in the second — the misogyny is much more difficult to ignore […] Ultimately, The Seed ends up just like its alien creature: the longer it sticks around, the less welcome it is.” Jessica Scott, We Who Walk Here
“While there is evidence of both a satirical edge and a pure desire for flamboyant B-movie indulgence, Sam Walker never commits strongly enough to one or the other for it the film to succeed. There is an undoubted flair for striking and odd imagery, and it’s by no means an abject failure as a debut feature, but The Seed is too jumbled and oddly structured to really take root.” 2/5 The Wee Review
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