“Lavalantula”
Movie #20: 31-Days of Challenge 2017
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Colton West, an ageing former action star who doesn’t like insects, is struggling with media coverage of his mistakes, his fading career, and his family. On the day he walks off the set of a movie about giant cockroaches, a volcano starts to erupt near L.A. As lava punches through in various places in and around the L.A. basin, giant spiders, Lavalantulas, erupt from the fiery depths with it. Colton will stop at nothing to reach his family and get them to safety, saving whoever he can along the way.
As far as outrageous made for SyFy Original creature/disaster movies, Sharknado did it first, but Lavalantula did it better. But since they didn’t do anything really new, besides having the awesome Nia Peeples, rather than Tara Reed, it didn’t take off quite so much. I did like the moment of crossover, where West runs into Fin Shepard (Ian Ziering). That is promising.
There weren’t quite so many cameos as Sharknado is famous for, but there are enough. Starring Steve Guttenburg as our hero, Colton West and Nia Peeples, who is one hell of a kick ass action star, when given the chance, as Olivia West, Colton’s wife, who happens to be a kickboxing instructor. Patrick Renna is Chris, a tourist from Des Moines, Colton’s biggest fan, and his sidekick for part of the movie. And of course, the audience is treated to the reunion of Guttenburg with his long time co-stars, Michael Winslow and Marion Ramsey, as Marty and Teddy, respectively, the special effects team for the studio at which Colton West works; as well as a cameo by Leslie Easterbrook, as Doris, the West’s neighbor.
I liked it enough that I’m going ahead and watching the sequel, and not just because I’m a completionist.
