Main cast: Marc Blucas (Jarrett), Naveen Andrews (Vic), Nicki Aycox (Nora), and Eva Amurri (Jane)
Director: Douglas Aarniokoski
Animals, as of the time of writing, hadn’t been released in the cinema or even in video or DVD. What started out as a highly anticipated adaptation of the novel by Craig Spector morphed into an embarrassment for all parties involved, it seems, and after watching this movie late one night on cable, I can see why.
The story is pretty simple. We meet Jarrett, a good-for-nothing fellow who couldn’t keep a job after things didn’t pan out for him after college. I have no idea why they cast someone like Marc Blucas in that role. I see a good-looking muscular man in the role of a someone who is supposed to be a pathetic loser, and the whole thing doesn’t compute. At any rate, one day Marc meets Nora who proceeds to move in with him to have a torrid affair that involves some rough bites and other heated stuff, and all will be swell were not for the fact that Nora actually fled from her companion Vic recently. Vic infected Nora with… something… that turned her into what seems like an electrically charged werewolf thing that is more amusing than scary, and now she has bitten the same bug into Jarrett. The showdown is set when Vic shows up in town, wanting his woman back for no reason other than possessiveness…
While the movie is pretty easy to follow, there are plenty of unanswered questions like just what the heck Vic and Nora are supposed to be. Still, all those unanswered questions won’t be so bad were not for the fact that this movie opted to be as pretentious as possible. The script, written by Craig Spector along with John Skipp, tries to bring up issues like whether humans are all monsters inside, but it’s hard to be deep when half the time the movie is busy focusing on a naked Marc Blucas and an equally naked Nicki Aycox simulating really fake sex in the rain. It also doesn’t help that the movie seems to be making things up as it goes along. Add in some bad over the top acting, laughably comical action scenes, and really lame special effects, and I get a really bad dud in Animals.
