A group of troubled teens- including a young Seth Green and a Gangster Carelton- have been taken on a retreat in the woods, with hopes that the experience will benefit their behavioural problems. But when they get there, there are weird gelatinous pods growing everywhere...spawning massive mutant ticks...which subsequently start attacking everything in order to feed their insatiable bloodlust.Turns out, the local marijuana farmers have been using an illegal plant steroid on their crops, and it has leeched into the local environment, exposing the ticks- causing them to mutate into their now monstrous forms.Not only do these mutant tick hybrids suck the blood of their victims, but they also infest the bodies of their host- parisitizing, and consuming them from within.They also, apparently, release a neurotoxin that causes the infected to suffer from paranoid hallucinations...before they kick the bucket...or worse...Not only does the group have to deal with mutant ticks, but also the local redneck marijuana farmers, who have gone wholly insane, as a result of their own dealings with the ticks.Will any of them manage to survive the ordeal, and live to tell the tale? Anyone who has been accosted by ticks in the woods, will resonate with the concept of this film. But from the perspective of a horror fanatic...it's pretty tame. The plot line is rather straightforward, and the acting is all-around horrendous- but the ticks are pretty cool (puppets, as opposed to CGI- a testament to the 90's, one might argue).While not the most gory, scary, or cult film ever made...I found it to be worth watching for the concept alone. Because...when it comes to ticks...the fear is real...also, the finale is pretty badass...4.5 out of 10

Some marijuana growers in the California forest area are using steroids to enhance their plants. Unfortunately the effect has mutated the Ticks in the area to grow to about the size of a human hand. This happens at the same time that two social workers (Scolari & Allen) have brought a van full of troubled teens into the same area on a retreat that is supposed to help the kids with their problems. The group of kids is written as obnoxious or stupid so we could care less about what happens to them. Director Tony Randel seems to know this so he brings the ticks on early and the gooey bloody fun begins. Following a 1950's style monster movie plot, this movie has fun with the crawling creepy ticks doing maximum damage. Clint Howard as one of the pot growers makes the most of his limited screen time in a truly inspired and nasty demise. He gets his leg caught in a bear trap and the ticks burrow into his flesh which includes his face as he overacts and screams into the camera "I'm infested"! A truly fun scene that should put a smile on any horror film fans face. Randel keeps the action coming and the top notch gore by KNB will amaze and keeps any monster movie fan watching. The gory entertainment continues as you continue to ignore the bad characters being introduced and concentrating on what crazy thing the creepy little ticks are going to do next. The great mix of gore and entertaining fun doesn't necessarily make this frightening, but it does make it a great no-need-to-think action horror film that delivers. You may find yourself watching this one with your feet of the ground.

Director Tony Randel who also created other classic flicks, Amityville 1992: It's About Time 1992 and Hellbound: Hellraiser II has created a another gem in Infested.Starring Seth Green who has also been in another classic flick, Idle Hands 1999.Also starring Ami Dolenz.Also starring Rosalind Allen.I enjoyed the violence and special effects.If you enjoyed this as much as I did then check out other classic insect flicks, Phenomena 1985, The Fly 1986, The Thaw 2009, Infestation 2009, Mimic: Sentinel 2003, Mansquito 2005, Initiation: Silent Night, Deadly Night 4 1990, Sucker 2013, Bite 2015, Stung 2015 and Starship Troopers 1997.

Ticks is another entry in what seems to be an ongoing competition between B-grade film-makers to produce movies featuring the most harmless and innocuous of creatures turned into monsters- frequently made gigantic or at least larger than they normally are. Killer Ticks aren't the most ridiculous menace ever created in one of these movies as anyone has seen Night of the Lepus (killer bunny rabbits) or various 50's B-movies will attest but they certainly aren't convincingly threatening enough to be the monster in any movie. That is the main problems with Ticks, which is basically a serviceable B-movie. The Ticks are certainly icky little creatures which have gross-out value which is used to good effect here and the prospect of having one of them attached to you and sucking your blood is not a pleasant thought. The SFX used to portray the Ticks are actually pretty good and they are suitably gross little critters, a case of practical special effect doing a better job than CGI ever could and the gory scenes of them burrowing into the flesh of their victims are quite well rendered. My favourite scene was that of a Tick with a syringe stuck into it skittering across the floor, complete with the silly movie skittering sound. However, the Ticks could only be seen as a real threat in the most contrived of circumstances, which the movie does it's best to provide, via an area selective forest fire toward the end of the movie and are certainly not enough of a threat to pad out a 90 minute movie.It is clear the makers realised this and added in other elements such as the some human bad guys, in this case some gun wielding dope growers to generate some more conflict and danger (Not to mention running time) into the proceedings. None of this is particularly interesting nor is the clichéd character interaction between our group of main characters, some troubled teens from LA out in the woods with their counsellors on some kind of bonding. get back to nature program (The details are never made clear). The characters are barely sketched in and their interactions and conflicts are painfully hackneyed e.g. the teenage daughter of the lead counsellor who resents her father for dragging her along on these excursions and hates her step-mother. We don't even get a lot of detail about what the problems of these trouble teens are, in some cases none at all. The acting is pretty average and you get the impression that nobody is trying too hard.Despite this there is some fun to be had. The Ticks are actually pretty cool little creatures even if they aren't a believable threat and there is enough blood and goo around to liven things up between the bad character stuff. There are some really bizarre plot twists which succeed in making the movie more entertaining, such as the contrived circumstances in which the forest fire is started and the uber-ridiculous way in which an even bigger monster tick is created in the movies climax. I didn't know steroids could do that. I also liked the fact that the ticks became the way they were not because of government experiments or evil big companies dumping waste but because of weird growth agents being used by the Marihuana growers. It doesn't make much more sense but it is at least one lame cliché avoided. Then again it still has time for the lame clichéd kicker ending. I also got some entrainment from seeing a young Seth Green on screen, before he developed much personality and Alfonso Ribiero AKA Carlton Banks from the Fresh Prince of Bel Air. Anyone familiar with the character he is on the show will find his performance as the tough guy from the streets here most amusing.