John’s Horror Corner: The Seed (2021), a goopy, gory, sexualized, sci-horror comedy that shifts from quirky to just plain gross.

MY CALL:  This movie is a weird little thing. Constantly quirky, never actually scary (nor trying to be), bizarre and deliberately gross. The story is basic, yet never went where I expected. While not particularly creative, I was pleased with this little oddity.  MORE MOVIES LIKE The Seed:  Although much more sexualized and raunchy, Society (1989) and BioSlime (2010) come to mind.

Deidre (Lucy Martin; Vikings) is a saucy and shallow social media influencer; Charlotte (Chelsea Edge; Suspicion) is the complete opposite, geeky, quiet, averse to attention and off social media; and Heather (Sophie Vavasseur; Exorcismus, Resident Evil: Apocalypse), the spiritual one, is ready for a vacation. These three ladies head to Heather’s luxury family villa in the desert to witness a once-in-a-lifetime meteor shower for a girls’ getaway. The villa is extravagant, and extremely remote—it actually reminds me of the setting in Revenge (2017), which is likewise sharply shot with gorgeous views and rich colors. There is some strikingly sharp cinematography in this film.

For all its visual splendor, the lower budget becomes more readily apparent when a stinky object plummets into the pool after the meteor shower. The creature looks like a cross between an oil spill turtle and a bear cub with its hair all burnt off… it’s kind of gross, but also marginally cute. The humor is light and there is a fun energy to this movie as the girls try to rid themselves of the creature.

But of course, somehow they do not rid themselves of the critter and yet weirder things begin to happen. The girls begin acting very strangely. Some recurring slimy, goopy, sexualized imagery reminded me of Society (1989) and BioSlime (2010), though less perverse. We witness the oddest scene involving eggs I’ve seen since Ghostbusters (1984), pretty good chunky head gore, sudden alien impregnation, mutation body horror and a nasty gory birth scene.

This movie is a weird little thing. Constantly quirky, never actually scary (nor is it trying to be), forever weird and deliberately gross at every opportunity. The story is basic. But it never went where I expected, and I was always entertained even if never wowed. While no great “film” nor particularly creative contribution to the genre, I was generally impressed with the quality of this little oddity. I love weirdo movies like this, especially when they’re well executed. Director and writer Sam Walker did well with his first feature film. In the future I’d like to see Walker helping realize the horrors of a more substantial script backed by a little more money.