[Growing Out]
Plot:An out of work songwriter named Tom cleaning up an old house in exchange for free room and board discovers what's growing out of the basement floor is terribly unsettling - a human hand, which quickly develops an arm, a head, and a personality of its own. Matters soon become even more complicated when Tom finds himself falling in love with his neighbor Philip's beautiful lady-friend Veronica. But Philip isn't much for sharing.

Cast:Stephanie Skewes, Bill Devlin, Devon Iott, Davis Jaye, Michael Hampton, Jeff Scott, Ryan Sterling, Ben Bowden, Chase Hemphill, Eric Toms.

My Thoughts:Tries to be throwback but instead, makes you wanna throw up!

Review:"Growing Out" isn't a horror movie persay, but rather a weird, oddball sci-fi horror film, being very low on the horror...but very high on the sci-fi and morbid oddball elements. The movie follows a struggling musician named Tom. Tom sucks as a musician, but still thinks he can make it. However, his music isn't gaining him any zero's (cash), so he decides to clean up an old house for a one armed man. In exchange, the man gives Tom free room and board.

Things are going pretty well for Tom....that is until he discovers a horrifying secret in the basement. A human hand is growing out of the dirt! And soon, the hand is followed by a head, and other body parts. As if a human person is literally sprouting out of the basement! Tom of course is shocked by this development, and between trying to hone his guitar skills, and also a new-found love affair with his neighbor's female-friend Veronica...this is the last thing he needs.

This movie reminded me of the old Full Moon movies from way back in the 90's. Stuff like "Dollman", and "Bad Channels". Not necessarily scary, just cheesy sci-fi/action/horror productions. "Growing Out" tries to be one, but in reality it's quite boring, WAY too talky, and lacks any entertainment value whatsoever. Couple that with the dude in the basement who gets annoying really fast, and the lackluster characters, and you've got a sinking ship that's sinking fast. I totally got what the writer and director were trying to do with the movie.

I just wasn't moved, entertained, or excited by it. This movie gets interesting once Tom discovers there's a person growing out of the basement floor, but when you put something like that into a movie, you've gotta follow it up with something equally interesting or cool. This movie does none of those things. It gives us basement guy, and then basement guy spends the rest of the film, that is....once he sprouts a head...talking, and yammering on and on. In a series of pointless and wasteful conversations with Tom.

And this movie is so predictable that you even know in advance what they're gonna say like for example, in one scene where Tom doesn't know how to approach Veronica, the guy in the basement gives him some advice on that front. As if we didn't see that coming. It would've been more interesting if the guy in the basement were a bad guy wearing the mask of a good guy, or had some ulterior or nefarious motives. Ala many films where weird things have requested human help for freedom, only to later reveal themselves to be evil.

This picture plays out like a stoner/buddy comedy. For white suburban kids who like to get high and laugh at idiotic cinematic material. I mean "Idle Hands" from back in 99' wasn't a genius piece of work either, and it falls into the same category as "Growing Out". But atleast it was funny, and entertaining, and had an interesting story, and a good cast...Alba, Green, and Sawa. This movie is filled with indie actors who are pretty much nameless in the mainstream.

So the movie is left to rely on a good story and some intriguing developments. Both of which it fails to implement. The only thing even remotely interesting about this movie is Tom and Veronica's first meeting where she explains to him why she's missing one of her fingers. And if a girl and guy conversation about lost limbs is as watchable as your movie gets, then you're in serious trouble. The movie tries to get bloody at the end with a twist out of films such as "The Shining", "Misery", and other horror-influenced films involving killer-psychopaths.

But the twist is something anyone can see coming a mile away, and really does nothing for the movie overall except embarass it even further. "Growing Out" is a mess indeed. If you can't make something atleast decent when you have a man growing out of the floor literally, then you might as well quit while you're not ahead.

Positives:The actress playing Veronica was easy on the eyes, and her story about how she lost her finger was remotely interesting.

Negatives:A lack of entertainment value, no severe horror elements, alot of boring going-nowhere chatter amongst the characters, the movie just didn't deliver anywhere pretty much.

Overall:No stars out of four.





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