my very brief thoughts on.... 'Jack Ketchum's Offspring'

The first Jack Ketchum adaptation I saw was 'The Girl Next Door', it was horrifying. It wasn't a 'horror' movie, but the subject matter was extremely hard to watch. The next one I watched was 'The Lost'. I still haven't made it the whole way through. For some reason I just couldn't get into it. Recently I've been reading alot about a movie called 'The Woman'. From what I understand, it's the sequel to 'Offspring'.... therefore I thought I should watch this one first. 'The Woman' has gotten a lot of positive notice's and was directed by Lucky McKee with Angels Bettis starring in it. Perhaps I should start re-thinking my habit of being a "completionist". I could have lived my entire life without sitting through the movie 'Offspring'. 1) I'm not a fan of the zombie sub-genre of cannibalism. 2) I've not seen too many Ghost House Underground productions that I've enjoyed.... in fact, I can't even think of one right now. 3) With my Jack Ketchum track record, why would I put myself out on a limb to undertake another one? But I did it anyway and now I kind of regret it.

This movie is about a group of cannibal's that live in hiding near a very populated area. Somehow they've gone without being noticed for a long time. There is a police officer that has been tracking them, but with no luck. The cannibal's are in the middle of trying to kidnap a baby to steal its power. They end up at a home of a family and proceed to kill the family and only a visiting friend, her son and the families baby escape. They hide out in the forest behind the house and try and wait out the cannibalistic killers. The cops find out about the murder scene and soon everyone is trying to find the missing members of the family and the friends. The cannibal's proceed to kill a lot of people, the surviving family member's and the friends get kidnapped by the cannibal's and the rest is lame, so I won't bore you.
This movie tries to do something, I just don't know what it is? Is it a horror? Is it a crime drama? Is it a thriller? Is it a gore-fest? I just don't know. This was dull and uninspired filmmaking and I wonder why Jack Ketchum keeps putting his name on these things? I also wonder how in the hell this thing has a sequel coming out? One with a well known director and star and a recurring character from the first movie. It just shows that things get made regardless of quality or the public's taste. Perhaps I'm missing the point of this? Or perhaps I just wasn't in the mood for a cannibal movie? I mean, I was never a fan in the first place.... maybe that's it. I gave it 1 out of 5 stars as soon as it ended. I barely turned it off and I was already rating it. The problem is, once 'The Woman' comes out, I'm afraid that I'm going to want to see it. I really enjoy Lucky McKee's movies and I enjoy Angela Bettis's work, so what's a movie lover to do? I suppose we'll find out when that day comes. Until then, I'm going to stay away from the cannibal's and let the zombie's do the flesh chewing.

If you want a decent cannibalistic film, watch: 'Hunger' (2009), 'Ravenous' and 'Dumplings aka Gaau ji' (2004)