Movie Review - OFFSPRING

Whatever Jack Ketchum writes, it's visceral. It's also visual - in your mind.

The latest film from his arsenal of books is actually the sequel to a book that, unfortunately, didn't get the film treatment due to numerous legal squabbles. We may not get to see OFF SEASON, but OFFSPRING makes up for the slack. (If you haven't read either, read them in order, if nothing more than to get the full "effect" of the story.)

The first thing that struck me was that Ketchum wrote the screenplay. This has led to the film being shot 99% verbatim to the book, and as a reader that made me very happy.

The story is basically two-fold. There is a family who lives in a remote area of Maine (the northern woodsy area). They are hunted, tortured, and consumed by a "family" of cannibals.

The other "side" of the story involves this cannibalistic family who is struggling to survive in this modern day and age. Although you don't sympathize with them, you tend to understand them better.

What's missing is the full explanation of WHY these cannibals became what they are, which is told in the first book. There are a series of newspaper articles and such at the very beginning of the movie, to help with the back story, but I felt there needed to be more clarification. Also missing is the reason why the cannibals have such names as "Rabbit", "Cow", "Eartheater", "First Taken", and "Second Taken", which was given in the first book.

The movie is brutal. Children are murdered, as well as adults. And the bloodshed is non-stop. There is dismemberment, nudity, and profanity. In short, I think horror fans will enjoy it.

My recommendation. And go read both books, too. It doesn't matter if you read first before watching the movie, or vice versa.