Strange Nature (2018) User Reviews

Monster Nature

[kosmasp · 5/10 · 4 December 2020]

It is really trying as another reviewer already stated. And while I've seen better monster movies, I've also seen worse. So this is ok, if you don't mind the low budget nature of it. No pun intended here. Also a very nice turn up from a horror actress who almost just does a cameo in this. Her acting with the camera, without anything being there (literally) is quite funny. I know it is supposed to be scary, but yeah ... well at least something I would say.

There are some nice effects though and the characters are overall likeable. Even the ones you wouldn't think are ok ... or decent. The action ramps up towards the end with some nice (gore effects) ... and then there is a twist at the end ... a good one or too obvious? I'll leave that up to you ... remember though there is a bonus scene after the credits (fyi)

Strange movie

[gilleslagae · 4/10 · 4 October 2018]

This is one of those movies that's on the left side of the parabolic curve of the rating of movies. So bad that it becomes good again. Watch this with a few friends and beers and you'll have a great night.

Ridiculous conversations, really bad special effects, and awkward acting are this movie's core elements. The story line is simple and apprehensible, the events happening around it are not. But this is not a movie to reason or think about. If logic is a problem, it means you're just not drunk enough yet.

Not great but not horrible, I guess it's a mediocre horror film based on True events????

[joiningjt · 5/10 · 28 January 2021]

It said based on true events , some of the plot seemed fictionalized especially the ending that's definitely fictional. The acting was decent not great but not horrible the story was actually really good had some horror with some redneck prejudice thrown in. I liked the kid, the grandfather was good as well , most of the actors were decent especially for a low budget film. It was ok to watch once its similar to the curse from the 80s. That kind of film. I'm originally from Minnesota so the cinematography was excellent as well. Love lake superior in the summer!!!

What Hollywood thinks about flyover

[bobbywell · 2/10 · 8 March 2019]

First: I found it interesting that all the 8/9/10 all come in one cluster and all single review profiles. I don't recall hearing about this "true life event". It may have happened. This trope has been done better. However the film is what we are here to talk about. For having several known stars and assumably a decent enough budget. The production values were worse than most of the stuff on the SciFi channel. The horror is the acting and writing. Save yourself don't waste your time.

So much potential, so little realization

[harallangerballs · 4/10 · 3 February 2022]

Really with a story like this, the writers and directors should have done so much better. The acting was subpar, the direction worse, and the effects, should have went to a Halloween store.

Pity it was so low budget, could have been something worthy of getting folks talking and taking notice of the environmental damage being done by ignorance and greed. Instead it turned into a gore feast comedy. The scene with the cop being chewed to bit was simply hilarious (worth sticking it out just for that).

First?

[troyinskeep · 3/10 · 6 December 2018]

No, it isn't the first to explore this. Prophecy did in 1979 Starting Talia Shire andvArmabde Asante. And it is a whole lot better.

2 stars for effort...

[brockfay · 2/10 · 2 September 2019]

Bad acting...even worse special effects. Not the worst movie I've seen....

Could have been so much more...

[paul_haakonsen · 4/10 · 31 October 2019]

I got the chance to sit down and watch the 2018 movie "Strange Nature" here late in 2019. And since I wasn't even familiar with the movie and the fact that it is a horror movie, of course I did sit down to watch it.

Well, first of all I must say that the movie does have potential. Just a shame that writer and director James Ojala didn't really fully utilize all the potential that was readily available with the storyline. I mean, the movie starts out alright and is sort of interesting, but then it just settles into mediocrity and doesn't really recover.

And for a horror movie, then the end result that is "Strange Nature" wasn't really much of anything impressive. Sure, the movie is watchable, but it is hardly a memorable movie, nor is it a movie that offers enough contents to support more than a single viewing - if you even get through it the first time around.

The acting in the movie was adequate, but don't get your hopes up for anything particularly outstanding.

The effects in the movie were, well, a mixed blessing. Some of the special effects, particularly the animal effects were actually quite good. But on the other hand, the effects on the people's faces was an eyesore and it looked so god-awful fake that even a blind person would stop and object.

"Strange Things" is adequate enough if you have nothing more interesting on your to-watch-list. But this is hardly a shining gem in the horror cinema.

Could have been so much better but for the very last scene

[jenneration · 7/10 · 17 October 2018]

This only had a rating of about 5 when I watched it. I was bemused at the extremely low score because the movie had some strong acting performances with the main female lead and her father. Decent script and cinematography. Also a quite heartwarming and engaging sub plots involving deformed residents and eventually a red neck showdown.

I didn't actually realise this was meant to be a full blown horror movie until the end. It was a decent environmental conspiracy film that I thought was based on real events. I would have scored the movie as an 8 but for one appallingly bad final scene that was just completely out of place with the rest of the film and ruined its credibility for me. I wont spoil it but it was a cheap shock tactic right at the end. I can't believe none of the writing or production crew said "No" to that because it was so ridiculous.

Anyway, definitely worth a watch.

Zzzzzzzzzzz

[raytedex-931-755132 · 1/10 · 30 November 2019]

BORRRRRRRING Bad acting, boring as all hell. Waited for some 'Good Parts' but there were none.

My Review Of "Strange Nature"

[ASouthernHorrorFan · 8/10 · 9 October 2018]

"Strange Nature" sets up an eco-horror with classic tropes, exaggerated outcomes, and a sense environmental awareness that culminate in a nicely passed creature feature. The film is reminiscent of the classic 70's nature nightmare "The Prophecy" and a heavy dose of 80's terror "The Curse". The story is as poignant today as similar films in years past. Probably more so since it seems everyone in charge is either asleep at the wheel and lacking oversite.

Anyway James Ojala does well with his first feature. He creates a community filled with characters that you like, or you hate. Either way you become invested. At times the story does seem to lag a little but not in the "I'm bored" sense. Just that there is a lot of story and drama unwrapped in "Strange Nature". I almost forgot it was a true horror movie until the horror happened. You get bits of the creature feature nightmare as the story builds, but the climax to the real nightmare is stellar.

The special effects and horror elements are quality. The mutations , the atmosphere and the actual creature design all are done nicely, kudos to Ojala. Those scenes where we see the effects, are realistic, graphic moment of awesomeness. The settings and music score are somewhat basic but work well with everything else happening.

Overall "Strange Nature" is a great creature feature drama. For full throttle action horror fans, this film will fall short. But it is worth watching. The story is full bodied, with classicly cool characters. The message is timeless and plays a bit as an homage to eco-horrors from the 70's. Plus the overall watch is entertaining.

We are animals that live near water.

[nogodnomasters · 7/10 · 10 October 2018]

Kim Sweet (Lisa Sheridan) child pop star who lip-syncs, returns to Minnesota with her son (Jonah Beres) to care for her dad (Bruce Bohne) with liver cancer. Ya, with an outhouse. She is not well loved as she dissed the town in an interview as a teen. While in town, she investigates the mass amount of mutations and has sex with her son's teacher who explains the origin of the issue.

The film was inspired by real ecological events. It was weak as a horror story, but the film did have some good characters and I had a LOL during the awkward dinner where the main course was a spam treat. Tiffany Shepis had her name on the credit screen longer than she was in the film. You had to like Larry "skunk slayer" Roger (Justen Overlander). Want to try on a costume? And dad, who was down to earth, "You think I like killing puppies?"

Guide: F-word. Brief sex. No nudity.

And Your Science Degree Is In??????....

[wandernn1-81-683274 · 2/10 · 22 June 2020]

Trying to figure out what's going on in this movie as a woman and her son goes to stay with grandpa for a time and then they find some deformed frogs in the river.

There's also some missing teenagers so the mix is of dealing with the eco poisoning of the river and also looking for missing teenagers.......

Good to see S. Dobie he's a Deadwood Alum and anyone from Deadwood is virtual gold!!!!

Deformed Frogs!! Deformed Puppies!!!!

This movie certainly explains a LOT about Minnesota!!!! lol

-1 Star for the fact this movie is like some eco movie that develops into some sort of Alien like movie

-1 Star for them telling dude to leave town seconds after sticking a machete into him and dude ripping out an eye of his attacker....like oh leaving town fixes all that.....dumb dumb dumb writing

-1 Star for wounded cop holding his wounded shoulder while critter rips open his innards, dont think id be worried about my wounded shoulder at that point....

Lets see how quickly stupid scenes can send this one to the waste bin.....

Oh okay that was the climax / ending I guess!!!!

It ends on a 2/10

Movie with promise until the barn scene

[anatolefiorito · 1/10 · 26 September 2021]

The scene that killed it for me was at the barn with the guy who had all the "furry" posters on the wall. I had no idea I would see that community featured in a movie but it was disgusting. I guess it makes sense they were in a movie about animals mutating because they are exactly that mutant animals so it's fitting those pictures were there. I never finished the movie and I never will because it wasn't very well made. Dislike this review all you people want I could care less, that community in a movie gets the movie an instant -100000 rating from me.

Fails on account of the inferior special effects.

[johannes2000-1 · 4/10 · 9 November 2020]

The premise (animals mutating to freaky monsters due to poisonous pollution) is far from original, but the story that they made up around this premise is actually not that bad. But unfortunately the quality of the special effects is way below par. The freaky little frogs may seem pretty realistic (maybe they actually were real?), but the disfigured people and the monsters are in no way convincing, it seems mainly like handcrafted make-up, which in this day and age of hight-tech CGI make this movie look like it's made somewhere around the seventies.

It's a bit of a waist of all the well-meant turmoil and excitement in the script. And also of actress Lisa Sheridan who really does a great job (and is beautiful to boot!), and of Jonah Beres who convincingly and very natural plays her little son. And it's always a pleasure to see Stephen Tobolowsky. But these three cannot save this third-rate horror-flick from mediocrity.

Worth the watch

[foxtrotmarie · 6/10 · 12 February 2019]

The plot was great up until the end (I'll get to that), the acting was decent, the effects were the right kind of cheesy and gore, the message was extremely important and they gave it to us in a way that kept you interested the entire time. The characters were pretty filled out and the pace was not too fast nor too slow. All in all an excellent movie that mixed entertainment with real world issues wonderfully.

The only issue I had was that the plot, while set up great, doesn't really go anywhere. We finally see what the big 'monster,' is and then the rest of the movie following that scene doesn't mention them on the news or anywhere which is interesting as the missing people the monsters took were constantly mentioned before we saw them. Likewise the movie sets up great, 'look at the deformed offspring oh also they kill their mothers in terrible ways,' but then the most closure we get on that is they mention it on the news. And that is about it. No removing people from the area, no keeping new people from entering the area, no mention on if the chemicals or parasites or anything were figured out. Nothing, it builds up a main plotline with a bunch of side paths and leaves all of them hanging. The ending scene as well is a mixed review. It was great shock value when you see her, 'normal,' newborn and a heartwarming moment of big brother meets baby sister with apparently nobody noticing her large birth defect, but that means mommy is gonna die soon just like the others. Since she was there for those wouldn't she be a little worried?

Worth the watch but expect to be left with questions and annoyed. Would have been a 10 if it had closed up the plot.

Solid eco-horror movie

[Woodyanders · 8/10 · 16 February 2021]

Horribly deformed frogs start turning up in the waters of a small Minnesota town. Things get worse when other animals and even newborn babies fall prey to the hideous mutations. Feisty former pop singer and single mother Kim Sweet (a fine and appealing performance by Lisa Sheridan) decides to investigate and alert the public to what's going on.

Writer/director James Ojala handles the absorbing premise with surprising taste and sensitivity by placing a welcome and refreshing emphasis on the well drawn characters as well as delivering a pertinent message about the possible severe damage wrought by pesticides and other dangerous chemicals. Moreover, Ojala also presents a flavorsome evocation of the rural hamlet setting along with a nicely unsettling sense of dread and unease and really pulls out the gory stops at the exciting and harrowing climax. The sound acting by the capable cast further keeps this film humming: Stephen Tobolowsky as the pragmatic Mayor Paulson, Jonah Beres as Kim's sweet son Brody, Bruce Bohne as Kim's feisty father Chuck, Faust Checho as nice guy science teacher Trent, and Justin Overlander as kinky farmer Larry. Tiffany Shepis has a neat small role as ill-fated photographer Tina Stevens. This picture earns extra points for using funky practical effects. Well worth a watch.

Erin Brockovich vs. The Killer Shrews

[bhsfacebook · 7/10 · 22 September 2019]

So many unintentionally humorous moments in this rather earnest nature-revenge flick! The very last scene provides a certain macabre final flourish, and make sure not to miss the additional scene after the credits.

So bad it's good! I totally understand why comedian Carlos Alazraqui to do this weirdly comic creature-feature.

Take with several large grains of salt and enjoy.

A Fun Eco-horror Flick.

[trebilco-02243 · 8/10 · 17 August 2020]

Well-acted, great effects, good characters - I actually love this movie. Brings to mind classics like Prophecy and Long Weekend.

GREAT!

[merakikosmos · 10/10 · 27 June 2020]

Surprisingly fresh and endearing. While most films of this nature adhere to cheap gimmicks and a one track mindset, Mr. Ojala's creative vision somehow finds a way to weave Comedy, Romance, Suspense, Mystery, and Horror in an enrapturing adventure that keeps you hooked until the last minute.

Movie Review: "Strange Nature" Is a Wonderful Mix of Morals and Mutations

[treespaz · 8/10 · 21 October 2018]

While watching "Strange Nature", a horror/thriller with a description that mentions mutated frogs, I was pleasantly surprised to notice that this movie was more than just cheap visual thrills you'd find in a B grade horror film. There was an actual message here, and a pretty good one, that involved a few plot twists and some solid acting performances.

The story revolves around Kim Sweet (Lisa Sheridan) and her son Brody (Jonah Beres) as they return home to a small town in Minnesota to live/care for Kim's father Chuck (Bruce Bohne) who has cancer. Kim experienced fleeting fame as a pop start back in the day and that part of her past, along with her less than stellar relationship with her father, makes coming home a bitter pill to swallow.

However, it doesn't take long for Kim to stumble upon some bizarre things going on with the local wildlife and as she investigates, she finds it's more serious and widespread than anyone realizes. She has difficulty getting the local townspeople to believe her, her past pop reputation makes people believe she is just looking for attention, and even Mayor Paulson (played by the always wonderful Stephen Tobolowsky) pushes her concerns aside. So she begins digging deeper and really, this is where the movie gets interesting.

The story takes the over used plot device of little guy versus the big, bad corporation and twists it a few times, leaving the viewers scratching their collective heads in terms of what exactly is going on. Writer and director James Ojala does a good job in mixing up the story and keeping it moving at a good pace, especially in the first half where there is a lot more talking than there is bloodshed.

There is a nice build up in the gore as well, first introducing the mutations, then the killings until we have the big showdown at the end. There are some nasty visual bits, not just with animals but newborn babies as well, so people with weak stomachs in that regards have now been officially warned. They manage to pull off the effects pretty well, with quick camera shots and even quicker acts of violence, to cover up anything that might look too fake.

The actors are solid, especially Lisa Sheridan as Kim, who does the haunted kid returning to small-town America routine very well. She sells her character with ease, making her investigation into what's going on seem more plausible. Also, Stephen Tobolowsky is great as the mayor, giving him many different shades for the audience to ponder as we try and figure out if he's going to be helpful or if he's been in on what's going on the whole time.

There are a few times during the movie where things don't work so well. The first forty minutes or so is heavy on story, which is asking a lot for an audience who is most likely made up of fans from the mutant frog side of the genre pool. Also, some interactions between certain characters don't work and the bad boys in town part of the story could probably have been cut back or cut out completely.

That being said, there was a lot to like in "Strange Nature", which surprised me on more than one occasion with the twists in the story. Mutations and morals have never looked better together, leaving me satisfied and eager to encourage others to check out this solid film.

Entertaining Creature Feature

[kmerlkey · 9/10 · 16 August 2020]

Strange Nature is billed as an eco-thriller, but its strong roots is in your class creature features like Anaconda, The Thing, or Black Sheep.

Kim Sweet, a failed pop star that degraded her hometown, returns to her dad's home with her son Brody and quickly discovers that the neighboring wildlife is mutating as the result of untested chemicals being used on local crops. Meanwhile, one of these mutant beasts has begun attacking and killing some of the locals.

The film features great creature effects by director and effects rockstar Jim Ojala. It also boast some surprising performances by Stephen Tobolowsky, John Hennigan, and Faust Checho.

If you enjoy spending your weekends watching SyFy, Shudder, or classic horror dvd's then give it a view and you won't be disappointed.

AWESOME MOVIE!!

[jennym-28745 · 10/10 · 28 May 2020]

My first review for any movie. I felt compelled to write a review due to the fact that there is alot of negative reviews.I paid for this movie and it was absolutely worth it. 80's like movie and also based on true events. The movie is not really about frogs but mutation of different animals, the frogs are just first to be noticed mutating. Great horror flick!

"Strange Nature" has more to offer then horror

[HabibovichArmin · 9/10 · 18 January 2019]

Really connected with the story and characters in this film. I love a great movie with story-lines that could be completely separate movies on their own. This story has plenty of blood but brings you from plain horror to a disturbing drama real quick and definitely made me uncomfortable a few times, it's a good experience.

Strange Nature Review

[tylerbradberry · 10/10 · 15 January 2019]

I am a huge fan of practical effects and Jim Ojla is a true artist. The topics in the film are relevant and current. Great work for an independent.