SEEDPEOPLE (1992)
Label: Full Moon Features
Region Code: Region-Free
Rating: R
Duration: 81 Minutes 13 Seconds
Audio: English Dolby Digital 2.0 and 5.1 Surround with Optional English Subtitles
Video: 1080p HD Widescreen (1.78:1)
Director: Peter Manoogian
Cast: Sam Hennings, Andrea Roth, Dane Witherspoon, Bernard Kates, Holly Fields, Sonny Carl Davis, Charles Bouvier, Michael Gregory, John Mooney, David Dunard, Anne Betancourt
Seedpeople (1992) is a Full Moon riff on the paranoid sci-fi classic Invasion of the Body Snatchers, it opens with a man named Tom Baines (Sam Hennings, The Aviator) inside a hospital room strapped to a gurney raving about what seems like paranoid fantasies. He's sedated by an attendant and starts to spin his tale to FBI Agent Weems (Michael Gregory, RoboCop) who has arrived, and the film unfolds in flashback with some narration in spots.
Tom spins a tale about arriving in the small town of Comet Valley, his hometown, where he has arrived at the request of old friend Thurman (Charles Bouvier, The Jigsaw Murders) who has invited him to speak about the metallurgy of a meteorite that has been unearthed and captured the attention of the locals. You see Tom's a geologist by trade, and Comet Valley got its name from a meteor fall some fifty years ago. Tom also notes that upon his arrival the only bridge in or out of town will be closed for three days for maintenance, meaning that like it or not he's stuck in Comet Valley for three days.
His homecoming in none to welcome by the locals, this includes his former flame Heidi (Andrea Roth, The Collector) who owns the local bed and breakfast where he's staying, as well as her new beau Brad Yates (Dane Witherspoon, TV's Santa Barbara), who is also the town's Deputy Sheriff. Also quite displeased is the local orchard owner Ed (David Dunard, Retribution) who is sick of local meteor hunters invading his orchard at night to dig for meteorites.
It's not too long before the townsfolk start acting pretty weird, in fact Heide's teen sister Kim (Holly Fields, Wishmaster 2: Evil Never Dies) swears that her father Frank (John Mooney, Tainted Blood) and housekeeper Mrs. Santiago (Anne Betancourt, Jack's Back) are not themselves, and that she has seen weird creatures running around town. Everyone is unaware that out in Ed's orchards there's a tree with alien-blossoms growing that look like a lot like cream-pied hairy vaginas that spews jizzy-looking white goo and seeds all over people, turning them into clones meant to further spread their evil-alien seed. Tom's investigation into the meteors reveals an organic component that resembles the hard outer shell of common seed pods, as he starts to put two and two together, and after hearing the theories of the town's alcoholic physician Doc Roller (Bernard Kates, The Phantom), he comes to realize that the meteor shower fifty years ago seeded the area with alien seed pods which are only now starting to blossom with the sentient-plants taking root in the community.
Highlights include the annoying teen Heide running around the woods with a VHS camcorder trying to get evidence of the alien creatures, and crazy Doc Roller who wears ultraviolet lights to ward off alien possession/mind-control. The told in flashback intro has a bity of a no-budget noir quality about it that I liked, but on the whole as a body snatcher knock-off this is pretty weak sauce, but a decent enough early 90's Full Moon production, especially if you're a fan of this era of Charles Band productions.
Directed by Peter Manoogian (The Eliminators) this one feels pretty low-budget even by Full Moon standards, especially for their Paramount-era, but he does what he can to stretch that dollar, but you can feel how cheap it is from the first frame to the last. There's some decent lensing from Adolfo Bartoli (The Pit and the Pendulum) but it lacks atmosphere, like they couldn't afford proper lighting perhaps. The performances are largely pretty mediocre as well, for a low-budget take on a paranoid sci-fi classic it's largely lacking the any suspense or paranoia, and that's a problem. The saving grace here are the old school rubbery practical creature effects by the late-great John Carl Buechler (From Beyond), they also look like they had an anemic budget but the rubbery looking alien creatures feel like a fun throwback to 50's sci-fi stuff at least, and I love the hairy vagina flowers that shoot alien-seed jizz! The alien creatures also roll around on the ground balled-up like the Critters creatures, they cheap looking but certainly entertaining in a lower-tier b-movie sort of way.
Audio/Video: Seedpeople (1992) arrives on region-free BLu-ray from Full Moon Features in 1080p HD framed in 1.78:1 widescreen, advertised as being it's "first time in stunning HD, remastered from the original negative". I never did see this previously on TV or any physical media format, so I have no comparison, but it is largely a pleasing presentation with solid color, good contrast, and decent black levels. The source is in great shape, a few specks here and there but otherwise quite nice. Audio comes by way of lossy Dolby Digital 2.0 stereo and 5.1 surround with optional English subtitles. The lossy sound options are annoying but they do the job, the stereo track is solid, the surround mix didn;t do much for me, but it's there if you're so inclined. Dialogue, effects and the score from Bob Mithoff (Sgt. Kabukiman N.Y.P.D.) are well-balanced and source related hiss or distortion is never an issue.
The only extras are a 10-minute archival Classic Videozone episode that dates back to the VHS era with a making of featurette with on-set-interviews with director Peter Manoogian, actors Sam Hennings, Andrea Roth, Dane Witherspoon, Bernard Kates, Holly Fields, John Mooney, Anne Betancourt and location effects supervisor Mike Deak. We also get some cool behind-the-scenes video of the making of the film and execution of the practical effects. Also included are 12-minutes of Full Moon Trailers and a 3-second promo for Full Moon Universe. The single-disc release arrives in a standard keepcase with a single-sided sleeve of artwork featuring the original illustrated movie posters, which as usual promises a bit more it can actually deliver.
Special Features:
- Classic Videozone (9:54)
- Full Moon Trailers: Bad CGI Gator (1:52), Bring Her To Me (1:43), Aimee (1:43), Doktor Death (1:49), Don't Met Her In (1:43), Subspecies: Bloodrise (2:18)
- Full Moon Universe Promo (0:30)
I don't love this Invasion of the Body Snatchers riff from Full Moon, but I did think it moved long pretty well, and the effects are cheesy but fun. I just wish it had a bit more suspense, atmosphere and small town paranoia, but it's an enjoyable enough watch, and it always brings a smile to my face when a vintage Full Moon production gets a Blu-ray.
Buy it!
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Screenshots from the Full Moon Blu-ray:
Extras:
