To honest, I laughed when I first heard the story of Cold Storage as a possible concept for a film.
A film about an alien fungus with a deadly threat to mankind that escapes from storage? It was sounding like the kind of an idiotic B-movie idea that goes wrong or the kind that is an amazingly fun ride. Fortunately, Cold Storage is exactly the second type.
This is a tale of two night-shift workers, Teacake (Joe Keery) and Naomi (Georgina Campbell) at a self-storage unit. They have no idea that under the premises is an old containment facility for the government that has a deadly alien fungus frozen down for years. Of course, all goes wrong, the fungus breaks free and what begins as an ordinary night at work soon becomes a battle to save the world. Liam Neeson also appears as a defunct bio-terrorist expert who knows how dangerous this thing is.
I really liked the lack of pretentiousness of this film.
From the opening scenes on, it is clear that the filmmakers are well aware of what kind of movie they are making. This is not a clone of Alien / Last of Us. It's a gross, fallible, messy, funny creature feature which simply desires you to have an excellent time. To be honest, I like that.
I think the bulk of the film's success lies in Joe Keery.
You will notice the same awkward and lovable vibe that you've seen him with in Stranger Things. Teacake isn't a courageous action figure. A regular guy suddenly forced into the situation of exploding bodies, mutant fungus and chaos. That's why he's easy to root for. Also really good Georgina Campbell as Naomi. Their chemistry is natural, combined they form a movie with very little room for anything to go wrong.
And to all those who've got the idea that it's ridiculous...
This film is bizarre.
Really weird.
The fungus isn't simply waiting to infect human beings. It mutates, controls bodies, makes horrid creatures and basically causes all sorts of disgusting problems. This will be quite enjoyable for people who enjoy body horror, outlandish gore and. . . . . . . practical creature effects. I found myself in a few instances saying, "what am I watching?" at the same time that I could not look away.
Another highlight is Liam Neeson.
Liam Neeson in an action film this time around is like a slice of sourdough bread. He is not a big part in comparison to the younger leads but each time he's on screen, he's that familiar, gravitas. Even his age and action hero status are made fun of in the film, which I loved!
The film caught me off-guard in terms of its visuals.
It's a pretty good-looking giant monster-fungus horror comedy, at least in the movies. The underground installation, the spreading infection and the creations of the monsters all contribute to a creaky ambiance. While there is some hit-or-miss with some of the CGI, the film does a pretty good job of ensuring you get some horror without the whole thing collapsing.
That's not a perfect fit, though.
The most significant issue is that the story isn't very memorable. By the end of the film, you may be able to recall more of the fungus than the story itself. Some of the humor makes it to the ground and some doesn't. There are also times when the film is not sure if it should be a horror film, a comedy, or a sci-fi horror. The film has a few tonal shifts, so to speak, throughout, and at times it feels a bit like that.
But, come on, I'm not sure that Cold Storage was ever trying to be some big deal.
It's like one of those ‘80s and ‘90s movies that aimed to make no impact on the movie industry, but just to keep you entertained for ninety minutes. I believe it achieves that, at least to some degree. It's coarse, humorous, crazy and oddly appealing.
I wasn't impressed by the end but I was smiling.
Sometimes that's enough.
Not all films are necessarily great. Sometimes, you just want to see the likes of Joe Keery, Georgina Campbell and Liam Neeson running around a storage facility to stop a killer space fungus that will turn all of them into exploding monsters.
And honestly?
Cold Storage provides just that.
Rating: 80/100
Originally posted through scrobble.life/movies.
