DVD Release
A series of brutal murders occurring up and down the Eastern seaboard for years drives a dedicated detective into retirement and the bottom of a bottle. When the murders begin again in a small town, his small town, the local police bring him in as an expert and the hunt begins for, what law enforcement believe may be the violent, cannibalistic offspring of a outcast lighthouse attendant. Will they get to the migrating monsters before they strike again or will they be forced to journey into the very heart of Hell itself?
Like you don’t know the answer to that question!
Folks, it was bound to happen to Ketchum, it happens to authors all the time, amazing books occasionally end up as barely tolerable cinematic adaptations. In this case the bad cinematic adaptation was spawned from a mediocre novel and, unfortunately, Ketchum is partially to blame as he scripted this adaptation. Thus far Ketchum’s work has remained safe from the usually withering touch of death wielded by Hollywood, The Lost and Girl Next Door were both fantastic films and the as-yet unseen Red starring Brian Cox is still highly anticipated. You win some, you lose some.
Offspring isn’t a horrible film, it just wasn’t very good at all; the directing wasn’t strong, the dialogue was clunky and the characters clichéd, the entire thing felt amateurish (especially the acting) and incomplete, a film sequel to a film (Off Season) that hasn’t been made yet. To make matters worse, apparently Off Season is in pre-production and won’t even be made by the same production company or director! Will it serve as a standalone film or an unofficial prequel? Yikes.
Many people enjoyed this film due to the fair amount of gore on display, and there was, but it just doesn’t change my opinion of this film. Gore, when done right, is certainly a plus but it can never make up for a wobbly story that depends on the opening title sequence to fill in the back story viewers will no doubt be asking about by closing credits. By far this is the weakest entry in this year’s Ghost House Underground series and, without a doubt, the low point of Ketchum films. No biggie though, it happens to King all the time. Hell, I’m not sure there’s EVER been a decent Koontz film!
I just didn’t dig Offspring, it was my least favorite of the films based on Ketchum novels, but that’s just inevitability, it would have only been a matter of time before there was a dud. My recommendation would be to see it if you absolutely must, return it to your rental outlet and never look back. Andrew van den Houten’s company Modernciné has produced and released some damn good stuff so I don’t want to come across as being a hater but this was a swing and a miss. I can’t recommend a purchase unless you’re obsessed with collecting all of the Ghost House Underground films to satiate your OCD.
