DVD Review: Scorpius Gigantus

Having produced nearly 400 movies in 50+ years, no one is going to give Roger Corman a gold star for quality. He's notorious for finding the cheapest ways to make a movie, and things like Scorpius Gigantus are the typical result. This one looks, feels, and of course is completely low budget.

Bringing in a group of stereotypical special forces soldiers to combat a small horde of oversized, genetically altered scorpions, Gigantus plods along at a lackluster pace. As expected, the dialogue is far more hideous than the creatures, and the acting is about as awful as it could possibly be.

That of course ends up adding to the charm of a low budget schlock fest. In the case of Scorpius though, it needed a little more than cheap acting to make itself entertaining. The special effects are slightly above average for a movie with Corman's name attached, aside from the worst "movie spider on an obvious string" you'll ever see.

The majority of the running time shows us nothing more than the military moving through some sort of abandoned factory that hardly looks like the spot you'd expect people to be developing giant scorpions. Stock footage takes care of scenes that would have increased the cost (helicopters taking off, boats at sea), and gore is a minor highlight, providing the only real scares.

The critters themselves are at least a unique design, angular and vicious when they get a few seconds of screen time. The direction is frustrating, sticking with a lot of close-ups. It looks like something that was pulled off the Internet from an amateur.

If you go in with the expectation of sitting through another Roger Corman "masterpiece," then you'll know exactly what you should NOT expect. This low budget mess fails to do much besides create unintentional (and a few intentional) laughs at the sake of all those involved. Giant scorpions should lead to some decent horror or comedy if done properly. Scorpius Gigantus is nothing more than a bore fest.

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Article Author: Matt Paprocki

Matt Paprocki is a 12-year movie and game critic. He currently freelances for Blu-ray review site DoBlu.com and video game site MultiPlayerGames.com.

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  • 1 - Aaron Fleming

    Aug 16, 2006 at 3:15 pm

    What about Jeff Fahey? C'mon, does he not deserve somewhat of a mention here?

    Good to see another review of said movie anyways, well done!

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