Three friends making a web series about their town discover that their neighbors are being killed and replaced by creatures who are perfect copies of their victims.As soon as I saw this drop on Netflix I had to watch it! In case you are wondering about the similarity of this movie to others of its kind, yes, it's heavily inspired by the book later turned movie (a few times) Invasion of the Body Snatchers. But please relax...it's not the first remake and it certainly will not be the last. Sadly, too many quote the 1978 movie and completely forget the original that was filmed in 1956 (not to mention the remakes done in 1993 & 2007 (and let's not forget the countless other variations and parodies too)). But I digress...back to the point.
Assimilate is a modern take on the tale following three high school friends getting ready for graduation. As they are filming the humdrum life of their simple town, they soon begin noticing some odd behavior from their fellow townsmen. Enter the pod people.
About five minutes into the movie, I almost turned it off. I have a severe dislike of movies that are filled with shaky cam "found footage." Ever since the Blair Witch Project, it has been done to death. It's not effective, and is highly irritating to watch. Thankfully, they footage they show in this movie is extremely brief and sporadic throughout and just when it starts to get annoying, it continues in standard film techniques.
If you've seen any variation on the original, you know the basic plot so there really isn't much to report here. The acting isn't too bad and the storyline is strong enough to carry you through. There are a few tense moments and I like the twist with the creatures biting the victims to assimilate them (then having the pod person chase them down 28 Days Later style) rather than having a pod placed near their sleeping form.
Tomorrow is Halloween! We'll see what's in store movie wise. If you've been with me the entire month I thank you for that. This is the first year in a long time that I have been able to devote to watching daily and sharing them with my followers. Though not all of them may have been the best 'reviews', this challenge was more about getting in the habit of writing daily again and I thank you for sticking with me.