Screamers 2: The Hunting (2009) Movie Review

1995’s “Screamers” is one of those very cool sci-fi movies that didn’t get a whole lot of respect when it bowed 14 years ago, but thanks to the miracle of DVD, cable, and The Sci Fi Channel, it’s developed something of a cult following. That existing fanbase was enough to get a sequel greenlit and put out straight to DVD. The original was really a mish-mash of genres (definitely sci-fi, but it also had a lot of slasher movie conventions), and offered up a strong performance by Peter Weller and more than capable special effects. Aside from those things, it was also incredibly creepy, especially the screamer toddlers. Those things still give me nightmares.

As the sequel opens, we are told that 13 years have passed since Hendricksson (Peter Weller’s character from the first movie) escaped the planet Sirius 6B in his ship, only to commit suicide upon entry into Earth’s orbit. Since then, Sirius 6B has been deserted except for the screamers, small machines that burrow through the planet’s desert floor in search of living things to kill. Originally designed as a weapon during a war between two factions over the planet’s now-depleted mines, the screamers quickly ran amok, killing both sides until there were only a few soldiers left. As “Screamers” told it, the machines had begun to evolve, and that was 13 years ago.

“Screamers: The Hunting” stars Gina Holden (late of the Sci Fi Channel’s canceled Flash Gordon TV show) as Lieutenant Victoria Bronte, member of an all-volunteer Earth military unit that arrives on Sirius 6B after a survivor sends out a distress signal. Bronte and her crew have one week to rescue the survivors and head back into space, or face oblivion as one of those convenient movie problems with a ticking time clock (a killer space storm or some such) approaches. Bronte has her own reasons for volunteering, as does her commander. On Sirius 6B, the squad encounters resistance from local survivors led by the distrusting Guy (Stephen Amell). More bad news: their ship becomes disabled, forcing them to seek out a new power supply before the space storm hits. And oh yeah, did I mention those pesky screamers just keep on evolving?

Fans of the original will get a lot more out of “The Hunting” than newcomers. For those who have always wanted a little backstory on the killing machines, the sequel provides a lot of that. We learn about their history and get a look at their production facility, which is huge, as well as meet the man who actually invented them in the first place. He’s a proud papa — when he’s not living under the sewers fearing for his life, that is. The film may be a tad baffling as a standalone movie, as it fails to properly give newcomers a firm grasp of what the screamers are, what they can and can’t do, and for the most part the ground-burrowing screamers do not really resemble that much of a threat aside from a couple of scenes. At times the disguised machines will attack out of nowhere, and at other times – nowhere to be found. The film never even tries to explain why that is, probably because it makes no sense.

The film features two known castmembers: leading lady Gina Holden will be instantly familiar to Sci Fi Channel fans, and longtime vet Lance Henriksen, though prominently billed in all the materials I’ve seen for the movie, actually has little more than a glorified cameo in the film. As much as I find Holden to be a captivating screen beauty, she’s hopelessly miscast here. Not that a pretty woman can’t make for a credible soldier, but, well, Holden should not be playing soldier, in movies or real life. There’s always this vibe of, “Huh, that doesn’t look right” whenever Holden is firing a weapon. There’s no other way to say it except it just doesn’t work. For his part, Henriksen shows up just long enough to earn his paycheck and deliver his usual solid performance, but is otherwise unremarkable. It’s not his fault, really, but it’s hard to make much of a dent when you only have about 10 minutes of screentime.

The rest of the cast are rounded out by unknowns, including less-than-trustworthy commander Andy Sexton (Greg Bryk), the incredibly horny Madden (Tim Rozon), and Jana Pallaske as medic Schwartz, who despite being a highly trained military soldier, comes across more like a hapless teen slasher movie victim, especially when things start to go wrong. The film’s de facto leading man is Stephen Amell. I’m not entirely certainly what the film is trying to do with Amell’s Guy character (if he’s supposed to be a red herring, it’s way too obvious), but it comes across as … wrong somehow. I’m not sure if director Sheldon Wilson is at fault for not giving Amell the proper instructions, or if Amell is overselling it, but either way, the film’s predictable twist is, well, so predictable it hurt as a result.

I hesitate to put all the blame on Wilson (“Shallow Ground”), who does what he can with the limited resources at hand. The good news is that Wilson excels whenever the film is delivering on its visceral elements. The screamers, hampered by the budget, are not anywhere new as fearsome as I remembered, probably forcing Wilson and writer Miguel Tejada-Flores (“Beyond Re-Animator”) to rely too much on the gore factor. The screamers, in their various forms, make formidable killing machines, especially in their tendencies to slice their victims into lots of little pieces. The human screamers also do a lot of damage, though at times they come across more as superpowered zombies than actual killing machines. And did I hear some of them growling like animals when they attacked? That made absolutely no sense whatsoever.

“Screamers 2: The Hunting” was not what I wanted when I heard they were making a sequel to the 1995 movie. The fact that “The Hunting” ends with one of those odious “we’re trying to start a franchise here, please join us?” coda makes it that much underwhelming. It’s hard to fault the filmmakers too much, though, since as I mentioned they’re not exactly working with a big-screen movie budget here. Still, the casting is spotty, and Gina Holden, as gorgeous as I find her, just isn’t credible as a gun-wielding space Marine-type character. Nevertheless, though “The Hunting” didn’t blow me away, I did find it mostly watchable, even if I could see the film’s predictable plot twist coming from Earth. Maybe part three will be better. I guess we’ll have to wait and see how well “The Hunting” does on DVD to find out if we’ll get a sequel. Then again, maybe killing this franchise off now would be the merciful thing to do.

Sheldon Wilson (director) / Philip K. Dick (original story, “Second Variety”), Miguel Tejada-Flores (screenplay)
CAST: Gina Holden … Lt. Victoria Bronte
Jana Pallaske … Schwartz
Lance Henriksen … Orsow
Greg Bryk … Cmdr. Andy Sexton
Stephen Amell … Guy
Christopher Redman … Rafe Danielli
Tim Rozon … Madden
Holly O’Brien … Hannah