Mold! (2009)

Directed by Neil Meschino


Written by Dave Fogerson, Neil Meschino


Stars: Ardis Campbell, Robert Fattorini, Chris Gentile, Lawrence George, Edward X. Young, James Murphy, Rick Haymes, Mike Keller, Edison Carter


Release: streaming through www.moldthemovie.com






Take a trip back to the more amusing side of 1980s horror with Neil Meschinos gloopy, gungy and splat-tastic Mold!

The initial striking part of this micro budget horror flick for me, is its authentic 80s look and feel. It honestly could have easily been an old horror film from that decade which was criminally unreleased for some reason. You can actually imagine a legion of pissed off horror fans lobbying for its release after researching every internet stored morsel of it. Luckily for fans however, the movie was actually made in 2009 and it is now available to stream via the movies official website.

So what can you expect from the plot of Mold? Well its 1984 and we have a group of scientists at a research laboratory trapped with a deadly strain of - you guessed it - mold. The mold itself has been developed in order to wipe out Colombian coca fields but unfortunately it is far more dangerous than that!. Its not long before the ferocious funghi starts taking out each and every one of the baffled scientists in the nastiest ways possible. And when I say nasty, don't take my word for it. You have imploding faces, exploding guts, decimated eyes and FULL body rottage. Plus, there's more where that came from! The special effects required for this type of carnage is very well done, and all practical to boot, so there's a definite thumbs up. There is also another aspect to the plot that I wont spoil, but I will just add that not everything is what it seems with some of the characters.

The film itself is very professionally shot with some impressively directed scenes. In particular, the scenes of a character turned crazy, marauding along corridors ....with a literal axe to grind. There's also a nice claustrophobic atmosphere evoked with many characters trapped together in the same room - this may or may not have been down in part to budget, but it did work well.

On the acting front, I loved Ardis Campbell and Chris Gentile as the not-so-secretly-in-love (or lust?) lead characters 'Julia' and 'Dave'. Both come across as very natural and engaging, particularly Ardis Campbell who I predict big things for! I also enjoyed the schlocky, chain smoking Colonel character, played by Edward X. Young. He provides some nice comedic moments despite coming across as more than a tad imposing and dangerous! There are a lot of funny one liners and gags in the movie which I think the actors all delivered extremely well - I definitely laughed out loud more than once.

The film is also nicely set up for a sequel which I really hope happens. I am thinking mold let loose in a small nearby town.... or how about a group of truckers trapped in a diner on the outskirts of town (in order to keep the claustrophobic aspect present in this movie?)

I strongly recommend you check out the movie on Facebook and then get yourselves over to the the official movie site and get the green stuff streaming.....just be sure the green stuff doesn't stream all over you!