Director: Michael Crum
Year: 2022
Country: USA
Alternate Titles: N/A
Genre: Creature Feature
Plot:
While trying to go through their lives, a couple living in an apartment complex with their friends finds that the strange infestation of black mold in the building has turned those it comes into contact with into ravenous monsters and must find a way to get out of the building alive.
Review:
Overall, this was a rather fun and generally enjoyable effort. Among the better elements here is a fun setup that provides some cheesy setups for the overwhelming assault of the mold that has a lot to like about it. Focusing rather nicely on the exploits of the group at the different interactions with everyone gets this started rather nicely, it presents the group as a fun selection of individuals trying to get through life playing games or encouraging their partner to keep going with their plans and desires. This slice into the mundane aspect of their lives is a great starting point so that once the discovery of mold in the building it becomes quite chilling with the natural phenomenon resulting in that taking their attention.
That becomes the perfect starting point for the film to turn into the proper creature feature it should be with the series of revelations involving the mold coming to life and taking over the individuals in the building. The random nature of its attacking and overtaking the other individuals creates a fantastic setup to start ambushing the rest of the residents with the creature effects focusing on the tentacle-like extensions snaking through the walls and either attacking or impaling victims. These are quite well-handled and look quite good with the low-budget effects being enjoyable enough to matter overall here and give things enough of a cheesy charm with the seriousness of the attacks to lead this one into the fun finale where the remaining residents are forced to get up-close with the massive deformed creature to finally get out of the building that has quite a lot of fun encounters as they try to battle against it to finally leave which give this one a lot to like.
There are some issues here holding this one back. One of the main drawbacks featured here is the general lack of an explanation for how the mutation occurs as this one tends to play within real-world scenarios. Featuring the sudden appearance and subsequent mutations following this, the fact that this is a normal everyday mold that has this effect on people is the main takeaway gathered. That leaves this one not coming to terms with the mutations in the slightest as this has never happened so to go this route without saying much is a bit of a letdown. The other real drawback here is the overall lack of concern or care during the creature attacks which are fine enough but never given the type of fear for their lives that should be the case here instead of the blank and sullen expressions typically on display here for its big issues to hold it down.
Overview: ***/5
A solid cheesy creature feature with a few minor drawbacks, this one has a lot to like that are enough to keep it enjoyable enough over the flaws that do manage to keep it over the negative factors. Those who appreciate this kind of genre effort or are looking for a low-budget indie creature feature will like this the most while those that aren't fans of those factors should heed caution with this one.
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