THE SCREWFLY SOLUTION

Crafting one of the most controversial episodes of the first season of Masters of Horror, Joe Dante cemented his reputation as both and artist and craftsman with his politically incorrect (if morally apt) satire of governmental fanaticism and the terrors of war in Homecoming. With his newest vivisection, the seasoned director brings his merciless sense of satire and terror to bare on another kind of war -- the increasingly bitter conflict between the sexes. Combining a morally probing sense of aesthetic integrity with a no-bullshit ability to shock, Dante using both visual shocks and an even more disquieting amount of thematic unease to arouse true terror and wonder in his audience. In a season that has already featured episodes featuring living wills (Right to Die), abortion (Pro-life), and the cash-and-carry frenzy of consumerism (Pelts), The Screwfly Solution somehow manages to top them all. Not simply horrifying in a visceral fashion, Dante's moralistic warning also manages to arouse thought, challenging audiences to examine both their culture and themselves. What we find isn't pretty, nor is it meant to be. Put simply, this is horror as it was meant to be, poetic yet cruel, honest and twice as frightening for it!

Managing to be a fable, a finely wrought piece of extrapolation, and a suspenseful condemnation of the very basic impulses of violence and sexuality that the horror film has long been accused of exploiting, The Screwfly Solution suggests most troublesomely that there is no solution at all to our species' ingrained penchant for depravity. The resulting hour is thought provoking, fiendishly shocking, and not a little troubling. When biologists Alan (Jason Priestly) and Barney (Elliott Gould) return from a sojourn in South America, they have just managed to stomp out a plague of bug infestation, confusing the male insects' reproduction instincts. They discover that their best friend Bella (Linda Darlow), a health official, has been called to investigate a mass murder outbreak in Jacksonville Florida. In a horrible instance of insect nature mirroring so-called civilized human nature, it appears that hundreds of men are murdering all the females in their lives -- wives, offspring, complete strangers. Soon a cult called 'Sons of Adam' emerges, supporting the murderers claims that they're simply 'carrying out God's will.' Using the same theory that helped them deal with the bug problem, Alan and Barney struggle to convince the government that someone is attempting to exterminate man by interfering with his sex drive, turning the natural desire to mate with the lust to kill.

Throwing caution to the wind, Dante and the producers of MOH have shown themselves to be artists as well as entertainers. This shock show is instilled with relevant social commentary, moral ambiguity, and emotionally painful subtext, raising it leagues above standard tit-ass-and blood fare. Focusing on hot-button issues, Dante, a director most noted for such playful horror romps as Gremlins and The Howling continues to develop as a storyteller, showing precisely how serious and philosophically penetrative he can be when the opportunity presents itself. This is no popcorn movie. Indeed, there is little of the moralistic claptrap or commercialistic fluff that makes so many other genre films mundane and routine. Dante and crew set out to make you hurt in this purplish bruise of a fable, and does so with wit and poetry of a cruel, rough, yet exquisitely controlled manner. While there are ample scenes of nudity, sex, and violence (the imagistic surface trappings of the genre, appealing immediately to the animal in our baser selves), such scenes, particularly taken in their dramatic context, are more appalling than appealing -- a wonderful achievement. And one that, like the theme of violence towards women, dares question our motives and reasons for enjoying violent and subversive cinema. Aesthetic mirrors of cultural and individual anxieties, the horror genre has long combined beasts, blood, and breasts with complex, emotionally intensive criticisms of society, using symbols of supernatural and myth to represent everyday injustice and horror. Attacking organized religion, governmental tyranny, and prejudice no less viciously than their monsters ravage flesh, horror is one of the few artistic forms where otherwise taboo subjects can be discussed. This is precisely what The Screwfly Solution achieves in its expose of the often mindless violence that men perpetuate against women in society. This mind-hurt spares no punches and asks for no friends. It DOES ask perplexing questions about our species and the genders. Yet to think that the film is simply a criticism of the male gender would be over simplistic (and would also require a belief that the female gender is weaker). While Dante's movie focuses on violence towards women (who are admittedly physically weaker to men on average), it should be pointed out that the men themselves are just as much victims as the women, having their genes and attitudes manipulated in no less a horrifying fashion. In this, then, is the story's most impressive achievement -- by film's end there is no one single culprit or solution, no easy answers or clear moral absolute, only pain, fear, and the helpless dark comedy that is humanity. Based on a disquieting short story from extraordinary female author James Tiptree, Jr., the risky, wonderfully structured script is responsible for the picture's emotional success, while Dante's eye for telling images and sense of pacing helps slam the point home. It hurts, but it's worth it!

The movie looks as good as you would expect coming from the Bay, presented in 1.78:1 widescreen. The print is clear and vivid, with no noticeable distortions or grain. Colors are vibrant and realistic. Audio is tackled by acceptable Dolby Digital 5.1 and Dolby Surround 2.0 tracks, both of which do their job with a minimum of fuss, and without background hissing or noise distortions.

Extras are generous and, for the most part, manage to merge promotional glintz with down-and-dirty facts concerning the film's planning, acting, production, and thematic purpose. These supplements include a Making-of Documentary, which is fairly run of the mill, a Stills Gallery, and a nicely produced featurette examining some of the film's digital effects. Of most interest to the literary minded is the complete Screenplay (DVD ROM). The most comprehensive, irreverent, and oft-times humorous feature has to be the Audio Commentary with Joe Dante and Sam Hamm. Featuring a wealth of insights on the genre and discussions revolving around the cast and crew, the talk really warms up when Dante lets loose regarding changes that had to be made in the script to account for a location change, and his more serious attitude regarding the subject matter.

Review by William Simmons