I cringe at any movie released on the SciFi channel, but I felt an inborn need to watch this since it was set and filmed in my home state of Missouri (which almost never happens) if for no reason other than to get mad when they messed it up. I went in with the lowest of expectations of this and I'm happy to report that I was was very surprised by this.Right off the bat I got hit with 3 good points: 1)Vincent Ventresca is the lead. I've loved Vincent's work ever since The Invisible Man, so seeing him as the star definitely brought my hopes up. 2)The effects weren't terrible. The CG is a little dodgy in spots and it's obvious that it is CG, but these still look really good for a low budget straight-to-DVD affair. 3) They actually got the people right. I was so pleased to see that none of the actors were talking in Southern accents, people seem to think that any state that fought for the south is full of people with deep Carolina drawls, but fortunately the accents are appropriately neutral and the culture reflects a non-Southern rural culture which pleased me to no end.William Forsythe is surprisingly great in this and manages to capture the demeanor of a Missouri cattle farmer pretty much spot-on. Granted he fulfills the trope of having an armory hidden away in his barn but that's pretty much par for the course at this point.The story is pretty straight-forward genetic testing causes bad effects that result in the mutation of indigenous species, causing them to grow large/dangerous and wreak havoc on a small town and only our hero, a mild-mannered veterinarian and a local gun-nut farmer can stop the evil corporate CEO and warn the town in time.This movie misses a few cues, for one thing there's only about 4 characters that matter and everyone else is 100% expendable and the story barely acknowledges anyone else. There's a few plot threads that appear only to just disappear with no explanation later on. And there's not much going on in the way of build-up until the monsters arrive.But once the monsters do get there there's a fair amount of blood and gore, the movie's never really suspenseful or scary but it doesn't disappoint in the action department and has a suitably explosive and violent finale.The acting is good for what this is and a few people like William Forsythe and Vincent Ventresca do a very good job with their characters even though they're not given much to do with them.This movie isn't going to be remembered for generations to come, but as a bargain-bin monster movies go it ranks up there with Komodo as a surprisingly good and fun movie that's good for a rental or even a buy. It's worth watching more than once and I plan to pick it up myself.

Finding out that a film is a 'Sci-Fi Original' is usually enough to put me off and indeed that is the reason I haven't seen many of them; but to my surprise, Larva is actually a well made and entertaining film that delivers the thrills along with an interesting storyline. The plot focuses on a small town somewhere in America in which the farmers are getting a good deal from a meat company as they're getting free food for their cattle. The free food also increases their productivity; but there's a side effect because it contains a parasite that eats the cattle from the inside out. This is discovered when a new vet comes to town; but it's not long before the parasite has gotten out of the control and has become a problem for the whole town. Naturally the story has holes and the acting is not the best you'll ever see; but Tim Cox's film gets over this by focusing on the storyline. Obviously it's not completely original and has been seen in many films before, but nevertheless it works well in this one. The special effects are decent when the parasite is in its first stage; although it does have to be said that the quality takes a bit of a downturn once the parasites start to grow a bit larger. However, it's not a big problem really; you've got to expect cheap effects from a film like this and it delivers the goods in other areas. Overall, this is certainly fun entertainment and I would recommend giving it a look.

Ugggggghhhhhh.Why did i watch this.One night, very bored i decided to watch a thing on the sci-fi channel called; The Scariest Night On TV. First film showing was Larva.What a waste.The film starts off with a new vet arriving in a town called host. But a parasite is lurking in the towns meat and cows. People who have eaten infected meat soon start growing the parasite within them, when the parasite is fully grown they burst out the chest. (No i actually don't see any resemblance to alien what-so-ever.) First of all the CGI is crap. It's clunky,fuzzy and drab.The creature design was a mess like c'mon, the parasites look like drapes or rugs.The acting is hammy.Ladden with plot holes.

This movie is trash, but well made and obviously much was spend on the production. Rachel Hunter with her strong Australian accent seems totally out of place in this movie. Whats the most daft scene in this story, is when the townspeople are making emergency calls to the Sheriff, he just Sat's there and does nothing, does not response or seems to care, despite his town is been over-run by flying string ray creatures. The special effects are rather good, and does prove this movie had a good budget. There is a lot of thrown away characters who show up in one scene, only to be kill off in the next scene.More stupid behavior from the main characters, when they discovery the creatures, they don't seem too worry in warning the local townspeople, or calling for help outside the township. Of course its up to them to save the day, which happens at the end as usual.There is nothing new in this movie which you have not seem before in countless other horror movies.One thing i always hate about these movies, its always the new guy in town that saves the day, never a local. In these movies, the locals are made out to be dumb hill billies who know nothing, and only the new guy who knows all the answers can save the day.I also wonder why the local fire brigade or ambulance service are never call in, during this movie, or maybe they not bought in, to save costs.