Ticks (1993) ***1/2 [Horror Double Feature Pt. 1]

It's funny that the last two films I watched were direct-to-video titles because both belie the stigma that that distinction entails. As much as Drive (1997) (review) is better than any DTV action film I've seen before, Ticks (1993) is a really strong DTV horror movie. Films like this disprove the commonly held belief that there weren't a lot of good horror movies in the '90s. While there was certainly a downturn in mainstream horror and a glut of films that quickly became stale, there are some great outliers like Ticks that feel more like a remnant of the '80s.

While the character development isn't the best and there is some wonky editing at times, Ticks is honestly just ridiculously fun. There are some great practical f/x by Doug Beswick and cool gore via KNB. I love the miniatures and stop-motion. There's a really strong orchestral score by Christopher L. Stone and Daniel Licht that is reminiscent of John Williams. You can tell in many shots that this is the same director (Tony Randel) who made 1988's Hellbound: Hellraiser II (review). There's no deep meaning here; this is just a good old-fashioned creature feature.