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Ticks
[Blu-ray 4K]
Blu-ray ALL - America - Vinegar Syndrome Review written by and copyright: Eric Cotenas (29th January 2022). |
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The Film
 Ever since he got lost in the woods for days on a camping trip as a child, teenager Tyler (Buffy the Vampire Slayer's Seth Green) has suffered from alternating debilitating episodes of agoraphobia and claustrophobia. His father (Masquerade's Timothy Landfield) forces him to confront his fears by enrolling him in a program that takes inner city teenagers into the wilderness to connect with nature run by Holly (Pinocchio's Revenge's Rosalind Allen). Also along for the trip is street tough "Panic" (The Fresh Prince of Bel Air's Alfonso Ribiero), Beverly Hills brat Dee Dee (Witchboard 2: The Devil's Doorway's Ami Dolenz), her "daddy's nightmare" Hispanic boyfriend Rome (Point of No Return's Ray Oriel), mute rape victim Kelly (Dina Dayrit), as well as Holly's psychologist boyfriend Charles (Bosom Buddies' Peter Scolari) and his estranged daughter Melissa (The Dentist's Virginya Keehne) whose idea of spending time with her father is not a trip with his new girlfriend. Upon arrival at a remote, disused campground, they are not so subtly threatened by marijuana cash croppers "Sir" (Sleepstalker's Barry Lynch, brother of Richard Lynch) and his flunky Jerry (Robocop 2's Michael Medeiros) against straying into their operation. Little do they all know that the growth hormones used to accelerate the growth of the crops has had a mutating effect on the local tick population and their eggs are everywhere throughout the woods and within the walls of the camp itself. The ticks have even started using human's to incubate, starting with reclusive grower Jarvis (Eat My Dust's Clint Howard). When Panic's dog mysteriously dies of a massive insect bite, he takes off in the middle of the night. While the rest of the campers are searching for him, Tyler and Charles take the dog to the local vet (Shattered Illusions's Judy Jean Berns) where they discover the horrific truth of the infestation. By the time they return to camp to get the others, however, a forest fire is driving the ticks and the croppers right in their direction. A throwback big bug monster movie having its roots in a decades old project by the film's special visual effects designer Doug Beswick (Aliens), Ticks rises slightly above its nineties ilk with likable teenage characters – against expectations, sitcom star Ribiero gets an effective dramatic turn – and some fun over-the-top villains (Allen is also a spunky female lead while Scolari is rather stiff and does not quite make the character arc of going from looking at kids through a microscope to taking their feelings seriously). The tick animatronics are suitably gooey and the damage they inflict gory, but the film's various model shots and some stop motion and puppeteered movement is less convincing but lovably old school. The final set-piece transformation of man into giant tick is grisly but the resulting creature does not get to do much. The open ending is de rigueur and it seems unlikely that it was ever really considered for a sequel. Director Tony Randel had graduated from New World (under Roger Corman and later Bob Rehme) post-production on the likes of Godzilla 1985 and DEFCON 4 to directing Hellbound: Hellraiser II and had just helmed Amityville 1992: It's About Time. The film's production was overseen by Brian Yuzna who had himself directed Return of the Living Dead 3 and a segment of the anthology Necronomicon: Book of the Dead the same year. Screenwriter Brent V. Friedman had previously scripted Syngenor, Dan O'Bannon's H.P. Lovecraft adaptation The Resurrected, as well as the Yuzna and Christophe Gans segments of Necronomicon: Book of the Dead. 
Video
Released more or less direct to video by Republic Pictures, Ticks wound up with Paramount through Aaron Spelling's sale of the Taft library to Paramount, and the film was released on Blu-ray and DVD by Olive Films in 2013 as a somewhat special edition with a commentary track by Randel and Howard. Like a number of Overseas Filmgroup titles once with Paramount, the rights have since reverted and are now with Filmrise who has licensed the film to Vinegar Syndrome for their UHD/Blu-ray combo. Transferred from the original 35mm interpositive, Vinegar Syndrome's 2160p HEVC 1.85:1 widescreen UHD and 1080p24 MPEG- 4 AVC 1.85:1 widescreen Blu-ray represent a longer cut of the film (87:42 versus the 85:43 of the earlier editions). Contrary to expectations, there is no extra gore. The additional near two minutes consists of two short dialogue exchanges between Charles and Melissa about her strained relationship with his daughter. The 4K-mastered HDR10 image pops with vivid greens and reds as well as a wealth of textures in the California desert settings that make all the more apparent the use of models and some studio sets (as well as what looks like one terrible bit of early CGI). 
Audio
The DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 stereo track is generally more dependent on the spread of ambient sounds and music cues, which makes it all the more unsettling when we do hear directional skittering sounds across the sound field and from back to front. Optional English SDH subtitles are provided.
Extras
Ported over from the Olive release is the audio commentary by director Tony Randel and actor Clint Howard, moderated by Nathaniel Thompson in which Randel reveals that he wanted to cast Jonathan Penner from his Amityville film in the Scolari role, and Howard reveals that the alternate "Infested" title came from his improvised line. They discuss working with the cast of surprisingly professional young actors, shooting some scenes in Griffith Park as well as a barn in Malibu that is now a landmark (along with the reservoir from the opening of The Andy Griffith Show). Randel reveals that the film underwent reshoots, allowing him to address issues with the script that make it sound surprising that the film got greenlit in its original form (although his excitement over storyboarding and having built the various Rube Goldberg-esque inventions in the barn suggest a little embellishment). Howard reveals that his role was entirely part of the reshoots while Randel points out inserts including new new effects by KNB.  Also on the disc is a new audio commentary by special effects supervisor Doug Beswick and stop-motion animator Yancy Calzada, moderated by filmmaker Joe Begos. While Randel intimates that he was involved in the reshoots, Beswick states that the reshoots were directed by Joel Soisson – who also took over Maniac Cop 3 when William Lustig walked off and whose company Neo Art & Logic would take over production of Dimension Films' many Bulgaria-lensed sequels to franchises like Hellraiser and Dracula 2000 – and discusses the origins of the project going back to when he was working on Octaman with Rick Baker (An American Werewolf in London). As a moderator, filmmaker Begos (Bliss) is enthusiastic but utters some expletives that are not so much offensive as just jarring and seems less than professional. Also new to the Vinegar Syndrome release is the three-part "Under the Skin: The Making of TICKS" (10:12 + 14:08 + 14:47) with Randel, actresses Allen and Dolenz, Beswick, editor Leslie Rosenthal (Chopping Mall), composer Christopher Stone (Moon 44), and executive producer Yuzna. Beswick expands on his account of the original screenplay, having to change the ticks from prehistoric creatures out of a crater in the Earth to mutations after the release of the William Castle production Bug, revising the script several times over the years and finding little interest in big bug films before Syngenor's producer Jack Murphy showed interest. Friedman discusses his writing career and notes the inner city kids being sent to commune nature was topical at the time. Randel discusses his beginnings at both incarnations of New World while Yuzna concedes that he was probably overbearing on the film. Randel says Yuzna's focus on ideas for the over-the-top effects set-pieces allowed him to focus on the drama. Beswick distinguishes his crew's effects work from the KNB additions. Yuzna also notes when discussing the casting that he cast Keehne in his next directorial effort The Dentist after this film. The third part of the documentary focuses on the four-day reshoot. 
Packaging
The cover is reversible while the first 8,000 copies ordered directly from Vinegar Syndrome come with a special limited edition rigid slipcase & slipcover set designed by Tom Hodge & Earl Kess.
Overall
The resolution uptick in Vinegar Syndrome's UHD/Blu-ray release of the nineties throwback to fifties giant bug movies Ticks may not improve the effects but it brings some good performances and some old school miniatures into sharper relief.
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