Laughably bad, ‘Offspring’ is a perfect example of how not to make a horror film: from shoddy direction and design to stilted acting that drains any and all tension out of any given scene. Only gorehounds and so-bad-it’s-good fans should dare spin this blight upon the horror shelf.
Scripted by Jack Ketchum who adapts his own novel, Ketchum makes it out mostly unscathed mainly because the core idea is fine and might even be well scripted but who would be able to notice with this cast and presentation. There could be a fair amount of ‘The Hills Have Eyes’/’Wrong Turn’ inbred hijinks but alas, what we get is elementary school play understudies from ’10,000 B.C.’ with all the ‘ooh-ooh’, ‘ahh-ahh’ grunts that that entails.
There’s definitely some ridiculous fun to be had here but it’s just too bad the filmmakers were not in on the joke. The story revolves around a cannibal tribe returning from Canada to quiet little Maine burg of Dead River. Driven from the town a decade ago by aging cop George Peters (Art Hindle), now retired, he’s called back into action when dead bodies start showing up that fit the cannibal MO.
I must admit that I’m a little fuzzy on the tribe’s motivations to keep snatching babies but snatching babies they do, with one unlucky couple and friends learning the hard way. Honestly, going into the plot synopsis is kind of like listing the ingredients to Hot Dogs: you don’t want to know. For those that enjoy, just devour and be on your way.
Just rest safe knowing the plot is all but a throwaway ploy to hang nasty, excessive but ultimately ineffective gore scenes on. There is intestine and brain nibbling, infant abuse (I’m always game for exploitation but you better have one hell of an idea if you want to get away with violence concerning the epitome of innocence), aluminum teeth chomping, etc. That the film contains all of this but rarely musters a response other than chuckles is a testament to how goofy it is.
The film is presented with a 1080p 1.78 AVC encode that does nothing to improve the sloppy camerawork. Shot on 16mm with amateur lighting and setups, don’t expect to get much high-def detail or color. The DTS-HD Master Aud track is okay for what it has to deal with.
Special Features include an audio commentary from director Andrew Van Den Houten, Cinematographer D.P. Miller and writer Jack Ketchum, ‘Progeny: The Birth of Offspring’, a 20-minute making of, ‘Webisodes’, ‘Photo Gallery’, ‘Microvideos’, ‘Trailer Gallery’ and ‘First Stolen’s Bailout’, an odd look at the crew having to bail out an actor.
I’m not too familiar with author Jack Ketchum so fans might want to check this out on curiosity along with gorehounds who might get their money’s worth on sheer ludicrousness. I would otherwise recommend passing this one by. Actually, I would run by it.Amazon . Visit the DVD database for more information.
Your Talkback on this Story