Masters of Horror (TV Series) The Screwfly Solution (2006) User Reviews

While Not a Strong Movie, Some Very Strong Writing

[gavin6942 · 6/10 · 1 February 2007]

There exists a way of eliminating insects where the bugs can be tricked into forgetting how to mate, thus lowering the population of harmful species. But what if this method were tried on humans? As humans are wired so that aggression and sexual energy are very close, could they be cross-wired to confuse one with the other? What would the results be?

This episode of "Masters of Horror", starring "Beverly Hills 90210" alumnus Jason Priestley, comes across as more of an "Outer Limits" episode and less of a horror story. More science fiction and less macabre, if you will. But a great story just the same, with some deep themes and plenty of gratuitous violence for the horror buffs. (Nudity, too.) Not surprisingly, this look at culture is coming from Joe Dante, who last season satirized the war in Iraq with "Homecoming"... a film that was of a much more horror nature and less serious than this one, but ultimately more satisfying (I'll get to that in a bit).

We have some heavy issues here: domestic violence, global warming, bird flu, radical Islam, fundamentalist Christianity. They're all tied in to the growing trend of men mass-murdering women the world over. We even have the discussion of how young women should dress, which calls to mind the words of the Australian Muslim leader who compared uncovered women to "rotting meat" recently (I write this February 2007). The clothing designed for younger women is something society should address, I think... though not necessarily for the reasons this film discusses.

Dante and his screenwriter (Sam Hamm) pay a great service to the original Alice Sheldon (aka Raccoona Sheldon aka James Tiptree) story. They have stayed incredibly close, and with good reason: Sheldon has nailed everything one could want: the religious cults ("the Sons of Adam") and even the subplot of the Marine who kills his wife. Sheldon was very much ahead of her time, with 2006 having radical religious people in the news constantly and the threat of new diseases looming like never before. And as far as the idea that man is a germ that destroys the planet -- true more now than ever before, as evidenced in Al Gore's "An Inconvenient Truth".

Screenwriter Sam Hamm quotes Richard Dawkins' new book "The God Delusion" in an interview he did: "Natural selection builds child brains with a tendency to believe whatever their parents and tribal elders tell them. Such trusting obedience is valuable for survival .... But the flip side of trusting obedience is slavish gullibility. The inevitable by-product is vulnerability to infection by mind viruses ... The child cannot know that 'Don't paddle in the crocodile-infested Limpopo' is good advice, but 'you must sacrifice a goat at the time of the full moon, otherwise the rains will fail' is at best a waste of time and goats." Hamm quotes another part of the book where Dawkins says, "Could irrational religion be a by-product of the irrationality mechanisms that were originally built into the brain by selection for falling in love?" Why am I or Hamm quoting Dawkins? Because this film explores that aspect of religion with the Sons of Adam cult Sheldon has cooked up. Not only do we clearly have "mind viruses" where irrational ideas are spread from one person to the next, but we are dealing with a religion that takes something irrational (the mass murder of women) and weaves a story around it to make this something for God. Dawkins surely did not have Sheldon in mind, and Sheldon may not have agreed with Dawkins were she alive today, but the themes cross over very nicely.

With all this praise, you may be wondering why I gave the film a fairly lackluster grade. And the reason is this: while the ideas and writing are superb, the film tends to trail on at the second half. As time passes, the story becomes less interesting and the exploration of the themes pretty much comes to a standstill. The closing scene (which, as usual, I won't discuss) was for me a huge disappointment, inserting aspects into the film which in my opinion really were better left out.

Despite the low rating, I do encourage everyone to see this film and I would consider it better than many of the episodes in Season Two (though still not as gripping as "Pelts" or as endearing as "Family"). Dante has a way with bringing critical issues to the forefront and I hope if he returns for the next season that he continues this... I see no way he could disappoint me with this track record.

Disturbing

[timhayes-1 · 6/10 · 11 January 2007]

The basic concept of Joe Dante's The Screwfly Solution is a disturbing one: That mankind would become prone to a plague that causes him to turn on women and murder them viciously and without remorse. There is a lot of scientific theory to go with this episode with the concept of an enzyme rigged to make men sterile and such thrown about. It was nice to see a thought provoking episode show up this season (the first so far) and Dante handles the kills as he should. They are not glorified but shown as the sickening acts that they are. The film falls apart in the last few minutes though when an alien plot line that seems to be tacked on to try and tie things up comes into play. It just totally ruined the rest of the episode for me.

Wryyyyyy?

[aguel · 5/10 · 13 January 2008]

I'm conflicted about this MOH. On one hand, its original source material was clearly supposed to deal with gender relations and the fears of a sex which ultimately always has to wonder (maybe not so deep down inside) whether that nice, well-mannered fellow buying them a drink might be an axe murderer. On the other, we have gratuitous sex scenes and a nice long look at a titty bar, ostensibly because it's a murder scene. So clearly there's a conflict of interest here.

Ultimately, it's the idiocy of all the characters that really ruined it for me. The wife is a blubbering mess who can't control her bratty daughter, the bratty daughter is obviously pumped so full of faux Spice Girls feminism she thinks that shaking her ass in front of potentially murderous construction workers is a good idea, and the husband ultimately refuses to take a shot that could protect him from the screaming crazies (a shot I'm assuming is some form of chemical castration) because "I'd know if I had psychotic symptoms... right?" Basically, the women are mostly portrayed as screaming hysterics, and men as crazed religious freaks. The only redeeming character is Elliot Gould as Barney, a kindly gay man and the only purveyor of sanity in crazy town -- and he doesn't even have that big a role. Basically, this is like an episode of The Outer Limits -- ignore the fact that all the characters are incompetent idiots, and you might be able to enjoy the underlying idea.

Worthy of theaters

[Cujo108 · 18 September 2010]

Based on the short story of the same name, Joe Dante's contribution to the second season of "MOH" is a colossal improvement over his season one debacle. Men in the southern states are showing vicious signs of aggression towards women and murdering them at a rapid rate. The men believe they've been spoken to by God, and a cult known as "The Sons of Adam" takes hold. The religious fervor turns out to be a symptom of some unknown disease which takes hold when men are aroused. Alan and Barney are two biologists just back from Colombia where they were working on an enzyme to disrupt the mating process of the parasitic canefly. Called in by the government to determine what is happening, they quickly realize that it's a similar scenario to how they were tricking the canefly into eradicating itself, but who is behind it? As the symptomatic aggression spreads northward, Alan warns his wife and daughter to go as far north as possible while he searches for a cure.

I was very happy to see that Dante avoided the camp this time around. "The Screwfly Solution" is a very pessimistic tale, and I was worried he might possibly give it the "Homecoming" treatment. Not the case, thankfully. I'm pleased to say that any attempts at humor here are of the jet-black variety. Take, for instance, the sequence on the airplane where Alan awakens from a nightmare only to witness an even more nightmarish situation. It's a disturbing scene, but there's also some very dark humor in there.

I loved the opening sequence detailing the actual screwfly solution that was utilized against the screw-worm back in 1982. It really set the mood for what would follow. The episode is suitably bleak with Dante adding some of his own unique flavor into the mix as well. Along with the previously mentioned humor, there's also an abundance of social commentary. Not that the source material didn't have it's fair share, as it did, but Dante ups the ante considerably. While he touches on things like terrorism and global warming, the main themes are still those of the original story, radical religious extremism and violence towards women.

There was only one change from the short story that I didn't agree with. Considering the prior phone call, Alan showing up at the cabin seemed a little off to me. The scene also made the daughter's actions seem less believable than they were in the original tale. In fact, the daughter was a complete idiot and I was happy when she died. Other than her stupidity, I'd say the episode is damn near flawless. Former "Beverly Hills 90210" pretty boy, Jason Priestley, was far better than I thought he would be. He's especially good once he realizes that he's infected. His phone conversation with his wife is very well-played, as is the later scene with him in the cabin. Kerry Norton is equally good, and Elliott Gould offers solid support.

I thought Dante and company really nailed the look of the aliens. They do look as described in the short story, like walking Christmas trees. I thought the final scene to be quite poignant. Speaking of the source material, it goes into a bit further detail on the religious aspect than the episode did. Out of all the episodes in the two "Masters of Horror" seasons, this and "Dance of the Dead" were not only the best, but they were also the only two that I feel could and should have been stretched out into feature length films. Regardless, they're both better than many films that do get released to theaters. "The Screwfly Solution" is provocative and frightening. More horror filmmakers should aspire to tackle such ambitious projects. As for the "Masters of Horror" series, I'm sorry to say that this was the last quality episode the show produced. The six that came after it took a nosedive into pure tripe.

Now, if only Stuart Gordon would get around to doing that adaptation of Jack Ketchum's "Ladies' Night" he was said to be interested in doing a while back... A similar story with the gender roles reversed, it would make for a damn fine companion piece to what Dante has accomplished here.

"Mankind is the Pest"

[BaronBl00d · 7/10 · 28 November 2010]

Clever, well-written, generally well-directed Masters of Horror episode about what would happen if someone or something created a plague or virus that affected mankind in the manner of men killing women instinctively. I do understand there are many gender themes floating in this script - sub-textual ones, metaphorical ones, symbolically, and even allegorically. Okay, I get that - well, at least some of it, but I would rather focus on what The Screwfly Solution is for sure. It is an interesting story about how mankind shall cope with its impending destruction though it not even clearly understands its impending doom. Jason Priestly and Elliot Gould play entomologists who are called in when cities all along a disease vector start having thousands of women killed by men who believe they are killing them for God or religion, etc... The story is cut here and there to fit into its hour, but the script is the piece's best trait. The acting is solid - isn't Gould always fun to watch? A strong supporting performance is given by Linda Darlow as Bella. And beautiful Kerry Norton is the lead. Did I say she was beautiful? Well, she is and you get to see all of her too! Director Joe Dante does a very workmanlike job with material that suits him. This is a fairly strong addition to a pretty good horror anthology.

the end ruined this episode

[trashgang · 6/10 · 9 June 2013]

This is a script that really could happen but to say it was a real horror story that goes a bit too far for me. The story itself and the acting was okay but for an entry into Masters Of Horror it lacked on horror.

This episode opens with telling about an experiment were a disease was ended by turning flies into non active breeders. By doing so the disease was ended. Further into the story we move towards humanity were the females have to be killed to stop breeding. The males are out for a kill but one girl do survive dressed as a guy and it's up to her to survive. In that particular part we do have more of suspense then horror and towards the end it turns into some science-fiction story looking more like an episode for The X-Files in stead of Masters Of Horrors.

But why it is shown here comes due the sometimes graphic violence toward women. But for me it just didn't work. Some will have problems with the fact about killing women and entering some messages about belief in a God and so on but the ending...what a turn-off.

Gore 1,5/5 Nudity 1/5 Effects 3/5 Story 3/5 Comedy 0/5

A different shade of Dante

[Jonny_Numb · 7/10 · 16 July 2007]

'The Screwfly Solution' is a refreshing rebound for Joe Dante, whose Season 1 "Masters of Horror" entry ('Homecoming') did very little for me. By toning down the ham-fisted sociopolitical satire of that episode, the director invokes a distinctly darker tone here. 'Screwfly' manages to go places that are extreme even for a show that prides itself on its freedom from meddling network censors (for the most part). The plot pertains to a plague that sweeps across the world, inexplicably converting male sexual urges to homicide, resulting in mass genocide of the female population; scientists Jason Priestley (surprisingly effective) and Elliott Gould (bringing a good mix of autumnal wisdom and flamboyant humor to the proceedings) are left to discover a cure as months pass and the epidemic escalates to a critical level. While many MOH episodes have been erratic in tone, script, or performance, 'Screwfly' is very consistent in those important aspects--the allegory is presented in a low-key manner by focusing on one family's crisis, and the resulting apocalypse is fittingly desperate and surprisingly palpable. Common, mundane activities like going to a store, boarding an airplane, or hosing off a patio cleverly tap into the natural human fear of our facades of safety being rendered 'unsafe.' Unfortunately, my second viewing of the episode was less fulfilling than the first--there are a lot of visceral shocks to be experienced (including a very disturbing scene in a strip club) that come off as somewhat diluted. Despite this, 'Screwfly' remains one of "Masters"' best offerings--even better for Dante, who sheds his comic-horror roots for something more sobering and serious.

Do We Really Need "Masters Of Horror" To Tell Us That Violence Against Women Is Bad?

[Witchfinder-General-666 · 5/10 · 7 February 2009]

I'll be the last one to deny that Joe Dante deserves praise for films like "Piranha", "The Howling" and even "Gremlins", but his contributions to "Masters Of Horror" both rank among the lesser episodes of the series. This seventh episode of the second season, "The Screwfly Solution" definitely has its qualities, but it also lacks in many departments. The episode is based on the acclaimed short story of the same name by Alice Sheldon (written under her pen name 'James Trippee Jr.'), which I haven't read. For some reason, most MoH episodes that try to deliver something political seem to fail as true Horror films. This is also the case with "The Screwfly Solution". The idea behind "The Screwfly Solution" was probably to make a socio-critical comment rather than to deliver pure Horror or genuine scares. Maybe this was also the case with the story - as stated above, I haven't read it. The episode is about a mysterious, rapidly spreading virus that, for some reason, makes men murderously aggressive towards women... The episode is not terribly suspenseful, so there should be a message behind it. Now, what does this episode want to tell us? That there is too much violence against women, and that violence against women is bad? I agree, of course, as anybody in their right mind would, but I certainly didn't need a "Masters of Horror" episode to tell me that. Even worse, Dante throws in comedy again. Some female characters seem deliberately made to be annoying, and it sometimes seems as if Dante is unable to decide whether to make a comment against violence against women, or actually provide some understanding for the men's aggression. The episode is not without irony, of course, and, as stated above, it does have its qualities. It does make a point, even though, in my opinion, not a very memorable one, and the performances are good. English actress Kerry Norton is great as the protagonist, and the episode also stars none other than the great Elliott Gould in a supporting role. I wasn't so happy about the casting of soap opera actor Jason Priestley at first, but he is actually decent enough in his role. Overall, the episode has some qualities, as far as I am concerned, it is only recommendable to enthusiastic fans of "Masters Of Horror".

An excellent first half, tapers off from there on.

[jdollak · 9/10 · 16 December 2006]

Joe Dante directed Homecoming last season, and this one is a huge step up from that point. Of course, while I enjoyed Homecoming, I recognized that it wasn't especially scary. The Screwfly Solution plays like a Stephen King story, but with a little bit more sci-fi than he usually indulges in.

Around the world, males start killing females. It is unexplained, although the perpetrators claim God told them to do it. A scientist (played by Jason Priestly) attempts to figure out what to do about this, while his wife heads to Canada in an attempt to escape the whole mess.

The episode is strangely unbalanced. With the plot supplied, it could easily fill a feature film (or miniseries), however, the second half of it feels very slow. This is a side effect of having to trim events down to only the highlights of her life on the run.

There is considerable horror in the story, but the sense of horror decreases as the story continues through the second half, and we are filled with a sense of resignation to the downer ending that is impending. I should clarify though – the first half of the film is excellent in pacing and horror.

An earlier reviewer wrote "why did they go about it in such a gratuitously sadistic and misogynistic fashion?" This question is clearly answered by the movie. The easiest way to eliminate a population is to prevent it from breeding. If males were wiped out, it'd still be possible to continue the species. Without females, the species has no chance of survival. The gratuitously sadistic aspect of their method of infestation removal is strictly in the eye of the beholder.

Update: It's actually even better than I thought. I returned to this episode, and on a repeat viewing, knowing the ending, as well as having grown up a little more since my first viewing - this is really, really good. There are a variety of clues dropped, and the pacing isn't as much of a problem as I thought it was. The second half changes from outright violence to a sense of tension, and more horrors are implied.

Angels & Demons

[kosmasp · 7/10 · 18 August 2010]

My summary line could be talking about the genders or something else. Although you'd only really know, if you watch the episode. A very interesting one, with a strong premise and as another user has said (and I do agree on that) could be either a movie or a TV show itself. But instead we get one episode. Almost hardly enough to get us going, with this idea ... but too little to be really engaging ... especially with the ending on hand here.

While there have also been people who liked the ending, I think it was letting the movie down a bit. It seemed as if they were out of ideas at the end. There is a few things, that would have been nice to have an answer too. On the other hand, maybe the audio commentary on the disc will provide some of the answers. I will have to watch/hear that some day.

All in all, a strong episode, strong performances, but there isn't that much gore and some people might dismiss this as not being "horror".

Interesting sci fi, not really horror with trite ending

[howieroarkd · 4/10 · 17 May 2009]

I gave this 4 stars because it has a lot of interesting themes many here have already mentioned. From the domestic violence, to sexuality and many of the taboos therein. Outside of the gore I really would not call this horror so much as I would science fiction.

It's bleak, depressing and hopeless. While I don't mind a less than cheery ending, I'm really very tired of the "humans suck" cliché that's central to every movie. I know you can't get a liberal arts degree today without bowing to the alter of self-hatred as a member of the human race, but how's 'bout as a writer/director we pretend we are different than everyone else in the pack and notice that the ALIENS KILLING THE HUMAN RACE are evil! Right now, if you are reading this and believe that humanity deserves to die, just go out, find a lake and swim 'til your arms are tired. This way you won't be around to direct the next film or write the next book telling me I deserve to die for being alive. It's silly, not thoughtful, and boring.

THE best of SEASON 2 so far

[badgrrlkane · 8/10 · 10 December 2006]

Very disturbing story of an plague brought to Earth & unleashed on the male population where if they become aroused in any way they turn violent on any female around them & savagely murder her so the alien race can wipe out mankind as without females they'll be no reproduction.Very cool story idea & much better effort in my opinion then Joe Dante's 1st Season effort Homecoming which I thought was just plain silly.This is at times terrifyingly to watch & reminded me that this was the horror movie director of my all time favorite classic werewolf film The Howling. Pretty gory at times.And surprisingly Jason Priestley puts in a decently acted performance. As does Elliot Gould. So far Season 2 has some stinkers but this one I'd highly recommend. **** out of *****

Better than average but...

[dean2900 · 6/10 · 10 December 2006]

I would like to think of this episode as the bare minimum of what the anthology series should be. It has a interesting premise although a bit of a cop out ending IMO.

This one was interesting, had sex, violence, decent acting, and an intriguing plot until the end.

I am not going to post any spoilers so I will reiterate the synopsis. This is basically about a certain type of fly that lives in the jungle that are genetically altered not to be able to mate because this nasty "screw fly" likes to lay it's eggs within the human body. It is argued that this is mother nature at work to keep humans out thus keeping humans from eradicating other species.

Elliot Gould had the best role and was believable as the experienced expert on insects.

If MOH was anywhere as good as I would have hoped, this would have been one of the worst episodes. As for the 2nd season, this is probably the best episode IMO.

I have not given up on this show and I have no idea if a third season is even being talked about but I am keeping my fingers crossed that Showtimes gets it right and the series turns the corner in the third year.

So far, after a 1.5 seasons, MOH has produced Ciggarrette burns which is by far the best episode. The part that disturbs me is while i consider the first season mediocre, I have to say that the first season is much better than the 2nd season which probably is a bad sign.

Anyways, if you like horror and sci/fi, this episode is worth watching although you probably will feel there was a better episode lost somewhere in the material.

Oh, Amy

[peterDM-30380 · 1/10 · 19 November 2020]

The daughter, Amy, is one of those awful, stupid characters who you hope you get to watch die in the slowest most painful way possible. The fact that we don't get to see that happen is one of the biggest reasons to dislike this thin, flimsy tale that starts with a good concept that never goes anywhere or reaches its potential. It's astounding this was ever produced.

Good

[Michael_Elliott · 7 March 2008]

Screwfly Solution, The (2006)

*** (out of 4)

Joe Dante's second in the Masters of Horror series takes a rather unique story and does wonders with it. Throughout the world a virus is infecting men turning them into psychopaths that begin killing women. Thousands are being murdered each hour but two scientists (Jason Priestly/Elliott Gould) can't figure out what's the cause. The horror genre has always been attacked by women's groups due to the violence towards women and director Dante looks at this as well as various other issues in regards to violence towards women. The idea of the story leads to several other political issues that the director likes to throw in but they all work well. When the secret of the virus is finally revealed it isn't the greatest twist in the world but it works.

Masters Of Horror: The Screwfly Solution (TV) (Joe Dante, 2006) **1/2

[Bunuel1976 · 6/10 · 24 November 2007]

THE SCREWFLY SOLUTION is my fourth venture into this promising TV series and what attracted me primarily to this particular episode was the involvement of Joe Dante (whom I often saw – and even spoke to twice – during the 61st Venice Film Festival in 2004); however, the fact that a hunk – BEVERLY HILLS 90210’s Jason Priestley – was going to be the lead didn’t seem too promising on paper and, in fact, the recurring steamy sex scenes (while related to the theme of the episode) almost made it seem like something out of the RED SHOE DIARIES series at times!

Still, Priestley’s bedfellow – Briton Kerry Norton – gives a good performance, is the real protagonist of the story and, ultimately, the best thing about it; Elliott Gould is also on hand to offer fine support as Priestley’s scientific partner and, eventually, together with Norton, one of the last untainted earthly survivors.

Unfortunately, the theme – the male population is infected by a virus which makes them viciously exterminate every female they come across indiscriminately – while interesting and engrossing in itself is just too similar to that of 28 DAYS LATER (2002) and its sequel, 28 WEEKS LATER (2007); besides, its resemblance to the screwfly’s predicament is tenuous at best (though the revelation as to the source of the epidemic is interesting).

I'm a human fly.

[BA_Harrison · 6/10 · 16 June 2019]

In Joe Dante's The Screwfly Solution, based on a short story by American psychologist Alice Sheldon, a virus turns men into religious femicidal maniacs.

Part of the Masters of Horror series, this is a reasonably satisfying tale of epidemia and survival, following Anne Alstein (Kerry Norton) as she tries to avoid becoming a victim of the outbreak.

Dante effectively builds the tension as Anne realises the gravity of the situation, and must even avoid seeing her loving husband Alan (Jason Priestly) for fear of him becoming a killer, but the director cannot prevent his film from faltering slightly as Anne tries to pass herself off as a man by adding a little five-o-clock shadow makeup and lowering her voice: it's just too silly and wholly unconvincing. Solid support comes from Brenna O'Brien as Anne's daughter Amy and Elliot Gould as scientist Barney.

The sci-fi twist ending isn't too hard to guess for those who have been paying attention from the start, but brings the story to a satisfying conclusion.

OK entry in the series

[ODDBear · 6/10 · 21 October 2008]

All the males in the world start killing all the females. What is going on here?

This is certainly a juicy storyline for the series. It's also quite well executed, for the most part. A scene at a strip club is a particular standout, very brutal and explicit. However, it's director Dante's decision to film the story in an unconventional manner (he likens it to a cell phone capturing the image) that bugged the hell out of me. It didn't need it, the story itself is captivating enough.

It does run out of steam towards the end but up until then it's mostly entertaining. The cast is touch and go. I never think Jason Priestly is very convincing in whatever he does but here he was above average. The ever so reliable Elliot Gould didn't disappoint however.

"The Screwfly Solution" is a solid entry in the series but not one of the best episodes.

One of the worst

[nickcarr · 1/10 · 17 December 2006]

I've now written reviews for several of the MoH episodes, and this is among the worst. An interesting premise at the beginning is completely abandoned by the time the credits roll. If watching people things they never would in real life amuses you ("let's check out the basement!"), then this is your show. Except, it's not amusing or entertaining - it's just annoying.

The extent of the virus is never, ever showed. I can very much overlook the fact that it affects men only, as the resulting situation is very, very frightening. But then things deteriorate as daughter lets OBVIOUSLY deranged dad into the home, and ultimately dies at his hands. The woman flees north, and runs into a few tens situations. Then, some sort of spirit or alien or something appears and saves her (things that make you go HUH?). Or something. Then, she is huddling for warmth. The end.

Awful. These directors are mailing this tripe in.

To the point

[preppy-3 · 8/10 · 9 December 2006]

A virus starts affecting men worldwide--they're struck with religious fever and brutally attack and kill any woman close by. Story focuses on a family trying to cope with it--Father Alan (Jason Priestley) and his father in law (Elliott Gould) are scientists trying to combat the problem and Alan's wife (Kerry Noonan) and daughter (Brenna O'Brien) may be in danger...

Some people might immediately call this is misogynistic--it DOES show graphic and VERY bloody killings of many female. But this is never shown in a comedic or OK way--it's presented as sickening and as horrifying as it is. The ultimate solution to this all actually makes sense (for a horror film). The acting is great--Priestley and Noonan especially are impressive. This is nowhere near as good as director Dante's season 1 offering "The Homecoming" but it still is a good strong little movie.

"Typical, 150 women dead & penguins get top billing." Crappy Masters of Horror episode.

[poolandrews · 4/10 · 27 February 2007]

Masters of Horror: The Screwfly Solution starts as America is being infected by an airborne virus that affects the male population, when aroused men indiscriminately kill any woman in sight apparently in the name of God. Scientist Alan (Jasn Priestley) is brought in by the Government & knows more than most & senses the situation may have gone too far already so he tells his wife Anne (Kerry Norton) to take their teenage daughter Amy (Brenna O'Brien) & try to survive as the future of the human race may depend on them...

This Canadian American co-production was episode 7 from season 2 of the Masters of Horrror TV series, directed by Joe Dante I thought The Screwfly Solution was pretty bad. I personally think the script by Sam Hamm sucks, it takes itself far too seriously & I don't really understand why it's part of the Masters of Horror series, the horror that the filmmakers are going for in The Screwfly Solution is in the actual story itself & themes & ideas it brings up rather than on screen visual horror particularly the tenuous ecological message it sees intent on ramming down our throats whenever it's gets the chance during it's short 60 odd minute running time which I felt itself was a problem as the thing just finishes out of what could easily be interpreted as necessity rather than any meaningful attempt to wrap things up. I wasn't happy with the inconsistencies with the story either, if men only kill when sexually aroused why does the flight attendant casually break that woman's neck on the plane? Was he sexually aroused, I think not. Why does every bloke then think he's killing in the name of God? I just can't see every single bloke on Earth suddenly knowing the Bible & starting to believe in God, I just found the notion ridiculous & the show also states clearly that there's nothing religious about what's going on so what's the deal with everyone thinking they have a divine to murder any woman they see? Then there's the fact people get turned on by different things, what about gays for instance? Will they kill guys instead of women? I know there's a brief scene which makes a joke out of the gay issue but it's conveniently brushed to one side & then there's the thing which annoyed me the most. The fact that presumably every bloke on earth has turned psycho & killed all the women they go about their everyday business like nothing ever happened, it just felt so stupid, the plotting is rubbish & to round things off there's a ending which looks like it was taken from a rejected episode of The X-Files (1993 - 2002) with a bright neon alien.

Director Dante on this showing definitely doesn't qualify as a Master of Horror as far a I'm concerned, the story is badly paced, it's just so stupid considering it's played deadly straight & instead of trying to make a proper horror show he turns in more of a thriller with it's deadly virus on the loose situation & the subsequent mother & daughter on the run because of it, there's very little here in the way of what I would call effective horror & even less gore. There's a scene when a woman is stabbed with a broken bottle, a brief scene after when a guy stabs his own groin with said bottle & another woman is stabbed in the stomach but nothing else to write home about.

Technically like the other episodes it's really good & it doesn't have the look of a cheap TV series, the special effects are great as usual & it's well made. The acting is alright but no-one really stood out.

The Screwfly Solution is easily the worst Masters of Horror episode I've seen but bear in mind I haven't seen all of them... yet. As a stand alone piece of entertainment it did nothing for me & as a show made by a so-called Master of Horror it disappoints me even more.

Gender social-political statement cleverly disguised as action horror scifi

[The_Melancholic_Alcoholic · 8/10 · 30 November 2007]

Yah, I thought "Gender social-political statement cleverly disguised as action horror scifi" about covered it, to put in succinctly.

I am disgusted by the many superficial comments about how this is Joe Dante's work, or that its a ripoff of "28 Days Later" ???? I mean, BUNCH OF MORONS! This is an accurate adaptation of a James Tiptree Jr. story which was written before the "28 Days Later" maker was even born! Literally. Dante should get kudos for almost exactly following the story. James Tiptree Jr. later revealed that she was actually Alice Sheldon, a 63 year old college psychology professor, who would later commit a murder-suicide with her husband 13 years her senior, at age 71.

The story is in line with James Tiptree Jr.'s gender themed work. What's the easiest, cheapest way to take over Earth but still get rid of those pesky humans? You disturb the reproductive cycle, of course, just as humans have done with insects, so the humans get rid of themselves. And not via war, like the west v the Muslims or Americans v Russians/Chinese or even cowboys v Indians, but simply via Man vs Woman. That the Man is chosen to be the instrument of death rather than woman, is only seemingly connected to Tiptrees AKA Sheldons political beliefs but is heavily based in actual scientific fact (and simple common sense): men are far more easily led towards violence than women ....

The Melancholic Alcoholic.

What a ... what a ... what the heck?

[Poe-17 · 1/10 · 23 June 2007]

I love the frequently misnomered "Masters of Horror" series. Horror fans live in a constant lack of nourishment. Projects like this (and the similar "Greenlight Project" with gave us "Feast" - like it or lump it) are breeding grounds for wonderful thought bubbles in the minds of directors with a horror bent to develop and bring to maturation food for we who love to dine on horror.

This one began with a kernel of really-kool-idea and ran ... right off the edge of "where in the world am I going with this?!!!".

I don't know how to spoil the spoiled but "SPOILER AHEAD" All of a sudden ... no, there was that light drifting across the night sky earlier ... we have long haired luminescent aliens (huh? ... HUH?) brain drilling males and ... yeah, I get it but ... well ... the worst curse of storytelling - a rousing and promising set up without a rewarding denouement.

Cue to storytellers ... your build up has to have a payoff that exceeds build up. Not the other way around. Storytelling math 101.

End of Spoilers - Big Oops!

How could this have turned out so lame?

[mrutter-2 · 2/10 · 8 December 2006]

A huge disappointment from writer Hamm and director Dante. Their previous collaboration on the first season's "Homecoming" was twisted and darkly hilarious in all the right ways. This poor handling of an intriguing premise left me bewildered. The supposed "payoff" showing generic aliens extracting something from the brains of the infected psychopaths was completely unsatisfying and explained nothing. If the point of the story was an extraterrestrial "cleaning" of the planet of it's human infestation, why did they go about it in such a gratuitously sadistic and misogynistic fashion? Why not just unleash a completely lethal virus a la Stephen King's "The Stand" instead of having the male population butcher the females? I kept hoping the episode would improve as I kept watching but it just got more pretentious and preposterous. The religious subtext simply seemed forced but it was clear Sam Hamm must have thought it was profound by the weight he gave it. I like a lot of both Dante and Hamm's work but this was just unwatchable.

You Always KILL The Ones You Love...

[cchase · 8/10 · 30 January 2007]

Because we live in a 'civilized' society, where we are raised to follow a certain set of rules that most of us follow consistently, there's some aspects of our psyches that exist 'outside the lines' - parts of ourselves, that we try not to think about too often.

You know what I'm talking about. Every woman, no matter how nice, hot, good-looking or dependable her other half is, has that moment - even if it comes only once in their lives - where they have to wonder: "Could he ever hurt me? WOULD he ever hurt me?" And I'm talking about broken bones here, ladies, not hearts.

Ditto for the guys. No matter how well your parents raised you, there does come that real test of your character, hopefully not too many times in your adult life, when you and the girlfriend/wife/S.O. are having that really nasty argument, and there's that evil little demon who lives deep in the darkest recesses of your subconscious...the one you almost never acknowledge, who zings you this ultra-nasty thought: "Wouldn't this argument be a lot shorter if I just clock her a good one in her yapping mouth?"

It's a really scary thought, made scarier still by this MOH episode, because the team that brought you HOMECOMING is asking your inner demon what it would be like to be able to "come out and play."

THE SCREWFLY SOLUTION, adapted by Sam Hamm from a short story by sci-fi author James Tiptree, Jr. and directed by "Family's" Joe Dante, brings us one of those Ultimate Nightmare Scenarios. For some reason, completely unknown, baffling and terrifying, Regular Joes all over the country suddenly have decided to go all "Last House On The Left" on every female in their households. Wife? Did her. Mother-in-law? Toast. Daughter? Guess I can save on that allowance money now. And in every instance, when the horrified police ask these guys why they did it, the answer is vintage Larry Cohen: "The Lord spoke to me. He told me to clean up this mess."

Research scientists Alan (TRU CALLING co-star Jason Priestley) and Barney (Elliott Gould) team up with their friend and Alan's feisty mom-in-law Bella (Linda Darlow) to get some answers. And what they find is the absolutely unthinkable and unexpected, as a force not of this world has taken the simplest method of controlling peskier forms of insects and reused the principle...on mankind.

What seems like merely a flesh-crawling sci-fi premise on the surface goes leagues deeper, as it takes the whole conceit of "the war between the sexes" and literally turns it into Armageddon. I loved the commitment to the performances shown by everyone here, especially Priestley, who's become a vastly better actor than he was in his "90210" days.

But the absolute standout here is an actress I'm not familiar with named Kerry Norton, who plays Alan's wife, Anne, the director of - you guessed it - a shelter for battered women. With her earthy beauty and the accent, I found myself wondering what the episode would've been like if someone like, say, Emma Thompson had played the role, until you realize that Norton is pretty damn good in her own right, and Ms. Thompson's services aren't really needed here.

Kind of an inverted take on the critically acclaimed movie CHILDREN OF MEN, I would put "The Screwfly Solution" in the Top Five MOH episodes for this second season. It will definitely give you and yours a lot to think about. And you might find yourself giving the other half an extra tight squeeze afterward. Which, of course, is NEVER a bad thing...