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15 out of 21 people found the following review useful: a novice "Master" produces one of the series' better episodes, 30 June 2006 Author: Jonny_Numb from Hellfudge, Pennsylvania
There is a certain unease to the supplements on the 'Sick Girl' DVD. Director Lucky McKee is strangely reserved in divulging the details of his life and career, as are the collaborators interviewed for the 'Working with a Master' featurette. It's not hard to see why; as many others (even "Masters of Horror" creator Mick Garris) have pointed out, McKee is a director with only one (publicly released) horror film to his name. Granted, that film is the stunning, oddly sad sleeper "May" (which even Roger Ebert awarded 4 stars), which contained a star-making performance from Angela Bettis (who truly lends professionalism and skill to an oft-derided genre). One should also keep in mind that McKee was added to the "Masters" roster when George Romero dropped out, and it is therefore not a matter of privilege, but necessity, that produced his entry, which plays runner-up only to John Landis' excellent 'Deer Woman.' As in "May," the director shows his knack for putting the veiled motives of human behavior and the complexities of relationships out in the open. 'Sick Girl' follows lonely lesbian scientist Ida (Angela Bettis) who is enamored of the mysterious Misty (Erin Brown, aka Misty Mundae, of "Duck!"), whom she becomes involved; Ida is in love with bugs, and when Misty is bitten by an 'aggressive' new addition, she gradually begins to lose her sanity. While the climax makes full use of the KNB FX budget, the episode is more engaging in the eccentric relationship these two women share, making the viewer truly care as things become increasingly weird. Save for a silly final scene, this is easily one of the best MOH episodes I've seen thus far.6.5 out of 10
13 out of 18 people found the following review useful: Fun, offbeat and as quirky as hell, 18 June 2006 Author: Lex Fulgore (Naturezrevenge) from Canada
This is the tale of two rather off color people finding each other and staying together under very unusual and perverse conditions. I wouldn't label this as strictly a horror short...it borders more on black comedy and quietly pays tribute to the B-movies before it's time. The main thing it has going for it is that the two main characters (played by the fabulous Angela Bettis Misty Mundae) are extremely endearing and fun to watch go through the twisted hand fate dealt them. This is a very intimate, often hilarious and soulful film with a few solid creepy segments and an absurd storyline. Bottom line, it's enjoyable, quirky as hell and definitely worth watching.
10 out of 13 people found the following review useful: Bizarre and unique entry to the series makes for a truly memorable installment., 18 July 2006 Author: Kevin (kevin86) from Alberta, Canada
I was actually very surprised upon initially hearing that Lucky McKee had been given a spot to make an episode for the Masters of Horror. I had seen May a long time ago and remembered not being very impressed with it (though a recent viewing of it made me appreciate it more) and wasn't expecting somebody with so little accomplished in the horror genre to have an episode so soon in the show. And in all honesty I wasn't really impressed with the trailer for it either but of course I had every intention to watch every episode no matter how much I thought it would be lacking.Boy was my initial judgment wrong. Lucky McKee's Sick Girl is by far one of the most entertaining and memorable episodes to the first season. I would have to say that it easily makes my top 3 favorite episodes of the first batch. It is in every way a drama and comedy as it is a horror film. What Lucky does best in this episode is not only tell a horrific story about a bug monster terrorizing an apartment complex, but he surrounds it with a unique love story centralizing on a very fascinating main character. Angela Bettis is perfectly cast (yet again, see May) as the lonely, detached scientist looking for love. Her little gestures and personality traits are just as interesting to watch as the great scares at the end. And once the conclusion mounts its an emotional ride as its hard not to feel deep compassion and concern for the central characters.And as unconventional and bizarre as the ending may seem its perfectly fitting and in many ways sort of happy. I loved Sick Girl and hope Lucky is invited back to do another episode. Initial criticism's aside, my first thoughts prior to viewing this film were pleasantly proved wrong. Bravo McKee.
10 out of 15 people found the following review useful: Beware With the Brazilian Bug, 9 June 2007 Author: Claudio Carvalho from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
The lonely, shy and lesbian etymologist Ida Teeter (Angela Bettis) of The McNaughton Museum of Natural History is obsessed by her "pets", actually her collection of insects. She works with her colleague and friend Max (Jesse Hlubik), also her adviser in sexual behavior. Ida receives an anonymous package from Brazil with an unclassified insect but the weird bug breaks free from the box. Meanwhile Ida falls in love for the gorgeous Misty Falls (Erin Brown), who is bitten and infected by the bug and moves to Ida's apartment. When Ida receives letters from her former Professor Malcolm Wolf explaining how the insect reproduces and transforms the animals he bites, Ida is apprehensive about Misty."Sick Girl" is one of the best episodes of "Master of Horror" show. Directed by Lucky McKee (of "May") and with Angela Bettis performing another weird and eccentric character, the story recalls the sci-fi / horror genre of the 50's or 60's with eerie monster and lots of black humor. I was surprised with the extensive filmography of the good and beautiful actress Erin Brown, who is completely unknown for me. I believe most of her movies have not been released in Brazil, and this is certainly the first film that I see her. Surprisingly there are bad reviews in IMDb of this episode. My vote is seven.Title (Brazil): "Criatura Maligna" ("Evil Creature")
6 out of 10 people found the following review useful: Girls, You'll Be Sick Women Soon...., 12 August 2006 Author: Coventry from the Draconian Swamp of Unholy Souls
I'm SO glad that Lucky McKee eventually became a part of the "Masters of Horror" directors line-up! Perhaps the amount of titles on his filmography isn't yet as impressive as it is the case with the other guys, but his "May" was a totally refreshing film and undoubtedly one of the best horror efforts of the last 15 years. And, you have to admit it, "Sick Girl" looks terrific! Angela Bettis plays another eccentric young woman, but not quite like her role in "May". Here, she's a lesbian and obsessed with unusual insects. Pretty much synchronous with the start of her dream-like relationship with the beautiful Misty, Ida receives an anonymous package containing a very rare Brazilian insect. The eerie bug bites Misty and slowly turns her into an aggressive monster that terrorizes Ida's apartment building. Ida notices Misty's increasingly strange behavior but she doesn't simply want to give up the best romance she ever experienced in her lonely life. "Sick Girl" fundamentally is a black comedy about relationships, prejudices and commitment, but the gooey make-up effects are phenomenal and the atmosphere is often very creepy. Angela Bettis is amazing and I was particularly surprised to find out that Erin Brown (a.k.a. Misty Mundae) is actually a very good actress! I've never seen any of her soft-core horror crap, but now I'm definitely interested. McKee's directing is surefooted and the climax is deliciously grotesque. Another awesome entry is the pretty damn great "Master of Horror"-series, highly recommended!
5 out of 9 people found the following review useful: Lucky McKee is a future master; what a funny episode this was, 22 January 2007 Author: LoneWolfAndCub from Australia
Much like Landis' Deer Woman, Lucky McKee goes for laughs over straight horror. Sick Girls stars Angela Bettis as Ida Teeter, a shy, lesbian entomologist. She doesn't do so well relationship wise as her apartment filled with bugs is quite off-putting. That is, until she meets Misty Falls (Erin Brown) her new lover who doesn't get creeped out by the bugs. Unfortunately she gets bitten by a bug sent to Ida, a very mysterious bug that changes people's personalities for the worst.McKee is actually a lot like John Landis, mixing gory horror with hilarious comedy. This works on a lot of levels, the acting is great (I love Bettis, she is an excellent actress), the humour is actually funny, the gore sickening and the monsters big and ugly. This episode is highly recommended.4/5.
A 'Brillaint Bug Based' movie, from a director you wouldn't first think a Master of Horror., 29 October 2009 Author: Max Quin from United Kingdom
To say the least 'Sick Girl' by Lucky McKee was one of the episodes in the series that caught me by surprise it was down-to-earth, gripping and at all times fun to watch.The Story of this episode is based around Ida (Angela Bettis), Ida is a secluded and weird lesbian, who has a big interest in all nature of bugs, she works at the McNaughton Museum of National History with a young colleague and close friend Max (Jesse Hlubik) On return home one night Ida receives an anonymous package containing a weird bug she has never seen before, the bug is at first a huge interest of Ida's however this critter takes a backseat to the love relationship between Ida and her newly found love interest Misty (Misty Mundae) during this time the bug breaks free, escapes and infects Misty. It soon becomes apparent to the viewer that something is off with Misty, and finally the bug infected Misty makes herself known in a big reveal towards the ending. The characters were for the most part very likable while Ida created some awkward tension I still genuinely liked her, and cared considerably about the relationship between Ida and Misty, all along I was routing for things to go fine between them as a couple. You couldn't help but like both characters and find intrigue in all there nature's of weirdness, which made the episode very interesting itself to watch. The acting for the most part was really good; Angela Bettis played a perfect Ida and the beautiful and unknown actor Misty Mundae done a really good job for someone I've never seen before. Even the secondary roles of the likes of Jesse Hlubik were played decently. Sadly there were some issues, at times it felt like the characters had way to many strange quirks and odd circumstances that detracted from the nature of the episode, we had a main character who was a lesbian, also was completely unsocial, and into bugs who was in a relationship with well you get the idea, it kind of lost the plot down strange avenue at some point.The Bug is clearly a main part of the episode. We learn about this creepy critter from a few minutes in and we know even from then on in something's not right about this creature we know it's there and the director makes us constantly aware of that, not only by the degrading nature of Misty as a result of her infection but constantly hearing insect like sounds (scurrying etc.). At times the director cleverly makes us forget the bugs existent but always throws in a scene or event to always keep us on our toes and uncertain as to what might happen next.The whole thing came to a brilliant ending revealing Misty, transforming into an insect and in a quite horrific manner (arms sprouting out of shoulders, insect like eyes) this completely contrasted the otherwise slow and consistent build up, and light creepy frights throughout the episode, making it all the more shocking and all the more creepy. We end up seeing a character (Max) killed off in such a quick gory manner; I myself and actually personally liked Jesse Hlubik as Max, to seem him used as fodder at the end just for that quick kill off scene was pretty annoying and predictable to say the least. Still it was so unlike the rest of the episode that it heightened the whole experience. We also got a little view of Misty and Ida impregnated by the bug and also infected by the bugs mind control which was a quite a light-hearted (though creepy) way to throwback the ending.The whole episode is enjoyable and entertaining, scary and strange and at all times the director maintains a tongue-in-cheek attitude that assures that you never take things to seriously I wouldn't exactly consider it Black-Comedy. It reminded me a lot of old monster flicks from the 60's and the like, but it also fondly reminded me of John Carpenter's "The Thing" and David Cronenberg's "The Fly. I really have high hopes for this director his previous works "May" seems to have a same image of a strange and bizarre girl but still maintains a completely different approach and structure, both are quite unique and original in there composition. While I wouldn't at first consider Lucky McKee a "Master of Horror" after seeing this episode I completely do now.
Really bugs me., 10 July 2009 Author: tamimarie228 from Iowa
*** This review may contain spoilers ***
There is this lesbian named Ida and she works with bugs and bugs are her whole life. She thinks that they are cute and it interferes with any relationship that she starts. Then she meets a girl with hair in her face and they fall in love. It's kind of cute in way but I was looking for a horror story from the start and not really a love story. Even as the movie progresses, I didn't really care about the love between the two women and I wanted to punch that old landlady too. Who cares if two women are making out in the hallway. If it were a man and a woman the old landlady wouldn't have cared at all. So then there is this pregnancy scene at the end that is just hilarious! It's really stupid too. This wasn't my favorite episode but it wasn't that bad for this series.
1 out of 2 people found the following review useful: Tries very hard, but fails, 13 November 2008 Author: cynthiacher-1 from United States
This episode of the "Masters of Horror" series tries very hard to be both amusing and horrifying but doesn't quite manage to be either.The "humor" is very heavy-handed and Angela Bettis's character "Ida Teeter" is a caricature, not a human being. The plot line is promising (a strange, huge bug running loose that can devour mammals and impregnate (!) them) but ultimately goes nowhere. Bettis's co-star Erin Brown (aka Misty Mundae. a soft porn/horror scream queen) tries to make the most of her role as the ditsy, pixie-obsessed "Misty Falls", but leaves no major impression.The whole relationship between the two women seems unbelievably far-fetched. Ida is not particularly attractive, looks much older than Misty, and is very weird and socially-unskilled, and yet Misty has been fixated on her, as it turns out, for YEARS! Misty seems pretty strange herself, but even so her obsession with Ida seems ludicrous. And why does the perfectly normal-seeming Max give the insufferable Ida the time of day, much less be her best friend? The land lady character seems to exist only to be "the bad person who deserved to get killed" role you see in countless unimaginative horror films. And Max is the second "friend of the protagonist" character to get killed that I've seen in the Master of Horror series. Is this some kind of formula that stories in this series must adhere to? I've seen two segments so far and both of them featured the nice friend of the protagonist getting destroyed by a monster. In "Sick Girl", the death of Max was gratuitous and served no purpose at all, except to provide some gore.The ending were terrible, incredibly stupid even for a horror movie. Misty becomes this CREATURE, a "bug" of some kind, and the bug's mandibles (or whatever they have) have torn through her flesh (earlier Misty's ear became a bloody mush and fell off). She's no longer human. But at the end, she's perfectly normal and healthy looking and happily pregnant with the bug's offspring (as is Ida). HOW is it possible to go from having her flesh ripped apart from the inside to being whole again? Like I said, it's stupid even for a horror movie.I'm going to watch two other segments of this series tonight. God, I hope they're better than this!
1 out of 2 people found the following review useful: A Black Comedy More Than Horror, But in A Good Way, 11 October 2007 Author: Benjamin Gauss from Salzburg, Austria
Being a fan of the "Masters Of Horror" series, I was quite curious to see this 10th episode of the first season, Lucky Mc Kee's "Sick Girl" starring Angela Bettis, the star of McKee's 2002 film "May". "Sick Girl" is not quite a typical MoH episode, as it could best be described as a very black comedy with a fair amount of creepiness and a twisted sense of humor.Ida Teeter (Angela Bettis), a lesbian etymologist, is a shy person who is desperately looking for a companion as her romances usually end quickly due to her obsession with her beloved insects. Shortly after she is sent a mysterious Brazilian bug by mail, Ida's luck changes, when she meets Misty (Erin Brown), a peculiar but lovable and beautiful young woman..."Sick Girl" is quite different to any of the other MoH episodes I've seen (nearly all). This is a quite unique and bizarre little black comedy with a weird sense of humor and two great leading performances. Angela Bettis is excellent as Ida, and so is Erin Brown (aka. Misty Mundae, star of a vast number of softcore erotica and B-movie horror flicks). These two ladies fit perfectly in their roles and make this black horror comedy very lovable in many aspects. "Sick Girl" is generally highly entertaining, my only regret is that this clever episode lacks the suspense of may of the other episodes. This is highly amusing and, due to the two young ladies in the lead even heart-warming at times, and there is no doubt that it has a lot of wit and originality, but I personally missed the Horror.Over all, however, this may not be one of the episodes that are going to give you the creeps, but it is nevertheless highly entertaining, witty, greatly acted and quite original. MoH fans should not miss this one. Recommended!
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