Rating: 

The Info

Directed by: John Bruno
Written by: Chuck Pfarrer and Dennis Feldman
Starring: Jamie Lee Curtis, William Baldwin, Donald Sutherland, Joanna Pacula
Produced by: Gale Anne Hurd

The Nutshell

A tugboat crew take refuge on a Russian science ship in the eye of a cyclone, only to find the crew dead and a mysterious force aboard.

The Review

    There is a Sprite commercial playing in theatres right now, where a group of film executives discuss the new film Death Slug. They bring out slug toys, promotions with Taco Bell, music videos, and toys for the kiddies. The boss asks how the movie itself is coming and he is told "Well, we don't have a script but we can bang one out by Friday." You could take Virus, put it in place of Death Slug, and the commercial would still work. Virus is a bunch of interesting special effects, a big budget, some second-tier actors and an absolutely awful story. Though it was the first film to open in 1999, I'm sure it will be one of the year's worst.

    A Russian science vessel is in close contact with the Mir Space Station. A strange electrical force comes through space and invades Mir, killing everyone and beaming down to the ship through a satellite. Meanwhile, a tugboat towing a barge of cargo is caught in a cyclone. The crew fight for their lives, but lose the barge in the process. They make their way to the eye of the storm, where they see the Russian ship on radar. Upon pulling up to the ship they find it deserted and a mess. The tug's Captain, Capt. Everton (Sutherland) realizes that they can claim salvage rights on the ship if they can get it to a port, figure to make millions in profit. The problem is that strange little machines are roaming the ship, and now the tug's crew is starting to disappear and die one by one. They have to figure out who is on the ship with them, and survive.

    Virus's script is horribly bad, filled with clichés and stock lines like "Captain you better look at this" "oh my god" and "run!!!". Any intensity or suspense is sapped out of a scene by these film school dropout lines. The characters are a mixed bag on the intelligence scale, but even the smartest people follow the usual suspense/horror mold by entering rooms that have blood splattered on them and ignoring obvious signs of danger. The production is shoddy as well, as when the russian ship re-enters the cyclone, there are certain scenes where the actors forget to lean left and right. It's as if the cyclone were stopping for a rest every second scene. While all the stars act their roles as if they were being paid to be intentionally bad, Donald Sutherland is the worst hands down. His Captain is part drunk, part Irish and part pirate. He alternates between an irish accent and being half-asleep. Just when a scene can't possibly get any worse, Sutherland stumbles in holding a pistol and says "What's going on here?" or something to that effect.

    The special effects are fairly well done. The alien presence uses the ship's robotic components to build itself little creatures to inhabit and control. They range from moving camera beasts to full-fledged killing machines powerful enough to knock out steel walls. The effects are never particularly scary, but they do get quite gory in places. If director John Bruno had bothered to get a working intelligent script ready before filming, Virus could have been passable. As it stands, it is sure to be one of 1999's worst films.

Copyright - Tim Chandler

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