Isolation (2005)

"Isolation" was an attempt to give horror films that elusive, sexy UK-kitchen-sink-drama feel. It's a new cinematic beast (no, not a mutant cow) and I would call it the "kitchen-sink horror-film". If Mike Leigh ever decided to make a monster flick, this might be something like what it would look like.If your life-long dream has always been to see Essie Davis stick a whole arm up a cow's *ss and then get bitten by something inside it, this is the movie for you. Personally, I just wanted to see the movie coz Essie is in it, not the cow-bum-shoving part. There are only 5-6 people in the entire movie, and yet guess whom they kill off first, before even half the movie is up? Yes, Essie. Thanks a lot, guys. And thanks for letting her show up again, half an hour later, as a damn corpse.A word of advice: NEVER kill off the pretty maiden early on. In fact, don't kill her off at all. The guys are all expendable."Attack of the Killer Cows" or "Invasion of the Cow Snatchers" wouldn't have been quite as serious-sounding as "Isolation". (Let alone "Attack of the Killer Calf".) The term "isolation" is closely related to Socialism's pet disease "alienation", and what self-respecting kitchen-sink UK film could do without that? There is an air of gloom and doom and abject hopelessness all-round in this greenish-brownish film which makes the events less cheesy than they otherwise would have been. After all, these ARE cows that kill, not vampires, and major efforts (or precautions) were made to make sure we don't burst out laughing early on in the movie. In fact, they succeeded because I never once laughed. Unfortunately, I did yawn.Just to avoid misunderstandings, none of these cows suffer from mad-cow disease, it's not that kind of illness. These cows aren't loony. They're totally rational, cold-calculating murderers.It all started as an experiment in which cows were genetically modified in order to increase their growth rate. Couldn't they have just fed them more grass? Or if they wanted bigger cows they could just have sent them to regular binge-bouts in McDonalds. It seems to work for some Americans.The black girl doesn't have it easy. It's bad enough to be hiding away from your brothers in a tiny, run-down, filthy trailer, parked near a depression-inducing Oyrish farm. But then to have to be woken up by a crawling/mutating mini-cow, shaped like the behind of Ridley Scott's alien, that must be as bad as it gets. You know you've hit rock-bottom when you're sleeping in a shoddy trailer, surrounded by farm-based mutant hell-beasts, sneaking up to your c***** at night.Speaking of which, the movie ends with the black girl's pregnancy, 4 months later. I guess the makers of this mediocrity were quite optimistic that "Isolation" would be a smash-hit, hence why not leave a door open for a pointless sequel. Will tiny, shapeless cows take over the world - or won't they? That's almost as exciting as contemplating whether Jane Austin's Mr.Darcy will marry Tina or Gina. Oh, no, I'm yawning again.

Isolation is set in Ireland on a rundown cattle farm owned by Daniel (John Lynch), sinister genetic scientist John (Marcel Iures) along with local vet Orla (Essie Davis) have been carrying out genetic experiments on Daniel's livestock. As a result of trying to genetically produce more fertile Cow's with shorter gestation periods one of Daniel's Cow's gives birth to a deformed mutant which itself is pregnant with six mutant babies, after killing the mother Cow & baby Calf Orla carries out a crude autopsy during which one of the mutant foetus creatures crawl's off unnoticed. The mutant foetus starts to infect the other Cow's & more mutants are born, the infection & creatures must be stopped on Daniel's farm or risk a widespread epidemic throughout the world...This British & Irish co-production was written & directed by Billy O'Brien & is a sort of mix of Alien (1979) with it's parasitic creatures that burst out of stomachs & it's water dripping, chain clinking visuals & sonics, the slimly design of the monsters comes right from The Thing (1982) & the whole genetic experiments gone wrong on a farm reeks of Black Sheep (2006) all three of which are better than Isolation. For a start Isolation is slow going, really slow going at times & there's not a whole lot to it other than there's this farm with a killer mutant baby Cow monster crawling around. The monster doesn't really do that much apart from scratch a few people & the script focuses on what it represents rather than what it does, the idea that if it escapes the farm the mutant Calf infection will spread across the world is mentioned often but ultimately Isolation never leaves the confines of the farm. The character's are alright & slightly stronger than expected if a little dull, Isolation isn't your typical Hollywood horror & there's no good looking girls to strip or young teenagers to save the day, the character's here are pretty believable even if they are rather forgettable. The genetic experiments are never gone into in any great detail & the scripts message about not tampering with Mother Nature or altering genetics for gain & failed scientific experiments is far from original. At a shade over 90 minutes Isolation goes for a slow build-up & never really gets going, quite simply there were too many times when I was sat there watching this bored.Along with a slow script the direction is also pretty slow with some fairly long shots that drag scenes out, Isolation is a pretty dull looking film set on a dirty & rundown cattle farm in the bleak Irish countryside. The monster itself isn't seen killing anyone, it's implied it killed someone but otherwise it doesn't seem that interested randomly killing people. There's a bit of gore, there's plenty of Cow guts, some blood splatter, a bolt gun is used to kill a Cow & a guy while the monster itself is mainly kept in the shadow's although it's also nice to see a modern film without any CGI computer effects. The whole look & feel of Isolation reminded me of Alien, sure Alien set on a farm in Ireland but Alien none the less.With a supposed budget of about £2,900,000 this had a reasonable amount spent on it, it's very well made with slick production design but again I found it rather bleak, forgettable & dull. Filmed in County Wicklow in Ireland. The acting is solid from a decent cast not chosen for their looks.Isolation is a film that many seem to like, personally I didn't since it felt far too similar to lots of other genetic experiments gone wrong type horror films without distinguishing itself in the slightest. I found it slow to the point of boredom, somewhat predictable & the warning about genetic experimentation & it's horrible consequences is far from original.

ISOLATION is a British horror thriller set in an isolated farm, in Ireland. The plot is about a predator creature that hosts initially in a pregnant cow but then it comes to the outside spreading the terror through the farm... The plot (something in the ALIEN genre...) is not original at all but the setting is! I guess I haven't watched too many horror films set in a farm, with cows and stuff...The production is good. The film is suspenseful and has a great ambiance (good illumination, camera work). There're also good gore scenes. For its genre it's a nice film. I score it 6/10.

The broken farmer Dan (John Lynch) rents his farm for the scientist John (Marcel Iures) from the Bovine Genetics Technology that is researching genetic modifications of cattle to increase its fertilization. The veterinarian Orla (Essie Davis) is bitten by the calf while helping the cow to deliver, and she feels that something went wrong with the experiment. During the night, the cow has a narrow passage for the calf, and Dan asks the young couple Jamie (Sean Harris) and Mary (Ruth Negga) that is parked in a trailer in front of his farm's entrance to help him in the delivery. When the offspring is born, it bites Dan; Orla arrives later and realizes that it is a genetic anomaly and she sacrifices the calf. During the autopsy of the animal, she discovers that the fetus is pregnant and she destroys the freak hybrids. However, one of them escapes and attacks a cow first and Jamie later. When John arrives in the farm, he discovers that there is the danger of infection of human beings and decides to quarantine the spot. But one offspring is alive and need to be captured."Isolation" is a creepy and gruesome version of Alien in an Irish farm. The cinematography is very dark like the story that is simple but works, and the locations are indeed repugnant. But the direction and the cast make the difference with excellent work highlighting the always excellent John Lynch. The special effects are great and the open conclusion gives a perfect ending to this movie. My vote is seven.Title (Brazil): "Quarentena" ("Quarantine")