Bug - 2007

Why I Watched It: I like horror movies and it was "from the director of The Exorcist"!

What I Thought: It wasn't bad. Not really what I expected, but not bad at all. I'll give you a heads up that would've made my own movie experience a little more enjoyable: Bug isn't a horror movie about bugs, it's a thriller about paranoia and insanity.

As a horror movie, Bug isn't very good. The audience laughed way too often at parts that didn't seem to be intended as funny.

As a thriller, Bug is alright. I spent a healthy portion of the movie trying to figure out if the Bugs were real or simply delusions of a paranoid mind. I spent the rest of the movie trying to figure out which one would actually be more disturbing. The movie had a few good thrills and a few good chills, but I think it fell a bit short as a thriller too. It lacked the psychological punch of thriller greats like Seven and Butterfly Effect (DVD ending, not the pussy theatrical one).

As a simply disturbing movie about the slippery slope into life-threatening paranoia, Bug was pretty damn good. It has a real subtle beginning, teaching you a bit about the characters and setting up the characters of Agnes (Ashley Judd) and Peter (Michael Shannon) particularly well. Bug doesn't take long to show that Peter's mind is a little off and it's only a short time after that before his delusions begin affecting others as well. I think the movie's best quality was showing the infectious nature of insanity. The speed that an impressionable mind can be affected is pretty fucking scary and Bug made it all very believable.

Highlights: I think it's worth a mention that Michael Shannon acted the paranoid pants off of Mel Gibson's role in Conspiracy Theory! Shannon's character in Bug was believably CRAZY and it was quite fun to watch. I'm sure other actors could have pulled off the role as well, but Shannon's performance was definitely the best part about Bug!

*Just learned something interesting: Bug is actually based on a play and Michael Shannon actually reprised his role from the stage version. No wonder this guy was so awesome!*

Who Should See It: Fans of Psychological Thrillers (Memento, American Psycho, Seven, etc), Conspiracy Theorists, and Michael Shannon fans (if there aren't any yet, I think there will be soon!).

How Soon: Wait for DVD. The movie isn't a special f/x powerhouse and it's paranoia theme isn't going to lose anything on the small screen.