Search - Clive Barker's The Plague on DVD

K. K. (GAMER)
Reviewed on 12/16/2018...

Avoid, do not waste your horror movie watching time!

Keith A. (Keefer522)
Reviewed on 8/23/2013...

It's been a couple of years since I last saw this movie but I still maintain that Clive Barker owes me $3.99 for the rental fee.

The first 10 minutes of "The Plague" were VERY promising, creepy, disturbing, and it set up what could've been an excellent story in the right hands, but unfortunately the interesting premise wasn't enough to save it, once the prologue was over the whole movie fell straight into the crapper. It was like a mish-mash of "Children of the Damned," "Children of the Corn," and "Night Of The Living Dead" with all of the suspense, gore, scariness, and social commentary left out.

About halfway in my wife and I stopped trying to figure out the point of it all and instead we started wondering how much $$ they paid Clive Barker to rubber stamp his name on this piece of crap, cuz apparently he didn't have much to do with it otherwise.

I bet James Vanderbeek is praying that someone calls him soon to offer him a "Dawson's Creek" reunion movie cuz if this is the kind of stuff that he's acting in nowadays he definitely needs a new agent.

3 of 3 member(s) found this review helpful.

Anne K.
Reviewed on 2/5/2009...

Not bad. Its kinda like "Day of the Dead" meets "Village of the Damned". But still original. Fans of zombie horror will like this. All the children in a small town go into comas but awaken 10yrs later at the same time and kill the remaining townsfolk except for a handful of adults. The teens possess powers and crave blood. Sounds cheesy but its done well.

4 of 4 member(s) found this review helpful.

Good To See Ya Again Clive!!

JBizzle | Under A Rock | 07/06/2006

(4 out of 5 stars)

"I was pretty surprised & wasn't expecting to like "The Plague". I'm a huge Clive Barker fan but knowing he was only on board as a producer still had me a little worried. Lots of times you'll see someone's name attached to something that had nothing else to do with the movie other than to sell it with there name. Well, I'm happy to say this wasn't the case here(or even if it was, the movies still good). While the movie has some what of a slow start (doesn't really get moving 'til probably 30 minutes in or so)you'll be glad you stuck around for the ride. Like most guys, I'm not the biggest Vanderbeak fan, not to say there's anything necessarily wrong with him, he just got his start on "Dawson's Creek"(not exactly the most manly show in the world). Anyway, I didn't mind him here at all, in fact all the acting was pretty well spot on with only one exception. Can everyone in Hollywood please make sure that "Blonde Over Acting Afro Guy" never ever gets to act ever again? This guy almost coulda ruined the movie. Just about every single scene is pretty gut wrenching to watch him in. There is a nice pay off though as he's brutalised & then killed well, making up for his annoying, whiney over acting. Anyway as far as the story goes, I'm never one to give away to much about the plot, but it goes something like this. The worlds (coulda just been this one little town, don't know I missed that) children all fall into a coma for a period of like a little over 10 years. When they awaken chaos ensues. Little did I know, THIS IS A ZOMBIE MOVIE!!! Now I'm sure some will say "these aren't real zombies cause they're not dead". Screw that cause they are, they're just not undead(as were the people in "28 Days"). Anyway, great creepy movie that kinda feels a little like a cross between "Night Of The Living Dead", "The Faculty", & "Invasion Of The Body Snatchers". Good flick all in all, well worth at least a rental, might even be worth putting in your DVD stash for the avid horror collector. Check it out, you won't be dissapointed."

Sigh

Ron | Jersey | 10/25/2006

(2 out of 5 stars)

"What a great premise and start to the movie as most of the world's children fall into a coma. 10 years later, no children are born that don't fall into the same coma. The stock market crashes, riots, the world is uneasy. Then the children wake up and they are out for blood. Sounds great, and the children first waking up is really scary. Then the story just falls apart, and the ending is just stupid. Nothing is really explained, and you are left empty at the end. No real gore and average acting. Clive Barker's name is attached, but he certainly did not write this."

I guess it's better than a plague of locusts -- but not by m

Daniel Jolley | Shelby, North Carolina USA | 10/28/2006

(2 out of 5 stars)

"It's a pretty sad fact, but the association of Clive Barker with any film no longer guarantees quality; heck, it doesn't even guarantee sufficient gore these days. I've been a Barker fan since the very beginning of his career, but I'm not cutting him any slack on this one. No, he didn't write this film's dreadful screenplay or seemingly invest himself significantly in the project (officially, he's listed as a co-producer), but he darn well let these guys put his name in the title and took his share of the cut. The Clive Barker of old would never have let his name be associated with as bland, unoriginal, and boring a horror film as The Plague.

About the best thing I can say about the film is that I found it too boring to truly hate. Anyone but writers Hal Masonberg and Teal Minton could have done a little something with the premise, but it's certainly not original. It's just another variant on the old children take over the world motif. In this case, all the world's children under nine years of age suddenly fall into a coma (interrupted by two daily, synchronized seizure fits). Ten years later, they all suddenly awaken and go on a zombified rampage, leaving our heroes scrambling to stay alive, etc. It's like Twilight Zone meets Children of the Corn meets every zombie movie you've ever seen.

Our main character, Tom Russel (played by James Van Der Beek), wouldn't you know it, has just arrived back in town, and - surprise, surprise - his ex-wife Jean (Ivana Milecivec) just happens to be one of the nurses taking care of all the town's comatose teens when they suddenly awaken. Why we can't have a mindless zombie film without a romantic sub-plot is quite beyond me, but there you go. Tom and Jean eventually team up with a tiny sheriff's posse, Tom's annoying buddy Sam (Brad Hunt), and a couple of weird, suspicious teens who keep blending in and out of the hordes of walking dead. There's something suspicious about these two, but don't count on the filmmakers to pursue anything in that direction. By the way, you also shouldn't look for any explanation as to the cause of the "plague" that caused this whole mess.

Feel free to argue amongst yourselves whether or not these kids, all very much alive, are actually zombies, but this is clearly just another zombie film - except, in this case, the "heroes" never really try to fight back. Part of the problem is that they don't know where to run. When zombies attack, you're supposed to go to the police station and load up on some heavy weaponry suitable for blowing the things' heads off. These guys head for the one place that is guaranteed to house no weapon of any kind. Even when guns are brought to bear, though, the gore is less than satisfying. There's blood, of course - but not enough of it.

If you're a fan of inane dialogue, this is your film; those looking for a halfway decent plot, buckets of blood and gore, and/or anything remotely scary are sure to be disappointed."