THE HIVE (2023)

New On Demand from Buffalo 8!
Directed/Written by Jared Allmond.
Starring Timothy Haug, Christie Griffin, Miles Taber, Julianne Ruck, Whitney Reade, Mark Norwood, Blake Eli, Anabelle Crivelli, Elizabeth Schembre

Albie (Timothy Haug) and Penny (Christie Griffin) are a married couple who seem to be headed for divorce. When they attempt to have a night on the town, they return to their home to find another inside their home. The strange couple (Miles Taber and Julianne Ruck) claim it is there home and after an altercation, Albie and Penny leave and call the police. But when the police are non-responsive, they return to break into their own home and retake their house.

THE HIVE, just from the name, gives a pretty big clue as to what the homeowners are dealing with as it is made pretty clear that these intruders are something other than human. This is a low budget film, relying on the script and the actors to pull off the heavy lifting as the effects are saved for the climax. That means there needs to be convincing actors to achieve this and the four leads do this pretty well for the most part. While there are moments where some of the action and emotion isn’t sold, Haug and Griffin prove to be pretty convincing as a couple on the rocks, but willing to try to fix things for the kids. Once the dire situation occurs, they begin turning on each other, which feels like a really human thing to do, as does the later moments where they realize their love for one another once things get ultra-dire. These two actors sell all of this pretty well and their performances do a decent job of carrying the movie. Taber and Ruck are equally good as the invaders. Both act extremely stiff. As if they aren’t used to the skin they are in, because…they aren’t. Paired with some twisted imagery of the chaos of what’s going on in their heads, these performances are truly alien and fun to watch.

You can really tell the budgetary limitations once the climax comes and effects are finally used. What could be covered up with decent acting and clever editing comes to light once the effects show up. They aren’t really well filmed and cheaply done, leaving THE HIVE on a lackluster note. I wish the film would have been as clever with the reveal at the end and ensuing effects laden carnage as it was with the first hour of the film. THE HIVE isn’t really anything new. It’s basically HOME INVASION OF THE BODY SNATCHERS, but it has some decent moments of character performed by some pretty strong actors that make it work as a low scale thriller.

Check out the trailer here!!