Fantastic Fest ’13 Review: ‘ALMOST HUMAN’

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Newcomer Joe Begos makes his feature length film debut with Almost Human. Almost Human has been being compared to Fire in the Sky meets The Terminator and that comparison seems accurate. After Seth loses his friend Mark to what he thinks is an alien abduction, Seth has been having social issues. It has even affected his job. In fact, it seems like it has consumed his whole well being. One day, Seth feels that Mark might be coming back, sooner than later. Seth’s assumption is correct as Mark is found by some hunters laying naked in the woods. Seth tries to connect with Jen, Mark’s wife at the time, whom he has lost touch with since the incident. Mark starts making a beeline to find Jen and will destroy anyone that gets in his way.

When I got the ticket to the screening, I expected a 80’s throwback slasher film with a nice extraterrestrial twist to it. What I got was a very quiet, subdued little slasher film that negated all the popular characteristics that us horror fans love from slasher films. The film is a low-budget independent film that has some clumsy writing. At one point, Mark picks up a chainsaw after murdering a unsuspecting victim. If this was a slasher film or even a tribute to the slasher film, you would think that instrument of destruction would be used. It’s not. No, instead it is used to break through a window in a car. It is one scene that really irked me and, again, I’m sure it was because of budget restraints.

Director Joe Begos knows how to work the camera and shoot a film, which is a good start considering this is his first film. The problem is that it isn’t what everyone will think it is and this is what could actually hurt the film. It is apparent that the general horror film language is known by the director yet he seems to mimic certain attributes of the creature from John Carpenter’s The Thing. Almost Human is NOT The Thing. It isn’t even close.

When I see a film like Almost Human, I want the horror fan director to hit a home run. Sadly, it is just a little bit of a tough journey to get to the end of the film. Once the end comes, it feels particularly silly.