Forget those summer blockbuster movies about the green ogres and the pirates. For me, the ultimate summertime popcorn movie is a good creepy horror flick. And I've long been a fan of the science fiction/killer virus/psycho-killer bloodborne pathogen variety of scary movie, so I'm intrigued about that creepy new bug movie called, appropriately enough, "Bug."
The movie has quite a good pedigree in terms of the people behind it. It's directed by William Friedkin, who scared the bejesus out of many young-uns (and adults) with "The Exorcist," undoubtedly one of the most terrifying movies of all time. Star Ashley Judd has become kind of a specialist in thrillers and creepy flicks.
And screenwriter Tracy Letts, a member of Chicago's world-class Steppenwolf Theatre Company, wrote the script from his own play. It's not every day that you hear about a scary flick penned by someone who's got some real chops in writing drama.
Check out the trailer and see if it doesn't make your skin crawl. "They live in your blood, and they feed on your brain" ... now that's a tag line for the kind of summer movie I like to see. (It also sounds like some women I've dated, but that's another story.) In the trailer Ashley meets a guy in a bar and they end up in a cheap motel, and find bugs crawling around. Yes, that's not exactly uncommon for a low-rent, out-of-the-way motel, but these are not your ordinary bugs.
Are these bug movie bugs just a genetic accident, or have they been engineered as a terror weapon? The trailer doesn't tip its hand, but I like the fact that it doesn't tell you. Better to go see the movie and feel that chill coming up your spine (and no, it's not because of the air conditioning!)
The studio is apparently using two different posters to promote the movie. I like the one above one because it actually shows the bug. It's a pretty creepy looking one with lots of legs and tentacles and other pointy things -- the better to bite you with, no doubt. I saw this poster when I walked onto the platform of a New York City subway station this past Monday, and that's one place where a picture of a three-foot-high bug really gets your attention.
The other poster (below) shows Ashley Judd's face, and a partial side view of what seems to be a man's face. It vaguely hints at something creepy, but to me it doesn't really convey the horror of what the movie's about. If a movie is about murderous bugs, and it's called "Bug," I think you'd better show the bug right up front.
The trailer quotes the Chicago Tribune calling this "One of the most disturbing horror movies imaginable." Now that's the kind of recommendation that'll get me into the theater!
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