Grindhouse 6 Seed people DVD Review

Written by Sharon Davies

DVD released by 88 Films

Directed by Peter Manoogian
Written by Charles Band and Jackson Barr
1992, 84 Mins,Rated 15 (UK)
DVD Released on 11th February 2013.

Starring:
Sam Hennings as Tom
Andrea Roth as Heidi
Bernard Kates as Doc Roller

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Review:

If you're anything like me the first question I had when reading this title was what type of seed people are we talking about here? I mean I could probably tangle with the occasional sunflower seed, pumpkin seed or every at a push fennel seed person, but if this involves a sesame or chilli seed person my fate may be sealed. For those of you that don't think like me, I digress.

So, it seems Comet Valley has a problem, a comet has landed - who knew?
Contained within this meteorite are the beginnings of an alien plant patch that is hell-bent on taking over the Earth. Naturally.

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Geologist Tom Baines returns to his home town to examine the landed space rock, and while there he gets more than he bargained for in the form of Audrey II / Chief Critters love children the SEED PEOPLE! Such typical luck that the only way in or out of the town is via a bridge, a bridge which is closed for three days and will trap Tom, his ex-girlfriend Heidi and the rest of the town together to war with the seeded encounters of the toasted kind!

The aliens originate from pus-shooting flowers that wrap their first victim up in white goo (Staypuft Marshmallow stylee). They take over the mind and body and create shape-shifting, seed-shooting aliens who will now do their best to turn everyone else into similar antagonists. Only the resident mad man, Doc Roller, knows the skinny and despite his warnings the town is slowly infested.

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But the kicker in all this? Their landing was foretold by ancient hieroglyphics written on a cave wall nearby. YOU FOOLS! Rule five of small town life: always believe crayon-drawn cave doodles. And rule six: ALWAYS believe the mad man, he sees things you do not!

Needless to say that Tom and the remaining humans join up in a Scooby Doo type investigation group all looking to save their town.

Now, if you have seen, read or are even psychically aware of Invasion of the Body Snatchers and enjoy it then possibly give this film a miss. It's pretty much a bad version of that but with some Boglins thrown in the mix. Not to say it’s bad to take inspiration from quality storylines, but that doesn’t mean steal all the good bits and slightly change the look and name of the main villain.

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The monsters are pretty basic as most B-rate movie aliens are, if you squint a bit when they come on then it's not a horrendous job. There’s LOTS of gunge to keep you occupied and the occasional smear of blood (although this really IS a smear and I’d bet my boots on the likelihood of it being raspberry jam.)
The acting is actually OK and the film does sort of remind me of a children’s version of Critters, in fact this is the sort of film that you could try your children on. It’s tame enough to try out on wannabe horror fans and not dull enough to make you want to cry. (Disclaimer – I will not be held responsible for any super wimpy children who may be scared by this, on your own head be it.)

My personal favourite character in this simply has to be Doc Roller, I’m not sure if it’s just the fact he’s a little cuckoo or if it’s the majestic circular UV light hat he wears but he’s just enough crazy to make me laugh throughout.

All in all how can you grumble about a film called Seed People? I pretty much knew what I was getting myself into when I read that little gem of a title. 88 Films have churned out some horror classics in the past, just a shame this one has only a grain of horror within it.

Grain / seed… get it? Ha.

Video and Audio:

The strangest thing about this film is that it’s really surprising that it’s a Nineties film; with the soundtrack being very Eighties electro and the video having a soft, dated effect this really feels like an Eighties classic.

The camera work is pretty good and the director has done lots of work to make us see the aliens POV, overall the video is good and really allows you to get into the movie without any distractions.

Again the audio is OK, no real bad dubbing or anything and that Eighties electro score fits the overall cheesy feeling of the film as a whole.

Special Features:

Here we have three options:

Original Videozone (9:54): “Behind the scenes of Seed People” which has all sorts of footage including actors and director interviews, plus some time with the alien creator. But the most interesting part for me is the commentator. I‘m sure the same guy who does the trailer voice-over does it. Where is that guy? What happened to him? I need to know!

Full Moon Trailer Park: Holds 10 trailers to rub your hands together with glee whilst watching. This includes T1: Puppet Master X Axis Rising, T2: The Puppet Master, T3: Dr Alien, T4: Puppet Master II, T5: Tourist Trap, T6: Zombies Vs Strippers, T7: Reel Evil, T8: Puppet Master III, T9: Castle Freak and T10: Meridian. Slightly odd order to them but ahh what the hell.

Original Trailer: a snapshot of the movie before we watch it, twinned with the obligatory gruff voiced commentary with such quotes as “the root of all evil” and they will “enslave the Earth”. FYI – It gives away all the best bits.