You know, sometimes, all you want out of life is a good old fashioned monster movie.  And if that’s all you want out of a movie, especially out of your horror movies, then you’ll probably get along pretty nicely with one of the most recent direct to video offerings from the folks out at Lions Gate–Scourge.

The Scourge, a horror from beyond all reason, was formerly entombed in the very masonry of a church, and would have remained there still had it not been for the untimely intervention of a kid with a bottle rocket.  And considering that the last guy who had the Scourge was executed in front of the church by ELECTROCUTION (they chained him to a metal stake in a thunderstorm and let the cloud to ground lightning finish the job) , you know this has to be some really nasty stuff.  Once you get a good look at what the Scourge actually is, you will not be hungry for lobster any time soon.  And considering what the Scourge actually DOES to people, it’s frankly not surprising that they killed people by electrocution just for having the thing.

The movie itself is actually a fairly interesting combination of monster movie and survival horror, with a monster that basically serves as a combination parasite and demon.  We’re not exactly sure just what this monstrosity really is–the people who suggest it’s a demon did so WELL before the advent of science fiction, so the possibility exists that it’s either an alien or, indeed, a demon.  Though I haven’t seen many demons with aversions to both alcohol and electricity…but anyway!

One especially interesting detail about this movie comes from the last few minutes.  The end of this movie will come literally out of nowhere and be a huge surprise when it actually hits.  I had to check the time clock left on this one just to be sure that I really was closing in on the end.

Needless to say, the box art is going to be a complete joke.  You’re not going to get anything this broad or this deep out of this one–you might get a precursor to something like that here, but you’re definitely not going to get what the box art promises in the way of abandoned cities and swarms of horrible monsters.  I hate it when box art doesn’t deliver on its own promises.

However, this really doesn’t get too much in the way of what Scourge actually is, a minor-league, low-rent monster movie that isn’t too terrible as long as you don’t look at it really closely or ask too many questions.  If you’re willing to take this for what it is, strictly at face value, you’ll come out ahead and probably even enjoy yourself.  This is a popcorn muncher thriller in the grand old tradition.  It’s not a great movie, but it does at least qualify as pretty good.

The Screenhead Ten Scale lets this one coast with a six out of ten, only slightly better than purest mediocrity just because it actually does what it set out to do.  It may not be the best example of the art out there, but it won’t do anything really stupid, either.