Nerds That Geek Movie Review: ‘Animal’

Written by Scott Edwards 

Have you ever been out, walking through someplace late at night and hear something that scares the ever-living crap out of you? I think that we all have, since no matter what age we are, we are raised to believe that the darkness holds something terrible for us, something that we never want to see. As you get older, this fear subsides for a lot of people, but if you do not know what is lurking in the shadows, how could you not be just a little bit frightened? Not knowing who or what is waiting for you in the dark could make you scared, but it could also make you a little bit more excited, get the adrenaline pumping and make you feel alive and you want to see what life has in store for you.

A group of friends are heading up to the mountains to have some relaxation time with each other and most of all, get away from the world. Although they do not all see eye to eye with what getting back to nature is really all about, they come to the conclusion that keeping a cell phone with them would be a good idea, just in case they need to call for help, or need to take pictures. As the trip starts off, everyone is having a great time, but time flies up in the mountains and the sun starts to set and the group starts to hear something moving around in the woods in front of them.

Shining the light on a strange animal that seems to be feeding, the group has to high tail it out of there since this is something that they have never seen before. With long teeth and an alien shaped face, they do not know what to expect from the beast, they just know that it is coming after them. Seeing some lights off in the distance, the group is able to find a house that is boarded up and might be able to keep them safe from the blood thirsty beast. After one of their group is taken by the predator, they are let into the house and by way of the present inhabitants, they find out that the house was vacant when they showed up.

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​Seeming like a good place to steer clear of the mystery beast that is outside, both groups have their own plans of how to stay safe from it until they are able to get help. Making calls to 911 and their families, the group thinks that there will be some help on the way, but when the cold hard facts come out about their situation, they do not want to hear it. One of the present inhabitants in the house has lost his wife to the beast and is holding nothing back about what is going to happen to the group if they continue to stay in the house, as the beast is lurking around outside and attacking different parts of the house, looking for weaknesses. The group comes up with their only real plan of survival, and that is leave the house and make it out to the highway. But they need a way to distract the beast as they start to run, and the only thought is to offer it, fresh meat.

Animal follows the stories of two different groups as they wind up in the same boarded up house in the woods while trying to find refuge from the beast outside. Even though they don’t know each other, they are more than willing to help keep each other alive while trying to formulate a plan of survival. Without knowing what they are really up against with the blood thirsty beast outside, they keep an eye on the windows and doors and make sure it will not be able to find a way into the house until they are able to break free of its hunting radius. Even though it seems safe in the house, the beast is attacking different areas and discovering weaknesses around the foundation. Knowing that it is smart, the groups have to find a way to outsmart it while they make a run to safety. Not all agreeing with the fresh meat plan to allow the predator to feed while they all escape, the group tries to battle it with fire since that has worked in the past. Although this does not guarantee them freedom, it buys them extra time to come up with a real plan of escaping, but they have to put faith into each other and that there is only one of these creatures they are trying to escape.

Who really knows what is hiding in the woods in this movie. There seems to be so many sounds coming from all directions and a screech that will remind you of Jurassic Park. You get to see the beast early and often throughout the movie, but you never get to find out what it is, or where it is from. That being the only part of the movie I did not like; all of the character interaction is just fantastic as they are trying to come up with a plan of leaving what appears to be their only safe haven. Knowing what the creature likes, meat, and what it fears, flame, I would have just set up a barbecue for it to see what it would do with the best of both worlds and possibly get some kabobs out of the deal. Stay Scared.

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