DVD Reviews

Bug Buster

How is it possible I've never heard of this film???  With stars like Randy Quaid, Katherine Heigl, James Doohan and George Takei and such a fun nature run amok premise, you'd think I would have been all over this film. Sure the budget on this is super low but the schlock value is extremely high.  Much like Leprechaun, don't expect Oscar material but you can expect a good time. 

When Shannon Griffin and her family move to the idyllic town of Mountview to get away from the pressures of city life, urban stress becomes the least of their problems. Several townspeople are found dead - their bodies infested by a strange form of insect larva. When the town is overrun by the invading bugs, Shannon and the surviving townsfolk are down to their last hope; legendary TV "Bug Buster" General George. It's either exterminate the bugs... or be exterminated!

Neither the video nor the audio are anything special.  Both are quite flawed and only slightly better then a VHS copy of the film might have been.  The colours are poor.  The picture is sometimes on the red side. There is some grain and the picture looks like it might have actually been transferred from some kind of video source (VHS, Beta) when you watch certain scenes.  There is minor damage to the print which isn't too bad but the detail is lacking as the picture is very soft.  Considering the low budget of the film I can understand why there are so many problems.  Audio is alright and adequately mixed though the sound effects are mixed rather loud sometimes.  Unfortunately, there is no sense of space created by the mix whatsoever. There are Spanish subtitles for those that need them. Extra, Extra! What are the extras?  Well there's a filmography section with information on 9 of the stars of the film.  Not a big extra (especially considering they don't include much) but a ! simple one that I think more DVDs should include. But, if you're going to add a filmography, do it right people! There's trailers for "Follow Your Heart", "The Misery Brothers", "Knockout" and of course "Bug Buster." The only other extra is a text synopsis of the movie which is almost the same as what is written on the back cover of the DVD.  I had never seen this as an extra before so I was interested to see what it was, then was really let down to find out exactly what it was. 

Is this a buy or rental?   Well considering I've heard that this DVD has been for sale for under $5, you really can't go wrong.  As long as you like low budget schlock, a SOBIG adventure or just want to see some ex-Star Trek stars fight bugs, then it's worth at least a rental.  But if you're at all interested, and because the low price is almost the same as renting you might as well buy it anyways.  I enjoyed the film, and would purchase it without question.

Review By Robert Harding