Director – Dustin Ferguson (5G Zombies, Angry Asian Murder Hornets)
Starring – Erik Anthony Russo (Axegrinder 2, Meathook Massacre Part VI: Bloodline), Mike Ferguson (Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., Moon of the Blood Beast), and Mel Novak (RoboWoman, Force of Darkness)
Release Date – 2020
Rating – 2/5
Tagline – “You can’t escape this disease”
This year has been shitty for many. Covid-19 has devastated families and the forced quarantine has not been good to some. However, this quarantine time hasn’t been bad for everyone. Some people has turned this negative time into a productive time.
Case in point, filmmaker Dustin Ferguson has turned the pandemic into a series of films starting with 5G Zombies and Angry Asian Murder Hornets followed by Ebola Rex and Arachnado, and ending with Ebola Rex versus Angry Asian Murder Hornets. Ferguson spoke with me about Ebola Rex and fitting it into the first issue of a new horror mag, Horrific Magazine, that I was asked to contribute for. It was only fitting that I check it out and review it for Horror Society as well. Thanks Dustin!
**Spoiler Alert** The film follows a medical testing facility working on a cure for ebola that has been using dinosaurs as the test subjects. In true b-movie fashion, a protester sneaks into the facility and sets loose a t-rex that has been infected with the ebola virus and it makes it’s way through LA killing everyone that it crosses paths with.**spoiler Alert**
Making movies is difficult without a global pandemic so I couldn’t imagine the struggles a filmmaker would face during a time like this. Ferguson has proven that even though things are not like they once were you can still make movies while practicing social distancing and. Ebola Rex is a fun premise that just didn’t hit its mark for me. I love these indie creature flicks from companies like Wild Eye and Brain Damage films so I was excited to give this one a spin.
The acting in this one is…different to say the least. Most of the scenes is one actor saying his dialogue while recording himself. This is obviously because of the pandemic but it makes it feel like the movie has multiple stories going at once. It feels choppy and the cast filming this way is very awkward.
The story for this one is simple enough but the filming regulations made this simple story take on many layers. It’s because of this that I found the story very ineffective. Have the one person in each scene doing their thing and then cutting it together to try and make a coherent film didn’t work for me. Honestly, I think the film would have been way more entertaining if it just consisted of Erik Anthony Russo and Mike Ferguson’s characters rather than having the different segments spliced in. It would be like a b-movie The Caller.
Finally, there is some blood but the visual effects are far from perfect. The CGI blood and t-rex does bring some laughs to the film but not enough to make it better than what it is. Overall, Ebola Rex is not something I would want to watch again but I have to give credit where credit is do. Ferguson and company took a time where people are panicking and turned it into a way to express himself. I would have chose a different approach but at least he spent his time making movies and not bitching about politics on the internet.
