delta821 If I could give it a zero I would. Im not sure what the people who gave it positive reviews were smoking-but I want some cause it lets you turn crap into gold.The movie was awful, barely any plot-any plot it didn't have made little to no sense as well. About all I can guess is the creature knew the girl when they were kids, was driven off and "somehow" manages to get the car shes in to crash and wants to keep her his lover forever.That being said, the rest of everything makes no sense at all really. Just a bunch of people wandering in the woods with no real cohesive plot besides monster wants girl and small lesbian scenes.Im sorry my friend rented this from redbox. Im sure the director tried hard, but it was just terrible. I had to shut it off after 45 mins cause I couldn't stand it anymore.Don't rent it or see it, not worth your time.

recroom-729-874713 It's been a while since I saw Spike, but I retain a lingering memory of the awful terror with which it begins -- long before the beast appears -- like Jaws, but much scarier. Spike's cinematography and direction are superb, but its strength is the story's poignant beauty, which reminds me of a Russian fairy tale -- think Baba Yaga. In a Russian fairy tale, even the Princess may die.The back-story's development without excessive flashbacks is inventive, and the delineation of a convincing rough homestead in a few sketched Picasso-like strokes a dark delight against the backdrop of a luxuriant wilderness.It's not been often that a love story has married fear, fantasy and psychology in a movie that takes such pains to conform to scientific reality -- for example, the difference between a person's two eyes.To summarize, though it may perhaps not be to everyone's taste, it is no surprise to me, on the basis of its plot and production quality, that Spike has been winning "Best Of" awards. It has a lot to like. I liked it enough to rate it "Excellent."

aglastudio I had the unfortunate experience of having to sit through the agonizingly horrible film "Spike" at Shriekfest in LA.I am not your stereotypical "Horror" film fan, so make no mistake, that my disliking of this film, isn't that it's story or ideas where simply over my head, or not what i was expecting from a horror film. This film never delivers anything interesting or redeeming in the least.Spike's script is awful, as if written by someone who has never read a good story, or seen a good film.To equate this film to anything other than a fumbling, nonsense bore-fest,is to give way too much credit to the film maker, and is a serious case of "The Emperor isn't wearing any clothes".Laughable highlights of lame lesbian make-out sessions,forced Gratuitous female nudity,characters behaving in totally unbelievable actions, mediocre photography, bad editing, agonizingly slow action and pointless characters in the film like the injured boyfriend, make this films 82 minutes seem like an eternity.

kristi_laurie I recently returned home from Scotland where I attended the 62nd Edinburgh International Film Festival.Along with the well-publicized, big budget films (The Edge of Love, Elegy, WALL-E), I was fortunate enough to view several films from EIFF's newest category, "Under The Radar". Under the Radar introduces movies that can best be described as "cult films" - think "A Clockwork Orange" or "Blue Velvet". Artistic director Hannah McGill said, "With this new section, we want to re-animate the spirit of the truly cult-worthy 'midnight movie', by showing films that take real risks with their ideas, their aesthetic choices and their humor".Perhaps my favorite film in this category was Spike - Robert Beaucage's dark faerie tale that saw its world premiere 20 June at the Edinburgh International Film Festival. At first, Spike appears to be a horror film, and in a way, it is - but not in the way I expected. As Spike's plot unfurled, I began to realize maybe Spike was talking about me when he said, "The characters in faerie tales don't ever know they are in faerie tales". I was in a faerie tale in that theatre and didn't even realize. Spike is wonderfully directed, well acted and nicely shot, especially when considering its meager budget. Beaucage tells his story with an aesthetic eye and a visceral panache. Edward Gusts had me in tears with his portrayal of the love-ridden beasty. Nancy P. Corbo and Anna Marie Wayne are true highlights in the film, and Sarah Livingstone Evans shows admirable promise in her first movie role. Robert Hope wrote, "Spike prowls the dark lands that separates Angela Carter's The Bloody Chamber from Charles Vess and Elaine Lee's astonishing graphic work Morrigan Tales. Yet rather than resulting in a series of ill-assimilated post-modern touchstones, its earthly cultivation of a monster's obsession with love's dead bloom is a talon-sharp original". Beaucage has truly created an original albeit very human cast of characters in his modern faerie tale for adults. Some might say Spike is Beauty and the Beast gone wrong. But who is Beauty and who is Beast? The Girl uses her feminine wiles to deceive Spike; so is she clever or a duplicitous bitch? Spike is well read, eloquent and romantic, but concurrently impales throats with abandon. Who is the hero in this faerie tale? All myths have to have a hero, don't they? This perfectionist's need for a tidy story gets thrown out the window here, but I find myself wanting more than is shown in the short eighty minute film. I felt myself aligned with Spike while at the same time disgusted for recognizing my own pathetic desperation when faced with abandonment and lack of love. My brain wanted a neatly packaged story ala 'hero defeats bad guy', but my soul was satisfied with the thorough gut wrench that Beaucage provided as he drew me into Spike's world. Those more comfortable with a simpler, more dualistic, good-is-good-and-bad-is-bad view of reality may find solace in films such as Independence Day or Ratatouille.Spike is not the stereotypical horror film. Michael Myers' Mama has never visited this winding road, so don't go looking for her there. Those hard up for Rothian torture porn need not apply. Spike is a horror film in that it forces the conscious viewer to examine his/her soul and accept the deformed monstrosity that dwells there; whether loved or no. This is not easy to do, and Spike is not an easy movie to watch. But those willing to be scratched and torn as they thrust their hands into this thorny thicket will find the rose that blooms within Spike truly beautiful.