Vicious (Video 2003) Poster

(2003 Video)

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4/10
Sci-Fi Channel Rejects: Volume 1
capkronos11 January 2007
Our government's idea of "field testing" a giant, scaly, fanged, genetically-created lizard creature is simply to let the damn thing run free in the New Jersey wilderness, where it can merrily munch on campers, fishermen and the citizens of the nearest small town. It is carefully contained behind a chain a three year old could get around with a hilarious "Do Not Enter" sign posted in front of it and is "supervised" by Kane (Tom Savini); a wild-eyed war vet who makes sure the creature has plenty of 'food' on hand. Kane lures people into the monster's clutches by giving them false information, ties people to trees, shoots them, snaps necks with his bare hands and runs people off the road to make sure his pal gets a square meal.

In Washington D.C., corrupt Colonel Jim Hardwick (Marco St. John) and Mr. Wallace (Bill Moseley, who's awful!) discover 'Project Carnivore' is getting out of hand and they go all out to stomp out the threat by sending out a grand total of (ha!) TWO black-ops marines to snuff out both Savini and the beast. And surprise! Four young people also show up to hunt and fish and get stuck in the middle of all this. They consist of wise-ass Steve (Robert Pralgo), pudgy heavy-drinker Hal (Ted Huckabee), bug-eyed good guy Doug (Brian Bremer) and his very annoying girlfriend Barbara (Melanie Parker), who crashes the "guy's weekend" with her own set of stupid "rules" for the trip (No Beer!?). Additional monster fodder comes in the form of other campers (including Brinke Stevens, who's completely wasted in a tiny cameo), a couple in a car wreck (the woman goes crazy) and a redneck fisherman.

Usually the reviews for this one are terrible, but overall I didn't think it was THAT bad. Most of the acting was OK, photography is pretty blurry (and I don't recall a movie off hand where everything was almost drowned out by the color green), story is too familiar but tolerable I guess... But when the monster finally shows up and you discover it is computer animated... Whoa, boy. It's the worst looking thing ever. I mean, those SciFi Channel original movies have way better sfx. They'd have been better off with a model mock up, which can be cheaply done and no matter how bad it looked it would have been more convincing than the terrible CGI seen here.
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2/10
Beware the cheesiness
Toddgod_1319 April 2021
Just overall sub par. CGI was god awful. Acting was pretty terrible as well. Story line is typically ridiculous. More of a college made film.
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2/10
Example of how to not make your low-budget horror look big-budget
sdg002-16 January 2005
Warning: Spoilers
I recently purchased this film after seeing the name "Savini" plastered on the front of it. I took it home watched it, and i must say that it was a classic monster/military/crappy actors in the woods movie. Savini's character is fascinating as i thought it would be but unfortunately everyone else is a little worse than something that would be released by Troma. The two marines were a joke and i was unaware that the military had to give their soldiers cash for a job. Then there is the attempts to make this look big budget by using CGI. Big mistake, it looks like someone jumped on the computer and animated something using the paint program in windows. You should probably see this film if you are looking to make a student film but otherwise, stay away.
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1/10
What's a synonym for awful?
MLProperelli14 April 2005
Warning: Spoilers
I thought I had seen some pretty bad movies ("Maplewoods" is pretty darn awful) but I think this 2003 direct-to-DVD movie "Vicious" takes the cake. The acting by Tom Savini isn't bad (though he isn't in half of the movie) but for Pete's sake, the CGI monster is the worst monster I have ever seen in my life (and I watched the paper plate alien spaceships in "Plan 9 From Outer Space" and the carpet monster in "The Creeping Terror). Too bad I watched this movie alone. I don't laugh too much, regarded by my friends as a very serious person. But seriously, this takes the cake as the worst movie I have ever seen in my life.

Note to filmmakers: The anamitronic models of the monster worked fine. Why not just use that instead of the awful, half-finished monster? Maybe so I could get a laugh?
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"Don't bite the hand that feeds you."
Backlash0075 July 2004
Tom Savini, Bill Moseley, Brinke Stevens--How could you? How could you dupe me into renting this god-awful piece of cinematic garbage? I didn't expect much, but this is bottom of the barrel quality. Vicious is about a government operative named Kane (Savini) who captures unsuspecting campers and feeds them to a carnivorous beast living in the woods. From that description alone I was expecting what could have been a camp classic. But no, it's handled very terribly and the folks that I rented the movie for have very little screentime. The "actors" that do get the most screentime are BAD. But what really killed any enjoyment of this flick was the beast itself. When that photoshop-looking thing popped unto the screen, I really wanted to turn it off. I just simply hung my head in shame. I'm trying to forget this one already. I was wanting a film in the same vein as Mosquito but I got something much, much worse.
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5/10
MONSTER MAYHEM!!!
brainspoon17 November 2002
Holy Rabid Land Shark! This flick rocks! The first good horror film I've seen since The Sadist, and that was a good fifty horror films ago. I am a junkie for this sort of film, and my appetite is insatiable. I will watch horror flick after horror flick, indiscriminate of plot, budget, cast, or credentials, just to get my fix. I've seen many a bad, bad, BAD horror film, but I tally forth in the hope of finding that really cool one to tell my friends about.

And finally, after a long dry spell I have found one that is pretty darn entertaining. Sort of Friday the 13th meets Jaws meets Army Thriller of the Week, this monster flick has a lot going for it. For one thing, you got Tom Savini as a wild-eyed mad scientist, and he's his groovy charismatic Savini self in this. We also get the one and only Bill "CHOP-TOP" Moseley as a simmering military guy (only a cameo), and the red headed inbreed kid from Pumpkin Head is the film's hero! We get to see Tom Savini beat up Pumpkin Head Boy! All right!

The plot isn't very original (forest monster eats people), but while most film's of this type wallow in unnecessary subplots (Monopoly in Friday 13th anyone?) keeping the horror in the background, this one sticks to the point, has some pretty good action, and ACTUALLY SHOWS THE MONSTER!! How many films have I seen where it's supposed to be about a monster eating people, but nothing happens, in this film, HORRIBLE THINGS HAPPEN!, people are munched and mauled and the gore flies, leaving the Gore Hound in you feeling satisfied. And dare I say, it has some suspense to boot, dare i say it? I DARE SAY IT! what more can you ask for in this type of film! Blood and death and unnerving coolness.

Rent this flick! a great B-MOVIE MONSTER MASH to enjoy with friends and flick brews.

FIGHT EVIL!
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5/10
Absolute Garbage truck material, Burn it, & bury it !
razorwire28 June 2006
Not the best CGI monster in the world but it was a fun film to watch. Brian Bremer from Pumpkinhead did a very good job as well as Savini. Tom was not as good as he was in From Dusk Til Dawn but this is not a Robert Rodriguez film either. Film Bashers beware! Nobody takes you serious. These guys spent a lot of time and effort into making this film and it does show. I am sure with a bigger budget it could have been better but that is why we call them low budget films. I would have liked to se Savini a little more hands on with the effects but I understand he is more into acting now and that's cool. The effects were not all that bad anyhow! Cudos guys. Even though the monster on the DVD cover looks nothing like the one in the film, well that's the fault of the distributor and their marketing department. Not bad though...not bad!
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1/10
catastrophically inept
eros-in-hell14 October 2003
Breathtakingly dumb, this execrable micro-budgeted, dialogless loser pits insipid teens (played by ugly 30 year olds)against embarassing $10 cgi monster effects. Mangled action scenes and half baked dialogue are the highlights of this puke for brains wretched mess. A bloodless phony that hardcore pornography couldn't even help! Just plain crummy! Flush it, or suffer and learn.
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1/10
I purchased this movie
mjmolby6 October 2005
for 99 cents. The only reason why I purchased this movie is because it had Tom Savini on the package and it was 99 cents, how could you go wrong; Oh, it did. I took it home and put in my VHS player and about 90 mins later I was hating my self. The plot sounded like something that would include some gore. Vicious fell far from short. I'm not sure as to how you could even put out a movie like this. Sadly enough I'm sure I could have done a better job shooting this movie with one of those video camera where you have to pop in the VHS tape to record. I think the thing that made the movie even worse was the extremely crappy CGI monster. That thing was lamer than FDR's legs. All that I have left to say about this movie is don't purchase it, even if it is in the 99 cent VHS bin at Blockbuster.
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1/10
I'm banging my skull on the TV!
boogie-126 August 2003
What is this garbage. I like monster movies, but this is just plain stupid. Kills my opinion of Tom Savini. More and more he associates himself with cheap, boring, direct to video crud. What happened? Buyer Beware!
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1/10
Ouch!This is awful.
richard-48621 August 2003
Cheap, and silly looking. The marines walk like drag queens! This is an illogical mess even for a horror film. So bad yet not bad in a funny way. Obvious that the classic genre cast (Tom Savini, Brinke Stevens) will do anything for a paycheck. The scenes with Bill Moseley look like they are from a different film or used to pad this bore out to even more painful minutes. I paid for an unreleased video copy, and now I know why it is unreleased! Don't get suckered like did. Avoid at all cost.
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10/10
Hooray for special effects
mplarson058 April 2002
Vicious was a killer flick in the same vein as your typical creature features. It is an entertaining film starring some names like Tom Savini and our "killer prom queen" favorite, Brinke Stevens. The special effects are amazing and the computer generated imaging used to create the create the creature is top-notch!
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1/10
rated R for violence and bore
BBVsam1 January 2005
I think that if I video taped my hair growing, that that would have made a better movie than this drivel. Was this someone's failing grade film school project? Was this someone's idea of a bad joke? Was this a dare? Inquiring minds would like to know. I've seen better CGI monsters on old Nintendo games. Once again, I rented this for free and I still felt like I wasted my money. I wanted my 2 hours back. I wanted to be able to tell people that I didn't sit thru this garbage...but I can't. Those 2 hours are gone forever. If you see this movie on a shelf..avoid it like the plague. Don't let the cover art fool you....go home, read a book or a recipe or lick the floor.....something else besides watching this miserable excuse of a movie. This doesn't even get a "B" rating. Rated Z for bottom of the barrel.
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A great movie!
willywants10 January 2004
Low-budget monster movie about a Military experiment that goes horribly wrong, releasing a lizard-like carnivorous monster into the wild. An X-Millitant (Tom Savani) lures people to the creature's habitat so it can feed....off human flesh. Tom Savani's "Vicious" is a great shoe-string budget monster fest with lots of gory on-screen death, a cool monster, and decent writing and performances for a film made under a million dollars. Okay, it's extremely corny, but the excellent gory special effects and the presence of Mr. Savani make up where the film fell short! 8/10.
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10/10
thought it was good
mplarson0519 March 2002
This movie is in the same vein as your Friday the 13th's for some good old fashioned scares and gore. The special effects are awesome. It's Tom Savini at his usual creepy, FANGORIA inspiring self. He is wonderful as the Kane character. The story is on and the plot is where it needs to be.
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Very Good!
spmakeupfxdude13 September 2003
This film was put together very well. The editing was wonderful. Matt Green has a great eye when it comes to the angles and feel of the film. I think the Sci-Fi channel should premier it SOON, hear that SCI-FI..HUH? Great Film!!!!
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Monster and Cigars
Dr. Gore8 February 2004
Warning: Spoilers
*SPOILER ALERT* *SPOILER ALERT*

A monster is loose in the woods. It's yet another military experiment gone horribly wrong. This particular monster has Tom Savini as its handler. Four dolts head out into the woods for a compromised "Guy's weekend" and run afoul of this very cheap looking monster. More cheap shenanigans follow.

There are many things wrong with "Vicious". For starters, Brinke Stevens is completely wasted in a ten second cameo. It should have been at least thirty seconds. The two commandos who hunt down Savini look like wimps that even I could beat up. Savini is in this movie as an ex-military man whose one character trait is smoking cigars. That's all he does. Another scene, another cigar. He has turned me off smoking cigars for life. Thanks Mr. Savini for the anti-smoking ad.

On the plus side, "Vicious" does have a monster attacking idiots. The video box cover did not lie. It is an extremely cheap monster but a monster none the less. I was mildly entertained by it all. I don't know if it's worth renting but if you do take the plunge, it probably won't hurt you too much.
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Terrible movie worth renting for good laughs.
viper_ss24 November 2004
Warning: Spoilers
** SPOILERS ** Where to begin? * How about the two 6'2, 150 pounds special forces soldiers? One gets snuck up on and the other runs away wimpering. I'm glad our real military isn't this bad or we would never win anything. * How about the awesome military uniforms? The colonel wears two different ones; one looks like communist garb and the other is an scout master outfit. Why not just buy real uniforms, probably for less money? * What's up with the 10 minute fat man scene and the incredible tune, "You gotta have swing"? That was definitely a crucial part of the plot. * Then there's the foursome on the camping trip. Let me tell you, someone else's wife is telling me that I can't drink, that's when I'm like screw you. What are you, my mother?

Worth a rental if you like bad horror movies.
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