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PLEASE NOTE: Michael D's is currently in READ ONLY MODE. Anything submitted will simply not be written to the database.
Lots of stuff is still broken, but at least reviews can now be looked up and read.
Larva (2005)

Larva (2005)

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Released 20-Nov-2006

Cover Art

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Details At A Glance

General Extras
Category Horror Menu Animation
Trailer-Alien Lockdown, Clive Barker's The Plague, The Woods,
Trailer-The Alibi, 16 Blocks
Rating Rated MA
Year Of Production 2005
Running Time 89:43
RSDL / Flipper No/No Cast & Crew
Start Up Ads Then Menu
Region Coding 4 Directed By Tim Cox
Studio
Distributor
SONY Pictures
Sony Pictures Home Entertain
Starring Vincent Ventresca
Rachel Hunter
William Forsythe
David Selby
Robert Miano
James Daris
James Sheldon
Case Amaray-Transparent
RPI $39.95 Music John Dickson


Video Audio
Pan & Scan/Full Frame Full Frame English Dolby Digital 2.0 (224Kb/s)
Widescreen Aspect Ratio None
16x9 Enhancement No
Video Format 576i (PAL)
Original Aspect Ratio 1.78:1 Miscellaneous
Jacket Pictures No
Subtitles None Smoking Yes
Annoying Product Placement No
Action In or After Credits Yes

NOTE: The Profanity Filter is ON. Turn it off here.

Plot Synopsis

    Larva is another in a long line of predictable and cliché-ridden Z grade Sci-fi films that have found their way onto the shelves of your local rental franchise. Larva is your standard issue 90 minutes of generic characters battling cheap CGI nasties on a series of dodgy soundstages. For fans of the genre, all the conventions are present and accounted for. There is the Greedy CEO who only cares about profits and covering up his crimes against humanity, the hero with the tainted past who knows something is wrong, the local townsfolk who refuse to believe the hero because of his questionable past, and of course the Ignorant Law Enforcement officials trying to make good on their corrupt practices.

    Making a genre quickie this predictable would be acceptable, but for director Tim Cox's inability to provide the film with any suspense or energy. There's no spark or fun to the proceedings and the audience can already figure out every single thing that is going to happen well in advance. The difference between low budget exploitation films today and those of decades past is their total lack of personality. Companies like Roger Corman's New World Pictures or New Line Cinema would have had a blast with similar material back in the 1980s. That's not to say that the occasional B grade gem doesn't appear (this year's Slither is a great example of the genre done right), but unfortunately Larva is the polar opposite.

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Transfer Quality

Video

    Larva has been presented 1.33:1 full frame and is not enhanced for widescreen viewing.

    The transfer is reasonably sharp, but consistently displays slight edge enhancement throughout. Shadow details are quite poor with background information lost during any scene not filmed in broad daylight. Black levels are adequate, but do suffer from persistent grain.

    Colours are natural if somewhat muted and fail to capitalise on the gorier aspects of the film.

    Film and Video Artefacts are kept to a minimum.

Video Ratings Summary
Sharpness
Shadow Detail
Colour
Grain/Pixelization
Film-To-Video Artefacts
Film Artefacts
Overall

Audio

   Larva has a solitary English Dolby Digital 2.0 surround track

    Dialogue is clear with no audio sync problems apparent.

    The film's score is typical of the low budget material, but remains unobtrusive.

    Surround Channel Usage is minimal. Rear channels consist of ambient noise and score with no discernable directional effects to be heard.

    The Subwoofer adds the minimum bass and reverberation required to support the lifeless track.

Audio Ratings Summary
Dialogue
Audio Sync
Clicks/Pops/Dropouts
Surround Channel Use
Subwoofer
Overall

Extras

Menu Animation

Trailers

Alien Lockdown, Clive Barker's The Plague, The Woods, 16 Blocks and The Alibi

R4 vs R1

NOTE: To view non-R4 releases, your equipment needs to be multi-zone compatible and usually also NTSC compatible.

    The R1 version has an anamorphic transfer at 1:78:1.

    The R4 has a shoddy looking full frame version.

    The clear winner is R1.

Summary

   Larva is predictable, clichéd, slow, and not worth your hard earned rental dollar.

Ratings (out of 5)

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall

© Greg Morfoot (if interested here is my bio)
Thursday, December 07, 2006
Review Equipment
DVDPioneer DV-535, using Component output
DisplayLG 42" High Definition Plasma with built in High Definition Tuner. Calibrated with Video Essentials. This display device is 16x9 capable. This display device has a maximum native resolution of 720p.
Audio DecoderSony HT-K215. Calibrated with Video Essentials.
AmplificationSony HT-K215
Speakers fronts-paradigm titans, centre &rear Sony - radio parts subbie

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