Ticks (film)

Ticks
Directed by	Tony Randel
Produced by	Jack F. Murphy Gary Schmoeller Brian Yuzna
Written by	Brent V. Friedman
Starring	Peter Scolari Seth Green Ami Dolenz Rosalind Allen Alfonso Ribeiro Clint Howard
Music by	Daniel Licht Christopher L. Stone
Cinematography	Steve Grass
Edited by	Leslie Rosenthal
Production company	Republic Pictures
Distributed by	Republic Pictures Home Video
Release date	May 25, 1994
Running time	85 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$1 million

Ticks, also known as Infested, is a 1993 direct-to-video horror film directed Tony Randel and starring Peter Scolari, Seth Green, Rosalind Allen, Ami Dolenz, Alfonso Ribeiro, and Clint Howard.

Plot

Drug dealer Jarvis Tanner (Clint Howard) uses steroids to enhance marijuana plants. Run off of it has mutated the local ticks. Tyler Burns (Seth Green) is sent to join an inner-city wilderness project in an attempt to conquer his fear of the woods, led by Holly Lambert (Rosalind Allen) and Charles Danson (Peter Scolari). Tyler meets his fellow campers Darrel “Panic” Lumley (Alphonso Ribeiro), Charles’ daughter Melissa (Virginya Keeyne), Dee Dee Davenport (Ami Dolenz), Rome Hernandez (Ray Oriel), and Kelly Mishimoto (Sina Dayrit).

They stop at a store to get supplies. While there, Melissa is confronted by Sir (Michael Medeiros) and Jerry (Barry Lynch), two locals. Jerry harasses Melissa, but is told to leave her alone by Sir. Jarvis’ hamster is killed by a tick. When Jarvis investigates, he is attacked by a tick before stepping into a bear trap and has several tick eggs drop on him.

The group arrives at camp. While in their cabin, Tyler, Panic, and Rome discover a tick egg, which Tyler destroys. While taking a hike, Melissa is attacked by a tick which Tyler fends off. When Ryler and Melissa inform Charles, he dismisses them. Panic’s dog Brutus is attacked and killed by another tick. Upset, Panic leaves camp. Tyler takes Brutus’s body to a veterinarian, who discovers a tick inside Brutus. The tick, still alive, runs around the room until the veterinarian kills it.

Panic, while walking in the woods, is attacked by a tick. He pulls most of it off, but its head burrows inside him. While fishing, Kelly and Mellissa discover Sheriff Parker’s (Rance Howard) corpse. Didi finds Jarvis, who has amputated his legs and had ticks burrow inside him. Jarvis is caught in another bear trap and his face explode, causing a tick to latch on to Didi, but Tyler kills it. Panic stumbles onto Sir and Jerry’s marijuana farm, and Sir shoots Panic, but accidentally causes a propane tank to explode, causing a forest fire.

The group takes shelter from the raging fire in the cabin. Charles lets Sir and Jerry in, but a wounded Panic arrives and tells the group that Sir shot him before dying. Sir shoots Charles while Jerry attempts to take the van. A tick kills Jerry, who crashes the car into the cabin, injuring Sir. A large tick emerges from Panic’s corpse and mauls Sir. Tyler drives the van outside the window, but the large tick attacks Rome. Tyler lights it on fire, killing it, and the survivors drive back into civilization. At a junkyard, a pulsating tick egg falls from underneath the van.

Cast

Production

Doug Beswick came up with the idea for the film and supervised the special effects as well as being the associate producer of the film.^[1]

Rating

The film was rated R “for sci-fi gore and violence, and for language” by the CARA.^[2]

External links

• Ticks on IMDb
• Ticks at Rotten Tomatoes

References