A Breed Apart
Actresses "Fall" from Grace with this dog of a horror-comedy.
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I often enjoy bad movies and almost always dig “when animals attack” movies, which made me open to the charms of “A Breed Apart” (available in select theaters and on VOD beginning Friday, May 16). Unfortunately, the picture is largely charmless, which makes this dog one helluva slog.
Violet (Grace Caroline Currey) and her brother Collins (Zak Steiner) are invited to an island getaway alongside a bunch of other social media influencers – among them Big Farmer Jay (Page Kennedy), Killer Queen (Riele Downs) and Mason Kelly (Troy Gentile, “The Goldbergs”) – by vlogger Vince Ventura (Joey Bragg) and his stoner of a right-hand woman Thalia (Virginia Gardner).
Thalia should’ve known better as her action hero actress of a sister Hayden Hearst (Hayden Panettiere) survived a shoot on the island during which animal trainers were mauled to death by a ravenous pack of abandoned German Shepherds. The dogs are still there and they’re hungry. These Internet celebrities must now fight for survival lest they become puppy chow.
“A Breed Apart” is a loose reimagining of the 2006 Wes Craven-produced creature feature “The Breed.” It’s co-written and co-directed by brothers Griff and Nathan Furst (sons of late actor Stephen Furst, best known as Flounder from “National Lampoon’s Animal House”). They previously collaborated on the Syfy original “Nightmare Shark.”
I think the Fursts were shooting for a fun horror-comedy, but the resulting product isn’t scary nor is it funny. This is some sub-“Sharknado” shit with horrible special effects and even worse writing.
The Fursts have a talented cast (I’ve really enjoyed Kennedy’s work on “Blue Mountain State” and in “The Meg” movies), but they’re much better than the material they’re being provided. Currey and Gardner co-starred alongside one another in Scott Mann’s efficient thriller “Fall” and were far more effective there. The Fursts ill-advisedly have the actresses reference their previous collaboration, but I’d appreciate it if they didn’t remind us of a good movie while giving us a bad one. Panettiere was so fun in the recent “Scream VI,” but mostly feels like she’s going through the motions here … I suspect she was only on set for a day or two.
The biggest problem with “A Breed Apart” is that I love dogs far more than I do social media influencers. I don’t give a good goddamn if any of these characters live or die and hate seeing harm come to the canines – even if they’re rabid and poorly-rendered.
This dog doesn’t deserve a walk, but needs to take one. It’s a mutt of a movie that should be muzzled as it takes us from Furst to worst.