Dark Breed (1996)

   

Produced & Directed by: Richard Pepin

Written by: Richard Prestin Jr.

Starring:

Jack Scalia .... Nicholas 'Nick' Saxon
Lance LeGault .... Cutter
Donna W. Scott .... Deborah
Robin Curtis .... Marian
Jonathan Banks .... Joseph Shay
Carlos Carrasco .... Fox
Leon W. Grant .... Jackson
Felton Perry .... Powell
Josh Clark .... Rice
Sal Landi .... Zimmerman
Gregg Brazzel .... Lasker

Special Appearance:


George 'Buck' Flower .... Homeless Man

Release Date: Direct-to-Video: October 15, 1996

 

Rating:

 

A space shuttle crash lands into an ocean and returning to Earth without orders and while a team lead by Nick Saxon (Nick Scalia) they discover that the astronauts are not the same anymore after rising from the ocean and ends up killing the others and are very powerful and then are discovered that they are infected by an alien parasite while this unknown life tries to brings eggs which were lost in an accident to Earth and take over the world.
One of the astronauts named Deborah (Donna W. Scott) was infected and tells Nick on what he has to do while a greedy lieutentant named Cutter (Lance LeGault) who wants to study this alien life and not caring if the body it's infecting gets killed.
Nick, Deborah and a scientist named Marian (Robin Curtis) must go to the secret base where these creatures are breeding and wiping them out before these things take over the world.

 

We spot nice camera shots on a teenage couple making out on their boat in an ocean with a good shot looking up on them with a space shuttle ready to fall into the ocean near them as this looked very suspenseful and creepy.
Many good shots on people rising out of the ocean and onto a dock attacking the soldiers with Cutter getting demanding and leading his them.
Also, many great shots on a car chase with cars exploding and tumbling over as well as a good close up shot on Lasker showing a sneering expression on his face while driving a police car.
Good shot on Lasker tied down with metal object in a room acting like he's having a seisure with good effects on his flesh doing different things along with a nice energetic moment on his breaking free and then knocking everyone over in a hospital hallway. We show many good shots on him being shot and trying to still stand while doing so.
A nice moment with a homeless person underneath a bridge and spotting an object opening up and glowing with a good shocked expression on his face.
A good gathering around with Zimmerman, Jackson and Joseph discussing what is happening to them and then showing good expressions on them changing and then acting like aliens.
Great close up shots on Deborah firing her big gun.
We spot a good distant shot on Zimmerman trying to run away shooting while the supporting cast as soldiers are shooting after him as well as good blocking up him climbing up some stairs and an explosion happens on the top steps.
Good shot on Marian examining a corpse with great shots on the body opening up revealing the insides and then something leaping out in an Alien type of fashion but yet it doesn't make you jump like it's supposed to.
A good tense discussion between Deborah acting possessed with an alien inside her speaking to Nicholas at a diner with a nice approach by a waitress acting sarcastic about her having a hangover after spotting her eyes which offers some chuckles on how it was done plus a good nasty attitude with Deborah towards her.
A nice dialogue moment with Deborah, Nicholas and Marian in a hotel room discussing their plan.
We spot many good stunt shots on Nicholas grabbing onto a broken object while a truck is driving and trying to get back up while it's racing on the road with good shots on Fox driving and acting anxious.
Nice shots on Nicholas, Deborah, Marian and Fox at a field base with their weapons trying to hunt for the aline eggs as well as a good dark shot on both Deborah and Marian discussing about the alien breed.
Good close up shot on Nicholas emotionally talking to Deborah about what had happened when he was in space and about this dark breed of aliens with tears and sweat pouring down his face making this moment look extremely effective.
We have some great moments with Jackson firing his gun against many of the supporting characters and a great shot on one of them breaking down in flames.
A nice shot on Joseph lying on a floor like he's about to transform into one of the creatures with great intense facial expressions.
There's good shot on the sodiers walking around trying to hunt down aliens with nice shots on them hiding behind objects. There's also good shots on these creatures jumping behind cast members like Fox and breathing over them which looked very deadly.
Another great shot Nicholas entering in a room with an alien behind him drooling and a good close up shot on him slowly turning his head and then many nice shots on him doing battles with this thing.
Bottom line is that this film seemed to clone both Terminator and Aliens with a touch of Predator too and tried to bring it all together. I kinda found this a tribute to those sci-fi/horror flicks which I think is a compliment showing great stunts and explosive effects too. It was cheesy at times but not low budget cheesiness. It was a bit of a surprise that this went right to video since the material looked very theatrical. Again, direct-to-video for horror films do alot better.
I've seen better films but what makes this flick a notch above average was all the action fighting and car chasings packing a good punch. The story however, is a bit slow and then it really grows towards close to the end of the flick with these creatures revealing themselves. The creatures looked a cross between the creatres from Aliens and the warriors from Predator. During the same time the figures looked a little corny.
This film is for you if you're in the mood for a notch above average horror with plenty of battling action too. Otherwise you may want to put this on hold.

The acting is not too bad but not award winning either. Lead actor Jack Scalia (Nicholas 'Nick' Saxon) seemed to deliver his lines in a good fashion as well as showing a good seriousness to his part on what he was doing showing the odd energetic moment with his struggling battles.
Lance LeGault
(Cutter) however really overdid his part as the head sergeant and seemed a little too corny with his speaking and ordering others around. He was more famous for his roles in The A-Team and Magnum P.I. Sorry folks he just wasn't convincing at all as he tried way too hard and seems to have just known his lines without focusing too much on how to deliver them.
Donna W. Scott
(Deborah) on the other hand really brought everything she had into her role while being possessed by an alien and showing a dark attitude and then when she was herself had a niceness to her role. She displayed a good versatality to all of this. She stood out with her action fighting and everything else that she had to do for this film.
Jonathan Banks
(Joseph Shay) really knew how to act possessed as well being the leader of the bunch showing a coldlike and creepy behavior. Sometimes however it was performed cheesily but again I dug it.
Carlos Carrasco
(Fox) showed some humor to his part helping out fighting against these aliens and was a true character actor. Anyone who watched this film I'm sure he will be remembered showing perfect energy to his part in it like most of the main characters mentioned so far. He had the right looks too.
George Buck Flower
(Homeless Man) had only a brief role in this one but has mostly had these types of roles in other flicks too but I had to mention him. He really seemed different with his appearance as a homeless man and made his performance worthy for the viewers and was a key member to the story too.

There's a butt revealed on Jonathan Banks lying naked on a ground.

A hand punches through a soliders chest
A body opens up with their heart and insides revealing
A corpse is slashed
An aliens hand is punched through a woman's body
Many alien's explode
Flesh tears off a person with an alien coming out

The music was terrifically composed by Louis Febre with great adventureous classical music hearing the trombone and violin scores along with many great high pitched screeching music too as well as the thumps which were necessary for this type of a film.