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12 of 14 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
With MIMIC 3, director J.T. Petty becomes one to watch for!, October 27, 2003
When you rent a Dimension straight to video project, you never know what you're going to get. Sometimes you'll find a rare gem but most of the time it won't even be worth remembering. Remember all those PROPHECY sequels? That's what I thought. Anyway, I'm happy to say that MIMIC SENTINEL falls into the rare gem category. I had absolutely no idea what to expect with this one nor do I know why I even rented it after hating MIMIC 2 so much and the fact that I'm not even that big of a fan of the original. But I'm glad I did. It goes something like this. Strickland disease (which was established in the first film) survivor Martin (Karl Geary) suffers from extreme environmental sensitivity making it hard for him to leave his room in the apartment he shares with his mother (Amanda Plummer) and his sister, Rosy (Alexis Dziena). So, he obsessively takes photographs of the world outside his window and, as you might have guessed, eventually learns that the Judas Bugs are back once again. While it's absolutely no mystery that the plot of this film borrows more than a little from Alfred Hitchkock's REAR WINDOW, the film really works. While I've always found the MIMIC bugs rather creepy, this film seemed to really capitalize on that and make a genuinely scary, suspense building movie out of them. Rookie filmmaker and screenwriter (he also wrote and directed the as of yet unreleased indie SOFT FOR DIGGING) J.T. Petty has what it takes to tell a good story and make an entertaining film. Instead of trying to make a crappy film that requires more money than he had to work with, Petty made a good, small film that was within his means. By getting rid of a lot of the special effects (even though there are a few) and different locations, Petty lets the viewer become engrossed in the characters and lets them feel the paranoia that Marvin experiences. Instead of just watching the film, the viewer becomes a voyeur right along with Marvin. Later in the film, even after Marvin's voyeuristic journey is over, the director shoots the film with a blackened ring around the corners of the TV as if your now watching Marvin from an apartment across the street as Marvin did to others earlier in the film. For me, this worked to great effect. I felt like I was watching someone in danger and wasn't getting up to do anything about it. While I felt the whole Lance Henrisken aspect of the film was a bit unnecessary, for the most part the film really worked for me. So as for director J.T. Petty, I'm going to place him in my directors to watch book. I mean, if he can make a good sequel to a movie about giant bugs then I'm convinced he's capable of anything. C+
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7 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Surprisingly solid entry in mediocre series, October 16, 2003
By A Customer
I've never been a big fan of the mimic series. The premise, bugs that have evolved to imitate humans, is intriguing, but I never thought it was realized in a compelling way. This movie however, brings some interesting elements to the otherwise lackluster series. Karl Geary plays a homebound man, Marvin, afflicted with the remnants of the same disease that the bugs were created to destroy. From his room in his mother's apartment, he photographs his neighbors and lives, through them, the life he cannot otherwise live. Then he and his sister (Alexis Dziena) spy what they believe is a murder, in classic Rear Window fashion, but the police don't believe them. Most of this short (76 minutes) movie is spent staring through the lense of the still camera, through which Marvin views the world, with a sudden, violent climax, in which horror movie favorite, Lance Henriksen (Aliens, Alien 3) plays a small part. Lots of good cinematography here and some very interesting tributes to Hitchcock, as well as a startlingly disturbing scene involving Marvin and a refrigerator overcome the otherwise poor production values and out-of-date CGI that mar this movie. Definitely worth a look, for anyone looking for a quick little diversion and some new twists to the B-Horror genre.
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4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
"Rear Window" Meets "THEM", November 1, 2003
This is the third entry in the Mimic series; this time a shut-in and his hoochie sister have a run-in with the giant cockroaches. The movie starts off slow, maybe too slow in my opinion, but Mimic 3 gets real good at the end. The whole picture has this grungy look, contrasting the main character's immediate surroundings and lifestyle.
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