Swarmed (film)
Encyclopedia
Swarmed is a Canadian, made for television film by Sci Fi Pictures. It first aired on April 6, 2005. It stars Michael Shanks
, as a scientist, trying to save the town from mutated yellow jacket wasps.
) is a scientist, trying to invent a new pesticide
, specifically for yellow jacket wasp
s. He tests it out on eight yellow jackets, to see how well it works. It kills six, out of the eight wasps, and the two who survived now have extremely high pheromone
levels, resulting in increased aggression. That night, the janitor (John Baktins) accidentally releases them, and they both attack, and kill, him. The next morning, they find his body, along with one of the wasps, with the other one nowhere to be found.
His body is taken to the morgue
, where the mortician (Claudio Masciulli), hears a buzzing, from the janitors mouth, and opens it, freeing the, somehow, trapped wasp. It then proceeds to sting him, until he is dead. It then flys away. Meanwhile, Cristina Brown (Carol Alt
), a scientist, is teaching a class about bee
s. One young man, (Mazin Elsadig
) relates to her a story about how he was once stung by a wasp, and suddenly six or seven other wasps attacked him. She tells him that was because when an insect attacks, it releases an attack pheromone, which tells all the other insects that they need to attack. The class is cut short, when she is called in about the mortician. Agent Doug Heydon, (Booth Savage
) tells her about Kent, and his research. She decides to go investigate.
Meanwhile, Q (Richard Chevolleau
) a bug exterminator, who is friends with Kent, is called by a family, who has a bad yellow jacket problem. He is out of pesticide, and goes to Kent to get some. Kent tells him not to take any of the new pesticide, in the red bottles, but a curious Q mixes it with the regular solution. As he sprays the nest, the results come back, of the analysis, of the hyper-aggressive wasp's venom. It has been learned that the venom is now incredibly strong, due to the new pesticide.
Meanwhile, the Chief of Police (Bill Lake
), blackmails, Mayor Gibson (Christopher Bondy), with evidence that he has been making covert meetings, with Phineas Washburn (Tim Thomerson
), a man who owns Washburn's Tasty Sauce, a company that makes a delicious steak sauce
. It turns out Washburn made a large financial contribution to Gibson's reelection campaign. The Chief tells Gibson that he wants a large donation to his 401(k)
, before he retires. He leaves, with Gibson furious
Meanwhile, Q puts the sprayed nest in his trash compactor, but about one quarter, of the nest, survives, including the queen. They chase Q to his truck, where he administers anti-venom, before passing out. The wasps then leave, and begin sending off attack pheromones, which, not only attract multiple other swarms, but also mutate them, to have extremely potent venom, as well. Meanwhile, Cristina and Kent, go to the home of a man who was stung to death, by the swarm, because they were attracted to the raw meat patties, on his grill. They find a dead wasp, on his clothes, and take it back to the lab, for analysis. Meanwhile, Q is awoken, by Rafe (Jonathan Malen), the teenager he's watching for the summer. He and Rafe decide to go find and kill the swarm themselves.
Back at the lab, the venom results show that the potency is identical to the strength of the wasp, that killed the janitor. They go tell Agent Heydon, and they all agree that the annual burger cook-off will attract the wasps right to all the people. Heydon goes to tell the Chief, as they go to tell Washburn that they have to cancel the cook-off. However, neither of them believe them, and are told not to mess the cook-off. Just after Heydon leaves the Chief, the swarm is attracted to his rare steak, and kill him, when he fights back. Eventually, Q and Rafe find the part of the swarm that stayed behind to finish off, the steak, with the pheromone detector, that Q took from Kent. Q uses a flamethrower
to kill the swarm, but melts part of his van, in the process.
Meanwhile, the single wasp that first killed the janitor, finds its way to Mayor Gibson's office, and kills him, by stinging his eye. His assistant, Ellie Martin, (Ellen Dubin
) finds his body, and chases the wasp, with a shotgun, eventually killing it. Kent and Cristina come, and ask her if she killed it. She says she "blew it to Kingdom Come
." The cook-off then starts, and Heydon comes to try to convince Washburn, that they have to shut it down. But before he can, the swarm arrives, and begins attacking people. They kill a woman, Melanie Sheer Maria Brooks, a mean reporter, while her camera man, Chuey (Balázs Koós), video tapes. Washburn hides in a dunk tank
, but gets killed when two wasps, crawl down the hose that he is breathing through, and sting his mouth. Eventually, Kent and Cristina show up, and begin administering anti-venom, to the stung, and use tire patching spray, to close up the wasps' breathing holes. Q also arrives and begins attracting the wasps to a golf cart, to trap them inside a garage. While he does so, Kent, Cristina, and Rafe begin gathering petrol tank
s, and gasoline
, so as to destroy the wasps, altogether. Q manages to get the wasps inside, and they ignite the gas, with Rafe's lighter. But the queen survives, and goes after Q, but is sucked up by Rafe, with the portable vacuum cleaner he was given, to vacuum up the dead wasps. He then throws it, into the fire.
We then see Kent and Cristina, who are now in a relationship, going to dinner. The camera then zooms up to the charred vacuum, as we see the queen, who somehow survived, laying eggs.
.
Michael Shanks
Michael Garrett Shanks is a Canadian actor who achieved fame for his role as Dr. Daniel Jackson in the long-running Canadian-American military science fiction television series Stargate SG-1.-Early life:...
, as a scientist, trying to save the town from mutated yellow jacket wasps.
Plot
Kent Horvath (Michael ShanksMichael Shanks
Michael Garrett Shanks is a Canadian actor who achieved fame for his role as Dr. Daniel Jackson in the long-running Canadian-American military science fiction television series Stargate SG-1.-Early life:...
) is a scientist, trying to invent a new pesticide
Pesticide
Pesticides are substances or mixture of substances intended for preventing, destroying, repelling or mitigating any pest.A pesticide may be a chemical unicycle, biological agent , antimicrobial, disinfectant or device used against any pest...
, specifically for yellow jacket wasp
Wasp
The term wasp is typically defined as any insect of the order Hymenoptera and suborder Apocrita that is neither a bee nor an ant. Almost every pest insect species has at least one wasp species that preys upon it or parasitizes it, making wasps critically important in natural control of their...
s. He tests it out on eight yellow jackets, to see how well it works. It kills six, out of the eight wasps, and the two who survived now have extremely high pheromone
Pheromone
A pheromone is a secreted or excreted chemical factor that triggers a social response in members of the same species. Pheromones are chemicals capable of acting outside the body of the secreting individual to impact the behavior of the receiving individual...
levels, resulting in increased aggression. That night, the janitor (John Baktins) accidentally releases them, and they both attack, and kill, him. The next morning, they find his body, along with one of the wasps, with the other one nowhere to be found.
His body is taken to the morgue
Morgue
A morgue or mortuary is used for the storage of human corpses awaiting identification, or removal for autopsy or disposal by burial, cremation or otherwise...
, where the mortician (Claudio Masciulli), hears a buzzing, from the janitors mouth, and opens it, freeing the, somehow, trapped wasp. It then proceeds to sting him, until he is dead. It then flys away. Meanwhile, Cristina Brown (Carol Alt
Carol Alt
Carol Ann Alt is an American model and actress.- Early life:Alt was born in Flushing, Queens, New York, the daughter of Muriel, an airline employee and model, and Anthony Alt, a fire chief. She was noticed waiting tables in her hometown of East Williston, New York. When she was 18, she decided to...
), a scientist, is teaching a class about bee
Bee
Bees are flying insects closely related to wasps and ants, and are known for their role in pollination and for producing honey and beeswax. Bees are a monophyletic lineage within the superfamily Apoidea, presently classified by the unranked taxon name Anthophila...
s. One young man, (Mazin Elsadig
Mazin Elsadig
Mazin Elfadil Elsadig is an American actor. He had a role in the Disney Channel Original Movie, Jump In!. Elsadig later joined the cast of Degrassi: The Next Generation as Damian Hayes, for the 6th and 7th seasons. He is also the voice of Broseph on the Canadian TV series...
) relates to her a story about how he was once stung by a wasp, and suddenly six or seven other wasps attacked him. She tells him that was because when an insect attacks, it releases an attack pheromone, which tells all the other insects that they need to attack. The class is cut short, when she is called in about the mortician. Agent Doug Heydon, (Booth Savage
Booth Savage
Booth Savage is a Canadian film, stage, and television actor. He graduated with an MFA from York University in 1992. He is in the Canadore College Theatre program faculty. He is best known to Canadian TV viewers for his role as Team Canada head coach Harry Sinden in the 2006 CBC miniseries...
) tells her about Kent, and his research. She decides to go investigate.
Meanwhile, Q (Richard Chevolleau
Richard Chevolleau
Richard Chevolleau is a Jamaican-Canadian actor. Although born in Kingston, Jamaica he was raised in Toronto.After completing High School he studied the Meisner Technique of acting....
) a bug exterminator, who is friends with Kent, is called by a family, who has a bad yellow jacket problem. He is out of pesticide, and goes to Kent to get some. Kent tells him not to take any of the new pesticide, in the red bottles, but a curious Q mixes it with the regular solution. As he sprays the nest, the results come back, of the analysis, of the hyper-aggressive wasp's venom. It has been learned that the venom is now incredibly strong, due to the new pesticide.
Meanwhile, the Chief of Police (Bill Lake
Bill Lake
Bill Lake is a Canadian actor whose career began in Vancouver and who has appeared in many movies, television movies and series, stage plays and commercials....
), blackmails, Mayor Gibson (Christopher Bondy), with evidence that he has been making covert meetings, with Phineas Washburn (Tim Thomerson
Tim Thomerson
Joseph Timothy “Tim” Thomerson is an American actor and comedian.Thomerson is most famous for his role as Jack Deth in the Trancers film series and is renowned for his work in numerous low-budget movies and his comedic television roles.-Early life:Tim Thomerson was born in Coronado, California. He...
), a man who owns Washburn's Tasty Sauce, a company that makes a delicious steak sauce
Steak sauce
Steak sauce —brown sauce —is a generic term for a dark brown sauce commonly served as a condiment for meat.The two terms are similar but not identical...
. It turns out Washburn made a large financial contribution to Gibson's reelection campaign. The Chief tells Gibson that he wants a large donation to his 401(k)
401(k)
A 401 is a type of retirement savings account in the United States, which takes its name from subsection of the Internal Revenue Code . A contributor can begin to withdraw funds after reaching the age of 59 1/2 years...
, before he retires. He leaves, with Gibson furious
Meanwhile, Q puts the sprayed nest in his trash compactor, but about one quarter, of the nest, survives, including the queen. They chase Q to his truck, where he administers anti-venom, before passing out. The wasps then leave, and begin sending off attack pheromones, which, not only attract multiple other swarms, but also mutate them, to have extremely potent venom, as well. Meanwhile, Cristina and Kent, go to the home of a man who was stung to death, by the swarm, because they were attracted to the raw meat patties, on his grill. They find a dead wasp, on his clothes, and take it back to the lab, for analysis. Meanwhile, Q is awoken, by Rafe (Jonathan Malen), the teenager he's watching for the summer. He and Rafe decide to go find and kill the swarm themselves.
Back at the lab, the venom results show that the potency is identical to the strength of the wasp, that killed the janitor. They go tell Agent Heydon, and they all agree that the annual burger cook-off will attract the wasps right to all the people. Heydon goes to tell the Chief, as they go to tell Washburn that they have to cancel the cook-off. However, neither of them believe them, and are told not to mess the cook-off. Just after Heydon leaves the Chief, the swarm is attracted to his rare steak, and kill him, when he fights back. Eventually, Q and Rafe find the part of the swarm that stayed behind to finish off, the steak, with the pheromone detector, that Q took from Kent. Q uses a flamethrower
Flamethrower
A flamethrower is a mechanical device designed to project a long controllable stream of fire.Some flamethrowers project a stream of ignited flammable liquid; some project a long gas flame. Most military flamethrowers use liquids, but commercial flamethrowers tend to use high-pressure propane and...
to kill the swarm, but melts part of his van, in the process.
Meanwhile, the single wasp that first killed the janitor, finds its way to Mayor Gibson's office, and kills him, by stinging his eye. His assistant, Ellie Martin, (Ellen Dubin
Ellen Dubin
Ellen Dubin is a Canadian actress. She is best known for her part in the television mini-series Lexx, playing the role of Giggerota.Dubin was born in Toronto, Ontario. From 2004-2006 Dubin starred in the TV series The Collector as Jeri Slate. She was nominated for a Gemini Award for this role...
) finds his body, and chases the wasp, with a shotgun, eventually killing it. Kent and Cristina come, and ask her if she killed it. She says she "blew it to Kingdom Come
Heaven
Heaven, the Heavens or Seven Heavens, is a common religious cosmological or metaphysical term for the physical or transcendent place from which heavenly beings originate, are enthroned or inhabit...
." The cook-off then starts, and Heydon comes to try to convince Washburn, that they have to shut it down. But before he can, the swarm arrives, and begins attacking people. They kill a woman, Melanie Sheer Maria Brooks, a mean reporter, while her camera man, Chuey (Balázs Koós), video tapes. Washburn hides in a dunk tank
Dunk tank
A dunk tank, also known as a dunking booth or dunking machine, is an attraction mainly used in funfairs, fundraisers, and personal parties. Basically, a dunk tank consists of a large tank of water, over which a seat is suspended...
, but gets killed when two wasps, crawl down the hose that he is breathing through, and sting his mouth. Eventually, Kent and Cristina show up, and begin administering anti-venom, to the stung, and use tire patching spray, to close up the wasps' breathing holes. Q also arrives and begins attracting the wasps to a golf cart, to trap them inside a garage. While he does so, Kent, Cristina, and Rafe begin gathering petrol tank
Fuel tank
A fuel tank is safe container for flammable fluids. Though any storage tank for fuel may be so called, the term is typically applied to part of an engine system in which the fuel is stored and propelled or released into an engine...
s, and gasoline
Gasoline
Gasoline , or petrol , is a toxic, translucent, petroleum-derived liquid that is primarily used as a fuel in internal combustion engines. It consists mostly of organic compounds obtained by the fractional distillation of petroleum, enhanced with a variety of additives. Some gasolines also contain...
, so as to destroy the wasps, altogether. Q manages to get the wasps inside, and they ignite the gas, with Rafe's lighter. But the queen survives, and goes after Q, but is sucked up by Rafe, with the portable vacuum cleaner he was given, to vacuum up the dead wasps. He then throws it, into the fire.
We then see Kent and Cristina, who are now in a relationship, going to dinner. The camera then zooms up to the charred vacuum, as we see the queen, who somehow survived, laying eggs.
Cast
- Michael ShanksMichael ShanksMichael Garrett Shanks is a Canadian actor who achieved fame for his role as Dr. Daniel Jackson in the long-running Canadian-American military science fiction television series Stargate SG-1.-Early life:...
- Carol AltCarol AltCarol Ann Alt is an American model and actress.- Early life:Alt was born in Flushing, Queens, New York, the daughter of Muriel, an airline employee and model, and Anthony Alt, a fire chief. She was noticed waiting tables in her hometown of East Williston, New York. When she was 18, she decided to...
- Richard ChevolleauRichard ChevolleauRichard Chevolleau is a Jamaican-Canadian actor. Although born in Kingston, Jamaica he was raised in Toronto.After completing High School he studied the Meisner Technique of acting....
- Booth SavageBooth SavageBooth Savage is a Canadian film, stage, and television actor. He graduated with an MFA from York University in 1992. He is in the Canadore College Theatre program faculty. He is best known to Canadian TV viewers for his role as Team Canada head coach Harry Sinden in the 2006 CBC miniseries...
- Christopher Bondy
- Jonathan Malen
- Maria Brooks
- Tim ThomersonTim ThomersonJoseph Timothy “Tim” Thomerson is an American actor and comedian.Thomerson is most famous for his role as Jack Deth in the Trancers film series and is renowned for his work in numerous low-budget movies and his comedic television roles.-Early life:Tim Thomerson was born in Coronado, California. He...
- Balazs Koos
Production
The movie was filmed in Ontario, Canada, and was distributed by Sci Fi Pictures.Reception
The film received mixed reviews, by critics, with a 35% semi-rotten rating, on Rotten TomatoesRotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is a website devoted to reviews, information, and news of films—widely known as a film review aggregator. Its name derives from the cliché of audiences throwing tomatoes and other vegetables at a poor stage performance...
.
See also
- Africanized beeAfricanized beeAfricanized honey bees, known colloquially as "killer bees", are a hybrid variety of the European honeybee , generated by a man-made breeding of the African honey bee, A. m. scutellata, with various European honey bees such as the Italian bee A. m. ligustica and A. m. iberiensis. These bees are far...
- The Swarm (film)
- Killer Bees (1974 film)Killer Bees (1974 film)Killer Bees is a 1974 made for TV horror movie featuring Gloria Swanson that originally aired on ABC on February 26, 1974. The film, which was directed by Curtis Harrington, had a very small cast, including Kate Jackson, Craig Stevens, John Getz, and Edward Albert.-Plot:Madame von Bohlen , a...
- Die Bienen – Tödliche BedrohungDie Bienen – Tödliche BedrohungDie Bienen — Tödliche Bedrohung is a 2008 German horror film directed by Michael Karen and stars Janin Reinhardt, Rolf Kanies and Sonja Kirchberger.-Plot:...
(a 2008 Killer Bee movie)