Bottom Feeder (2007) User Reviews

A Disposable Film With Tom Sizemore

[gavin6942 · 4/10 · 20 May 2007]

A maintenance crew headed by Tom Sizemore goes into an abandoned hospital to look for old equipment to sell to collectors. But a multi-millionaire has a scientist in the catacombs under the hospital, who has developed a serum to cause rapid regeneration and cellular growth. The scientist, who has taken the serum, is finding the results to be a bit more extreme than expected.

For my beef with 235 films (who produced this), see my review for "The Mad". This film's selling point was easy to identify as soon as I picked it up: it has Tom Sizemore in it. And, hey, I like Tom Sizemore (rent "Lock Up" with Sylvester Stallone) so this seems like something worth checking out.

That selling point is about as far as you can get with this one. You have a very one-dimensional millionaire who survives a fire. A creature in a tunnel who becomes part rat and part dog. A bum who is apparently a Rastafarian. These things mix well, surprisingly, but only in the most absurd sense of the word "well". It's just a lot of strange things going on.

The crew's background is in makeup, and it shows. There is a scene where they chop off a guy's fingers that was alright, and the creature is especially slimy. But the creature is just poorly conceived: in horror, there needs to be a balance of how much you do and do not show a monster. Here, they couldn't decide to show him too little (much of the film is almost pitch black) or too much (making him seem somewhat dumb).

I'd be lying if I said I didn't enjoy this film. I did. But the actors were nothing special, I didn't care about the characters, and Sizemore is either doped up or washed up in this film. Maybe he's not doped up. But whatever the case, he just looked old and tired. I can't have my hero looking like he wants to drink a six-pack of Coors Original (the Banquet Beer), smear Dorito orangeness on his chest and pass out watching NASCAR. This Sizemore didn't even have enough energy in him to pass gas.

I guess this isn't really telling you what you need to know, but there's really nothing to know: bad hero, weak monster, fake secondary characters. Unless your goal is to just get drunk or high and need something on the screen to move every so often, this isn't going to thrill you. If you want a good underground monster, rent "Tremors" or "CHUD".

I'm Still Not Sure If I Actually Liked This Or Not

[sddavis63 · 5/10 · 2 April 2016]

I watched this movie a while back and when it came to an end I was puzzled. Usually, I have a pretty strong reaction to a movie: I know if I've liked it or not, or if I've been bored with it, or if I've been bothered by it. I know something about my reaction to it. When I watched this a while back, I had - honestly - no reaction. I didn't know if I had liked it or not. So it faded into the distant past and I moved on, until the opportunity came up to watch it again. I decided to watch it again. Sometimes a movie that doesn't really strike a chord with you will do so on a second viewing. So I watched it again. And I have exactly the same reaction - I'm not really sure if I liked it or not.

It's a schlocky monster story, where a scientist invents some sort of cure for a disease that a multi-millionaire wants, but he forces the scientist to try it out first - with really bad results. The mutated scientist then encounters a maintenance crew in underground tunnels where he was forced to try the cure, there's a lot of blood and gore and death. What else is there? Really - not much.

It wasn't horrible. I'll say that. It's a basic, run of the mill monster story - and those can be OK as time wasters. Aside from Tom Sizemore, who played the head of the maintenance crew, the cast was pretty anonymous. And, as far as Vince (played by Sizemore) was concerned - how in the world could he have been a POW in Vietnam? Sizemore is nowhere near old enough to play a guy who would have been a POW in Vietnam. That grated on me a bit, even though it's a throwaway part of the story.

I guess I'll give it a 5. Right in the middle. Because I honestly don't know if I liked it or not.

Chief Goremongral's Movie Review: Bottom Feeders

[ChiefGoreMongral · 5/10 · 1 May 2007]

The last time we saw Tom Sizemore fight monsters he was in the undergrounds of Chicago fending for his life against the Kothoga in 'The Relic", now hes back fighting a monster in the undergrounds of ..who nos where yet again in "Bottom Feeders" a movie that did manage to entertain this monster movie fan but only marginally.

Lets get to the good, you will not see crappy CGI in this movie only man in suit style monster mayhem which is usually the best kind. Second there is not a lot of cheesy moments that seem to plague the B-Monster movie genre. Don't get me wrong we do have people shooting when they should be running and we do have the one annoying character named Sarge that you will prey for a quick demise for but all in all this was not a bad DTV.

The general premise is a millionaire has been severally scared from an auto accident. Using his dollars he has possibly found a cure to regenerate his skin tissue through a scientist who he makes a "deal" with. After the scientist proceeds to tell him of potential side effects the good millionaire decides to have his hired muscle beat the tar out of him and then throw him in the underground tunnels of the facility after injecting him with the "cure". A few hours later instant monster soup and were off and running.

Sizemore and his band are Maintenance people who just happen to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. We get a few decent kills including a decapitation and a nice jaw removal scene just for kicks. We also get a rather interesting ending that made for a nice change of pace from the happily ever after we tend to get in these kind of films. The monster itself was OK, nothing great but definitely a step above the CGI garbage we are forced to endure nowadays. It comes off as looking like a mixture of dog,rat and human.

Fans of monster movies may want to check this one out. Better than average production values help this one out but in the end its nothing ground breaking or spectacular. Give it a rental, keep your expectations low and you will be moderately entertained.

Score: 5/10 Average, nothing to write home about but for a direct to video release it does entertain you for 90 minutes.

BLAH

[WankerReviews · 2/10 · 4 March 2020]

Could have been a fun monster flick, with semi funny interesting characters, but the story line is dull, the characters are given nothing to do. almost an hour in and only 2 people die.

Adventures in Maintenance

[CelluloidRehab · 5/10 · 11 April 2007]

This movie's notoriety comes not from itself but rather as a rest stop in the Twilight Zone that is the life of Tom Sizemore. It was prominently showcased in the VH1 reality show about the events following rehab and the crystal meth induced flashbacks of Tom Sizemore's "Shooting Sizemore". It is clear from watching the show that this movie was not an option for Tom Sizemore. It is obvious that he had money problems at the time and would have done dog food commercials if anyone had offered. It is also the movie he quit two days into shooting. After a lot of soul searching, this movie was filmed and Tom was back on the road.

This is a low-budget straight to video type movie. If Tom wasn't in this movie, no one would have probably blinked. There is no originality in anything this movie tries. The elements are piecemeal Frankenstein with Machiavellian conspiracies from the vantage point of custodians. The release of this movie in any form is an accomplishment in itself. I keep thinking this would have been perfect on an adult version of the Sci-Fi Channel. Oh right, thats Cinemax.

A scientist develops a Wolverine-like serum with consequences (which are somewhat vague and leave the possibility for a sequel). An offspring of Pineapple Pokopo and Bruce VeSota attempts to get the serum for his own needs. The serum is not tested and the scientist is "volunteered" to test it. The rest is a Predator-like cat and mouse game, in some abandoned sewer-like corridors. First they try and capture it. When that doesn't work, elimination is the next option.

Tom does an adequate job with a half-ass story and horrible dialog. This is the kind of dialog that belongs in a Steven Seagal movie. You can tell Tom is just going through the motions and he still outshines everyone else. I am not even going to wonder where they got the fake Jamaican hobo, Sarge. I haven't seen a performance that bad since Jar Jar Binks tried it.

This is an appropriately titled movie, since Tom was rock-bottom at the time and everyone else has been scrapping the bottom of the acting barrel for years. I wouldn't be surprised if some of these "actors" had to act for food (a.k.a. porn). It isn't that this movie is enjoyable, it is more that it is not annoying (except for Sarge). Give it a chance as a rental, if you like low-budget modern schlock or Tom Sizemore.

-Celluloid Rehab

Average B- horror with an extremely small budget.

[Patient444 · 4/10 · 16 October 2016]

I guess they could have shown something far worse than this, and for that I'll give it an extra credit. But bare in mind, there is absolutely no reason whatsoever to watch Bottom Feeder.

So, if you're into creature movies, look elsewhere, if you're into low budgets, or indie projects, again, nothing to see here, try elsewhere, you are bound to find something, anything, better than this.

But if you do decide to play it, just lower your expectations, as much as you can, and watch it at your own peril. Some moments you will have to question your decision, others, perhaps acknowledge that you did a bad thing and probably there is no way out. I mean if you do get halfway, I guess there is nothing more to do but endure.

Cheers!

rat horror

[Raymond_Marble · 2/10 · 16 September 2022]

A deadly ratman is on the loose in a hamilton, ontario, michigan abandoned underground hospital and some stereotypes must escape.

The ratman effects are pretty good. Tom sizemore was america's youngest vietnam pow, proudly serving at age 5. I had to wait 40 minutes for the annoying kid to die. The ending was laughable. All around a good time if you enjoy rat-based horror or escape-from-underground-monster-lab horror. Everything was very canadian.

How can you tell a bad movie is canadian? 83% of bad canadian movies released between 1990 and 2022 have ridiculous anti-science, anti-american and anti-military storylines. When the US military teams up with scientists to genetically modify things, listen to the pronunciation of 'sorry' and 'dollar'.

Cruddy Horroresqe Creature Feature

[wandernn1-81-683274 · 3/10 · 4 February 2021]

It's amazing to me that Tom Sizemore has been in two of the best movies in recent history and then ends up being in crap like this. (Heat, Saving Private Ryan)

But this movie, is not very good at all. Reminds me of Mimic , underground tunnel thing going on, but no where near as good. 3/10

Horrorshow Comfort Food

[stmichaeldet · 7/10 · 7 April 2007]

Like most (heck, virtually all) mutant-monster films, Bottom Feeder doesn't bring anything new to the table, but, thanks to some decent acting, good chemistry, and plenty of monster cheese, it's quite an enjoyable romp. The plot follows a team of maintenance workers who run afoul of a crazy, burn-scarred billionaire's attempt to test an experimental super-healing serum, which of course creates a man-eating Rat Monster, as such ill-advised experiments invariably do. We're then treated to a three-way dungeon crawl involving the workers, the billionaire and his bodyguards, and a guy in a rubber suit. Very old-school, but still lots of fun.

Best of all are the scenes between the head of the maintenance team, Vince (Tom Sizemore), and the billionaire's nasty henchwoman, Krendal (Wendy Anderson). They start as antagonists (she's working for the bad guys, after all), but after she throws in with our heroes in order to escape the monster, she becomes much more appealing, to the point where she and Vince seem to be flirting by the end of the film. And the bit where Vince grabs her cell phone to chew out the Burned Billionaire is just priceless.

It's not Shakespeare, but if you want to spend an evening with a good, old-fashioned monster flick, grab some popcorn, pull up a seat, and enjoy.

Enjoyable to a certain extent...

[mattressman_pdl · 6/10 · 2 November 2008]

Tom Sizemore lends his name to a schlocky, midnight-monster movie that is exactly as good as it looks and sounds. Not to say it is necessarily a GOOD movie, far from it, but take it for what its worth and you will enjoy it.

A group of utility workers are trapped in a series of tunnels which, unfortunately, contain a scientist mutated by his own creation. The creature feeds instantly on a rat, becoming what it has eaten.

The effects leave something to be desired, although it IS refreshing to see them returning to the monster in the suit instead of leaning on shoddy CGI. The entire film has a cheesy, low-budget horror/sci-fi feel to it. So if you're a fan of monster movies, you could do worse. See it for free but I would hesitate to recommend spending cash on it.

Moderately entertaining but nothing spectacular killer rodent film

[kannibalcorpsegrinder · 7/10 · 27 October 2019]

Working on a clean-up crew, several workers are assigned to a new job at an abandoned medical testing lab and after going through the facility are ambushed by a large creature living in the tunnels from a chemical drug that turned it huge and feral and set out to get away from the creature.

There was some good stuff to this one when it got around to it. One of the better aspects is the film's incredibly creepy location, as the fact that they're in a sewer-system is a big plus. The building they use to access them is already quite creepy, but it looks really great here due to this one effectively looking like an abandoned building should've been, with the appropriate amount of decay present with the other little things that would be found in a sewer to begin with but simply rotted away due to time, which is a very nice touch. That it's also dark most of the time seems to work well for this one, meaning that it's just an incredibly suspenseful location and mixed with the corridor of tunnels down there and the overall look to it, this one comes out rather nicely. There's also a nice bonus here in that, although it deals with a giant rat, it's not created in the traditional sense and instead is brought about through the chemical tests turning the individual into a monstrous creature and is much better than having a gigantic swarm of rats doing the killing. The confrontations with it are even better, as the encounters down in the creepy sewers provide a lot of fun times and generally seem highly enjoyable. The car-park one is one of the best ones, and the shootouts in the corridors work amazingly well at getting a lot of good action into this one. Even the surprise jumps from the creature attacking out of the shadows generate some fun, and the conclusion scores rather nicely before veering off. The last plus here is the film's incredibly high gore content, which gets bloody when it wants to. These here the film's good points. There were a couple of problems with this one. One of the biggest ones is that the film doesn't have a whole lot going for it during the beginning part. It's just far too long and not all that entirely interesting when it presents its opening, going from the run-down with the chemical to the meeting between the two parties and the aftermath of that to getting into talking about the mission from the crew, it takes about thirty minutes before even going down into the sewers. Since the rat isn't the first thing done down there either, there's not a whole lot of interesting things going on through these parts of the film, and it just makes these parts of the film drag on for some time before it gets really good. Another problem is that there's not a whole lot of clarity when it comes to dealing with the creature's attacks. Most of them are either over so quick it's hard to tell what happened until the aftermath, too dark to render anything visible, edited so haphazardly it's impossible to see anything or a combination of them, and a few suffer from all those factors which are unfortunate as they were set-up to be among the better scenes until the flaws kicked in. The last flaw here is the film's incredibly stupid ending, which has almost nothing right going for it and is just all-around bad, no matter how it's looked at. These here are the film's bad points.

Rated R: Graphic Violence and Graphic Language.

Surprising decent Creature Feature.

[poolandrews · 6/10 · 10 May 2008]

Bottom Feeder starts as scientist Dr. Nathaniel Leech (James Binkley) meets up with his rich billionaire benefactor Charles Deaver (Richard Fitzpatrick) who has been funding his experiments into a serum called A12 which is supposed to regenerate dead cells. Deaver is desperate for the miracle serum since he was badly burnt in a car accident & is dying, Leech wants the serum to work because his wife Miranda is dying of leukaemia. Leech says he has perfected it but Deaver wants proof & gets his people to beat him badly while his ruthless female associate (Wendy Anderson) breaks his hand under her foot & shoots him in the legs. She then locks Leech in some underground tunnels after injecting him with the A12 serum to see whether it works & his body regenerates. Unfortunately Leech mutates into a mutant deformed half man half rat creature that has an appetite for human flesh...

This Canadian production was written & directed by Randy Daudlin & one has to say I rather enjoyed Bottom Feeder in a simple run of the mill Creature Feature sort of way. I mean it's not original in any way, anyone who is familiar with the Creature Feature sub genre will be able to predict what happens fairly easily, it's clichéd & generally speaking it feels rather unadventurous but for what it is & what it tries to be it's an entertaining example of a Creature Feature. The basic storyline is the usual 21st Century genetic & scientific experiments gone wrong & some sort of monster is created which then decides to kill & eat every human being it comes across, there's the dark isolated location where a group of people are trapped & stalked by the monster, the whole thing about the US military wanting it as some sort of ultimate soldier/weapon is here & there's even the obligatory twist ending which leaves things wide open for a sequel. Once Bottom Feeder gets going it's an enjoyable Creature Feature, the character's are better than usual with some decent dialogue & I especially liked the way that no-one split up & their main priority was to stick together until they escape to safety although the self sacrificing villain at the end who decides to give up their life to rectify a wrong is the only time I felt the character's went into groan inducing cliché. It takes a while to get started but once it does it's a good solid horror flick that I enjoyed much, much more than I had expected.

Director Daudlin does alright, he keeps things moving along & it actually looks like a proper film rather. A lot of low budget horror films look like they were shot on camcorders with shaky hand held cinematography but Bottom Feeder is really well shot where you can see whats going on & whats happening at all times. It's also edited properly as well with no 'blink & you'll miss it' quick fire cuts. A lot of low budget horror films these days use horrible CGI computer effects which look awful but Bottom Feeder uses good old fashioned on set special effects, fake blood, prosthetics & an impressive rubber monster suit. The creature looks good but it's long sticking out ears do look a little silly & to my eyes with it's humanoid shape, pointed ears & snout it looked more like a Werewolf than a rat but that doesn't really matter. There's some decent gore, heads are pulled off, jaws ripped off, ripped apart bodies are seen & there's a pleasing amount of blood splatter.

Technically the film is very good & seems to have had high production values. Shot in Hamilton in Ontario in Canada. According to the 'Trivia' section on the IMDb for Bottom Feeder star Tom Sizemore quit the film after two days but eventually returned & finished it with the entire situation covered in Sizemore's reality show Shooting Sizemore (2007) which I would actually be interested in seeing but have no means to do so. It's very surprising that a quality well known actor like Sizemore would appear in such a film as Bottom Feeder but he could have picked worse films to be in that's for sure. The acting is fine with decent performances from all involved.

Bottom Feeder is maybe the best Creature Feature I have seen in a while, it's not Shakespeare or Oscar worthy but for most horror fans it'll pass 90 odd minutes. Not to be confused with another film called Bottom Feeder (2006) which is a comedy made the same year, it's just typical isn't it? You wait a lifetime for a film called Bottom Feeder to be made & then two come along at once!