Isolation (2005)

"Isolation" is actually a rather enjoyable movie, a fairly straight forward horror movie, in the likes of "Alien", actually. Well, think Alien subjected to an element of bovine, and then you essentially have "Isolation".

The story is about some experiment taking place on a remote farm in remote location of Ireland. Local farmer Dan (played by John Lynch) and veterinarian Orla (played by Essie Davis) are not fully aware of the extends of the experiment in which they are participating. Something is wrong with the cow carrying a calf, and during a troubled birthing, a horrible secret is revealed.

"Isolation" was filmed in a nice way, lots of interesting shots and angles here, and there was a very intense and adrenaline-filled moments throughout the movie. The mood was great and really helped the movie along quite nicely.

The creature effects was quite interesting, and it was a very unique appearance they opted to go for in the movie, both with the larvae and the grown creature itself.

And there is enough blood in the movie to keep most gorehounds fairly satisfied.

Got 95 minutes to spare, then "Isolation" could be a good way to spend it. The movie is enjoyable, has a good story and some interesting creature effects.

Fmovies: I read somewhere that some commenter said "a hand was being put up a cows ass 3 times under the time of 15 minutes". Now that is bull actually. If this person would have listened to the things the actors in this movie had to say, he would have understood that the cow was about to give birth and that the person "putting his/hers hand in the cows ass" was a veterinarian that was about to check the calves condition and therefor made a ultrasound on the cow. Anyhow, this movie was actually better than expected. Especially since I read a comment that was no use to me what so ever. I liked this movie because it seemed quite real. It seems like something that could happen. But if you want something including explosions, watch something else. This is not the movie! I have heard that Irish meat could give "mad cow disease" and after "Isolation" I am not eating any more Irish meat. "Isolation" is scaring enough, fun to watch (at least if you like animals), gives a real feeling and this might be why I found it scary. In my opinion the things that scare me the most is stuff that could happen in real life and this could. I liked this B-movie a lot. Enjoy this movie when you are tired of all the explosions from the Hollywood action world.

Billy O'Brien's excellent ecologically themed horror is a measured, carefully paced and excellently judged picture featuring bags of sweaty suspense and a few good jolts. The film is further boosted by some strong performances from John Lynch and Sean Harris.

The film is particularly effective in evoking the atmosphere of subsistence rural life - one can virtually smell the slurry pits and manure. Uncomfortable memories of the UK's foot and mouth crisis surface as the farm location is quarantined and cow carcasses are torched.

It is certainly a challenge to make cows scary - but this does a better job than The Dark. Bob Keen's sparingly glimpsed monster effects are reminiscent of those seen in Cronenberg's Existenz, particularly the scene in that film's Chinese restaurant. His team also did an excellent job on the cow and calf effects.

Overall a terrific little terror picture that deserves wide exposure.

Isolation fmovies. Isolation is a very odd horror/thriller, but it works. The storyline isn't the best (animal experiment gone wrong), but its doable. The thing that makes the movie pretty good is the characters, suspense, and fear of the unknown. The actors are not well known, but they are good, they make it a lot more believable. Also, they act in a realistic manner, which also really helped. Over all its a great suspense film. Yes, the idea as a whole is pretty trite and corny, but the director made it work into something good. Its a good above average horror/thriller that is actually pretty underrated. I rate this 7/10. Rated R for violence/gore, language and a scene of sexuality

Although the significance behind the title is only superficially explored - whether it be from too much 'isolation' from cosmpolitan city life, from interpersonal emotional relationships, from wholesome medical meddling, etc... this tightly told story of science run amok at a backwoods Irish farm becomes frightening due to keen usage of natural elements combined with a focus on natural visual/special effects - no CGI! Although the characters are unremarkable, the unrelenting tension gets its strength from the filmmaker's refusal to ever leave the premises. In addition, the overcast skies and the interiors' infrastructures allow the director many opportunities to increase the audience's fear of when and how the creature will affect the proceedings. Though the audience never witnesses the full poteniality of its metamorphosis (although the budget was almost $9.5 million, they may have run out before unleashing a complete masterpiece) the glimpses of how science's ambitions can run amok are horrifyingly conveyed. Essie Davis is gorgeous, but did not create a 'Jamie Lee Curtis' in "Halloween." Definitely recommended.

In a time when remakes, sequels and sequels to remakes are just about all the horror genre is getting, it's refreshing to a see a film that isn't merely a copy of another. This film isn't completely original, however, as it has shades of classics such as Alien and The Thing, but the base of the plot is compelling and the way that director Billy O'Brien patiently builds up the atmosphere and tension is impressive. The plot obviously takes influence from the agricultural crisis's we've had in Britain over the last few years; namely foot and mouth, in which the desire not to have people coming and going from various farms was strong. The film starts with a cow giving birth. There's obviously a problem from the outset, and it increases when the cow is born. The calf is somehow not right, and the farmers take the decision to kill it. Upon dissecting the dead calf, it turns out that there's a parasite growing inside of it, and we soon learn that this is the result of an experiment carried out with the farmer's say so by an immoral vet...

The film is slow to start, and the first half is really just build up. However, the build up isn't boring and the director generates suspense by never really letting us know what is going on until it is really needed. The second half the film is entirely different to the first as then we focus more on action and gore, and this actually goes well with the beginning of the movie. There aren't many characters in the film, and that means that there aren't a lot of death scenes; but this isn't too important as the central monster looks cool enough, and the death scenes are suitably nasty, even though they're not very gory. The locations the atmosphere is a big stand out, and the director does a good job of ensuring the farm location is integral to the plot and good use of the dirty and eerie locations is used at all times. The film is a long way away from being perfect; the camera-work annoyed me somewhat as Billy O'Brien obviously subscribes to the flashy camera-work school of thought, and sometimes you can't see what's going on. However, this is a well made and well acted little horror film that deserves more plaudits for the fact that it's not a direct rip off. Very well done!