This movie could have been something, could have been different, but it was so lame and lazy throughout that I just can't force myself to even pretend to like it.I mean, I'm not going to lie-- I came here just for Basso, but man is is his acting insufferable in this movie. I knew from the moment the "horror" scenes arrived that I was completely disappointed in this movie. Not to mention that I actually laughed out loud, even as I tried to hold it in, when Basso's character professes his love for Prescott's character. It was so abysmal that I'm disappointed that the casting directors, directors, and writers even agreed to release this thing.I sound like I'm over exaggerating, and I am, but it was just a really bad movie experience. There were things that I truly liked: the plot, the message from the movie, but the delivery was way off. And the worst thing about this movie is that it has so much potential, even if it is set in just one room throughout-- it has so much potential! I just couldn't get around Basso's acting, the music, the editing, the writing, and just everything that had to do with delivery.Why, oh why did they release this thing?

I will admit upfront, this film left a really horrible taste in my mouth.So much so that it even soured my feelings towards Nerdist and Chris Hardwick.I know his M.O. is to be very positive about everything, and upbeat. But this movie just wasn't good.If you are giving it a HUGE pass because it is low-budget, maybe you could forgive it some of its mistakes.I was ready to walk out after 10 minutes because of a sound design element that was quite literally painful. From Bravest Warriors: "It's like making Oatmeal cry..." Catbug:"Why would you do that?" Why would you hurt your audience? That is lazy filmmaking.All of the characters were unlikeable bullies. I rooted for no one and wanted them all to die.The visual design was for stylistic purposes and actually violated filmic grammar in ways I just could not forgive.Blacklight? Why? Totally non-diegetic, which is fine, but could not forgive it especially compared to other issues.Oh, let me do First Person POV shots as Over-The-Shoulder shots, SOMETIMES. Why? I'm confused.Let me have blinking lights/strobe effect FOR NO REASON, other than to make the shot painful to look at. Thanks.The love story didn't really work for me either. There was ONE SCENE where it was almost poignant (the one with the strobe lights), but I didn't even want to watch it because the cinematography was so annoying.Nor did I find the gore effects particularly interesting either.I didn't like the movie. I didn't enjoy watching it. I didn't like the score (which was also a major selling point of the film).It was all over the place. And there there was weird unnecessarily sexualized slut-shaming/emasculation dialogue that I also did not like at all. The whole big social networking allegory was also not very strong or sold well in the movie itself. You get that more from reading critique on it than what you can actually see in the film text itself.Maybe I am too old.I love genre movies. I love the surprise little indies.But I was sitting in my seat fuming, just waiting for it to end. I felt lied to by the Nerdist stamp of approval.To me it is totally skippable. Unless you are OK with starting a movie that it is OK to shut off before you finish.

If looked deeper, and thought more than what was displayed on the screen, the story will appeal to it's true execution of what is a deeply sympathetic horror film, manipulating genre elements into something even more, something even more meaningful than displayed. "The Hive" is a movie, if taken seriously, that'll move, and affect the audience in a massive way. The movie starts out with an extremely unique plot, of which involves heavily on flashbacks, memory, as well as the past of which is all explained in a well manor in the film. We follow the story of four friends of which were once counseling a children's camp, only to soon fall into impending doom as a horrid virus plagues humanity, hitting a wave of horror to these characters. It may sound typical, or clichéd in this case. But the film, above, and beyond succeeded in making a semi-predictable plot into something even greater than it was set out to be. The story manages to journey audiences into an awaiting line of unique, gripping twists, and storyline. The film also manages to keep all these ideas wrapped around a thrilling chain of events of which revolve around these characters. The story unravels, uncovering more, and more events of which tells us, the audience of what our given characters are really capable of, what they can manipulate, how they wrap their head around events, etc. The characters we are given are actually quite interesting. At first, what seems to be another typical bunch of cliché characters, turns into something extremely pleasant, unique, and refreshing. We are given characters with common sense, characters that manage to win over the audiences' care; The feeling of actually caring for what happens to the characters. Finally, on the note, the film manages to give the characters well, clever personality twists, turning them into characters that could've been clichéd, into something much, much more pleasant. Finally. The design, and scares of these creatures, of which were afflicted with said virus aren't your typical, overly clichéd zombies. Instead we get more pleasant surprises with said afflicted creatures possessing interesting behavior, and shocking appearance, delivering an interest to their presence, while giving the audience a sense of fright at the sight, effective, at the same time amazingly captivating.In conclusion, this movie was a huge eye-opener. It manages to feed the audience an entertaining, thrilling, sympathetic, and meaningful horror story of which succeeds in it's effectiveness. It manages to keep a well story, of which takes turns, and unfolds into an even bigger, more interesting story than what we thought we were actually in for, offering more, and more entertaining surprises. At the same time, it manages to keep a scary-like appearance with it's visual infection - themed effects, at the same time giving a well story that captivates. Overall, this movie, IF given a chance, with thought regarding what was given, you will enjoy this movie for what it stood out to be - a unique experience that'll entertain for sure.

I just watched The Hive as part of a one-night-only Fathom theater event. This movie had almost no marketing, which will have made it an incredible moment for those lucky enough to see it on the big screen. I am a big fan of the zombie genre, and The Hive pays homage to Romero's classic use of the genre to focus on human struggles and social constructs within the breakdown of society. There are running themes of individual experience vs. the collective consciousness and isolation vs. the soma-driven release of free will, that hold strong without coming off as preachy or pedantic. There is a bit of a slow burn here, which leave you wondering if the character-development will be worth it, but the plot is tight, and everything becomes relevant within well written climax.Considering the low budget, the gore/make-up effects are excellent, and never take you out of the moment. There are some lighting choices that come together as truly gritty and spectacular. For the horror fans out there, I would more classify this one as more of a gruesome psych-thriller, with more dark humor and creeping insanity than pop-outs and cheap scares. There are definite moments where the acting fell, and where the writing betrays an intelligent audience (a tight plot doesn't need so much spoken internal dialogue), but overall a must VOD, and worth finding the time if Fathom does a second release in theaters. Find it. See it. You won't be disappointed.