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.
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