''Infestation'' is a 2009 American
comedy horror
Comedy horror (also called horror comedy) is a literary, television and film genre that combines elements of comedy and horror fiction. Comedy horror has been described as having three types: "black comedy, parody and spoof." Comedy horror can a ...
film written and directed by
Kyle Rankin
Kyle Rankin (born September 13, 1972) is an American screenwriter and filmmaker known for directing '' The Battle of Shaker Heights'' and '' Night of the Living Deb.'' In 2020, his film ''Run Hide Fight'', about a school shooting, was shown at t ...
. It was produced by
Mel Gibson
Mel Columcille Gerard Gibson (born January 3, 1956) is an American actor and filmmaker. The recipient of List of awards and nominations received by Mel Gibson, multiple accolades, he is known for directing historical films as well for his act ...
's
Icon Entertainment
Icon Productions, also formerly referred to as Icon Entertainment International, is a production company founded in August 1989 by actor/director Mel Gibson and Australian producing partner Bruce Davey. Icon Productions LLC's headquarters were e ...
and starring
Chris Marquette
Christopher Marquette (born October 3, 1984) is an American actor. He began his career with a main role as Adam Brody on the ABC sitcom '' Aliens in the Family'' (1996) before his breakout with a main role as Marc Delgado on the Lifetime medic ...
, E. Quincy Sloan,
Brooke Nevin
Brooke Candice Nevin (born December 22, 1982) is a Canadian actress. She portrayed Rachel on the science fiction series ''Animorphs'' (1998–1999) Julianne "Jules" Simms (2011–2012) on '' Breakout Kings'', and Sonja Lester (2010–2013) on ''C ...
, Kinsey Packard,
Deborah Geffner
Deborah Geffner is an American actress, singer, and dancer.
Early life
Born in Pittsburgh, Geffner moved to New York City at the age of sixteen to train at the Juilliard School. She later danced for the Stuttgart Ballet and American Chamber Bal ...
and
Ray Wise
Raymond Herbert Wise (born August 29, 1947) is an American actor best known for his role as Leland Palmer in ''Twin Peaks'' (1990–1991, Twin Peaks (season 3), 2017) and its prequel film ''Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me'' (1992). He has appeared ...
. It was filmed in Bulgaria.
Plot
Cooper is a slacker who works as a
telemarketer
Telemarketing (sometimes known as inside sales, or telesales in the UK and Ireland) is a method of direct marketing in which a salesperson solicits prospective customers to buy products, subscriptions or services, either over the phone or throu ...
. Arriving late for work, he is promptly fired by his boss, Maureen, for always turning up late, driving customers away, and fooling around in the office. Shortly after, an extremely loud sound is heard and Cooper faints with a pained expression on his face.
Cooper wakes up a few days later, nauseated, weak and cocooned in his office. As he struggles out of the cocoon, he is attacked by a giant, beetle-like bug. He fights the bug away and helps Maureen out of a cocoon. Maureen regains consciousness and realizes that her daughter, Sara, was waiting for her outside the office. They go outside to check on Sara, who is unconscious and trapped inside a cocoon in her car. As Cooper is helping Sara out of the cocoon, Maureen is attacked and captured by a large, wasp-like creature. Other bugs surround them, but they use Sara's car alarm to distract them and escape to a restaurant.
They find and revive Cindy, Hugo, Hugo's father Albert, Leechee, Roger, PJ and a cop. PJ and Roger decide to escape in Roger's truck against the advice of others and are attacked by the bugs. In the chaos, PJ, Roger and the cop are killed, Albert is stung by a bug and Cooper saves Cindy from being crushed by Roger's runaway truck.
The group makes their way to the roof of a nearby building and see a group of wasps flying towards them, discovering that the bugs are blind and use sound to track their victims when the wasps do not attack them. They use a radio to lure a bug into a storage closet and milk it to identify the contents of its venom. Leechee analyses the venom and discovers that it contains sedatives and some proteins. The group decides to go to the nearest military airbase for help. They also see the bug hive, which is emitting red colored gas. The group sets off the next day, but Leechee decides to stay behind to help revive more people and study the bugs.
Arriving at Hugo's house, the group find Albert's wife, who seems to have died of natural causes. They move on to Cindy's brother, Chad's house next, where Cindy finds her sister-in-law Susan cocooned and revives her. They also find Chad, who has mutated into a large spider-like creature that is collecting cocooned humans. He attacks the group, killing Susan, knocking out Sara and impaling Cooper when he tries to save Cindy before he is finally killed by Hugo and Albert.
They camp for the night at Chad's house and Sara patches Cooper up. Cindy wants Cooper to ditch the group and come with her, but Cooper is in love with Sara and turns down the offer. The next day, they decide to go to Cooper's dad, Ethan's house since Ethan is a military veteran who has weapons and a bunker at his house. Sara informs Cooper that she intends to go to the bug hive to find her mother. Cooper tries to convince her to come with him, but she refuses. They come across a few flying bugs and hide under a bridge, but Cindy sees Cooper and Sara holding hands, becomes furious, and shouts to attract the bugs towards the group. Albert shoots Cindy to save the group, but Sara is captured by the bugs. The group continues on and reaches Ethan's house, where Albert turns into a mutant, similar to Chad. Hugo shoots his father to save the group.
Cooper tries to convince Ethan to help him save Sara, but he refuses and Cooper leaves Ethan and Hugo behind, only to be captured by another group who lock him up in a cell at an abandoned police station. There, he meets a Puerto Rican man, who tells him that he was part of Leechee's group and that the others presumably died in an explosion caused by the flammable red colored gas released by the nest. Hugo and Ethan are captured by the same group, and it is revealed that Ethan has been stung by a wasp. The Puerto Rican man turns into a mutant, and Ethan uses the distraction to kill the enemy group and save Cooper and Hugo.
Meanwhile, Sara wakes up in the bug hive and comes across the queen consuming cocooned humans. Ethan, Hugo and Cooper reach the hive, where Ethan handcuffs Cooper to a tree and hits Hugo on the head. He leaves the keys so that Cooper and Hugo can escape before he enters the hive alone. Inside, he comes across Sara, who offers to take him to the queen. They are then attacked by the queen, but Hugo and Cooper arrive in time to help. The group attack the queen with their weapons, but this only angers the queen, who begins to wail loudly. As the group cowers in pain, Hugo, unable to hear the wail as he had lost his hearing, throws the explosives into the queen’s mouth. Ethan then orders Sara, Cooper and Hugo to escape from the bug hive while he triggers the explosives, but he turns into a mutant. Cooper takes the remote from his father and triggers the explosives, obliterating the nest and the insects inside.
The film ends with Cooper, Sara and Hugo turning towards the sound of a large rumbling.
Cast
Possible sequel
Director Kyle Rankin and lead actor Chris Marquette, signed 3-picture contracts with Icon Films for a potential trilogy of this storyline.
[''Infestation'' DVD commentary]
References
External links
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{{Kyle Rankin
2009 films
2009 comedy films
2009 horror films
2000s American films
2000s comedy horror films
2000s English-language films
American comedy horror films
Films about insects
Films produced by Bruce Davey
Films shot in Bulgaria
Icon Productions films
Syfy original films
Films directed by Kyle Rankin
Films with screenplays by Kyle Rankin
Films set in bunkers
Giant monster films
English-language comedy horror films