The Nest Review: Fun ’80s Horror

Terrence H. Winkles’ “The Nest” is a film that will gross out the squeamish population and incline B-horror film enthusiast and probably attract roach fanatics. This movie is adequate enough for cheap thrills but not popcorn. The gross factor is top notch.

It takes place on a small beautiful island of North Port. There the people fish, rollerblade, steal and complain in a sunlit city that soon turns grim as well as desolate due to a frightful pest invasion.

From the beginning you can sense the growth of the raid. These six-legged starlets debut in the first scene as a small group plotting world domination. Every scene features more of these underrated beauties with close ups catching their best side. For the most part, they’re on the attack.

Speaking of which, the deaths were pretty brutal. The stampede of cockroaches attack on sight, leaving victims with blood squirting out of their mangled bodies. However, some fatalities seem avoidable. Luckily the actors put on a believable showing as some usual characters. Like a no nonsense mayor, the young innocent beauty, a goofball that provide some comic relief, an ominous scientist and a sheriff that follows the formula of every hero cop movie. The dialogue between actors was somewhat witty and reminiscent of an ‘80s action flick.

The music wasn’t anything spectacular, but does the roaches’ justice when it’s time for them to prey onto their victims. It sounds like this heavy animatronic sound gone on replay. The creators change things up a big though and went the route of most 80s films and ended with a film themed song.

Not like current horror flicks, The Nest’s cameras capture the element of surprise the audience can only guess what happens next.
When it came to the monsters, they’re were ugly to watch and took the gross factor to a higher level. These grotesque creatures share an animatronic skeletal system. One robotic monstrosity even came with a noticeable wire. Well that’s b horror for you, always knows how to show off the budget.

The majority of the cast of “The Nest” had short careers in film, performing smaller roles among various TV and movie productions. Robert Lansing (Elias Johnson) on the other hand, had a pretty extensive career. He stared in several movies and TV shows since the late 1950s until his death in 1994. Out of the 89 titles he performed in, he was best known for creature features with film such as Empire of the Ants and Namu; the killer whale. Lisa Langlois (Elizabeth Johnson) continued her career well through the early 2000s featured in several TV movies and series such as “The L-Word,” “Heartland” and “Hank William’s First Nation.”

In spite of it’s overt campiness, “The Nest” is a good film for those who want to escape from the obvious plot twist and turns of current horror flicks that have currently invaded the mainstream like a horde of cockroaches. Just don’t eat and watch it.