Blood Capsule #300

BUG BUSTER (1998)

In Japan, Bug Buster was released as Aberration 2.  Let that sink in for a moment.  As I sit here, I'm undecided on a Z'Dar rating (that usually comes last), but dear God, this was at least better than Aberration.  The contents of my liver are better than Aberration.  I can honestly say that for a straight-to-video jobby that I don't ever remember seeing at the local video store, Bug Buster was acceptable entertainment.  Katherine Heigl (!?) stars as a teenager whose family has just moved to the quaint town of - erm, don't make me look it up.  Oh, Mountview!  The quaint town of Mountview!  I only know that because I happen to live in a town called Mountain View.  The film's credits assure me that the events depicted are entirely fictional, and that any resemblance to living people or places is purely coincidental.  That's a weight off my back, let me tell you.  So dead bodies.  They are piling up, and cockroach larvae are found in every corpse.  Obviously, George Takei - the scientist - steps in to determine that these roaches are unlike any that came before.

That was a haphazard synopsis, but I think you get the picture.  What you may not know is that there is a "mother bug" that squares off against Randy Quaid.  This was right before he lost his everloving mind.  His campy performance (dude goes way over the top) stands in opposition, almost antithetically, to the rest of Bug Buster.  Everything is played straight.  Quaid doesn't barrel his way through the script until the third act.  If I weren't in such a jocular mood, I would complain about the uneven tone.  But!  It kinda works.  We get a decent amount of gruesome make-up effects, and thankfully, digital chicanery is kept to a minimum.  Until the end.  But!  I'm being awfully forgiving today, aren't I?  Perhaps I'm a little blown away that I located another creature feature from the 90's that basically hasn't been seen by human eyes.  For what it's worth, it's what I do.  Three Z'Dars?  Recommended to fans of Katherine Heigl's "no nudity" clause in her contract.