Scourge is a weird mixture of Jason Goes To Hell: The Final Friday, Alien, Exorcist, and Men In Black. While it was an interesting concept, it was one that has already been paralleled in other films. Towards the end of my viewing, I actually remembered getting this from a Redbox about two years ago. My friends and I didn’t pay attention to it and I ended up going back to get another film about midway through. That paints the picture of my opinion on the film, and the review didn’t even start yet.
Scourge is set in a quiet town, just like all the rest, equipped with all the clichés you can hope for. The story has a large subplot about the torrid love affair between a poor guy from the wrong side of the streets and an upper-class college girl. During a freak fire or arson at a run down church, a parasite is freed from its lair after centuries of imprisonment. The way the parasite survives is by hopping from body to body, thus killing the former host as it leaves. As the bodies pile up, all signs point the cops in the direction of the rugged guy. Now it’s up to his girlfriend to prove his innocence while trying to figure out how to kill this creature.
There was one big problem with this film – the delivery of information and plot. Right from the opening scene before the opening credits there was confusion as to what was going on. It’s hard for viewers to grasp or understand the film when they’re confused from the get go. Just when you think you’ve figured it out, there is a scene towards the middle that throws you off again. Then, again, within the last fifteen minutes there is something else added to the mix. None of these new elements are ever fleshed out completely, and upon a second viewing, I was still confused. I’m all for plot twists because it keeps a film interesting, but these plot twists were just thrown in without an explanation or reason.
Despite the confusing reveals and plot twists that made no sense, the acting was pretty good. However, there weren’t any actors in Scourge that are worth mentioning. If you’re into gore, there are a couple good scenes here that could satisfy your appetite. Also, the CGI’s are probably the best part of the film. The parasite didn’t look cheesy at all, much better than anything you’d see on SyFy. Checking out the IMDB page for Scourge, the film actually won an award in 2008 for “Best Visual Effects In A Feature Length Drama.”
As I mentioned above, I found the Scourge in a Redbox. Although I’m not sure if you could find it now since they’re continuously cycled out. Scourge IS available on Fearnet On Demand, which is free. It’ll be available for the rest of the month. I think those would be your best two options. While the film isn’t a piece of crap by any means, I don’t think it’s worth a full purchase.
