The film opens with a disease threatening to wipe out a generation of children. Dr. Susan Tyler, played by Mira Sorvino, is an entomologist who recombines the DNA of insects to create a species that will destroy the cockroaches that carry the disease. She calls the species the Judas breed and they succeed in eradicating the epidemic. But three years later, Tyler discovers that the Judas breed has evolved into a lethal predator. Plagued by guilt, she seeks advice from her old professor Dr. Gates, played by f. Murray Abraham.
Dr. Gates: "Do you want answers or absolution."
One of the refreshing aspects of Mimic , is that it delivers a horror film of depth and complexity. As with David Cronenberg, Del Toro works in the horror genre not because he sees it as a stepping-stone to something else but rather because it's a genre that he loves and it suits his gothic sensibilities. In Mimic, he creates an eerie subterranean labyrinth where the Judas breed has taken over. Tyler must enter this hellish world to destroy their nest before the insects can spread any further. Del Toro does not make Tyler a symbol of science gone out of control or of science for greed, instead he makes her a scientist who in doing good has created a monster and has to live with that guilt.
Del Toro, who began his career in special effects and make up, has gathered a talented crew to bring his Judas breed to life. The creatures are horrific and beautiful. And although they're a menace to humanity, Del Toro does not make them strictly evil like the creature in Alien . Instead, he suggests that once these genetically engineered bugs are let loose in the world, nature simply takes over. The result is a classic example of successful evolution - the creatures want to survive and the best way they've found to do that is to mimic the species that could destroy them, and that species is man.
Mimic (rated R for terror/violence and language) succeeds as a stylish, intelligent horror film. Unlike the recent Event Horizon, which continually resorts to cheap scares, Mimic builds an increasingly uneasy mood. You may not jump out of your seat in fear but you'll leave the theater with a creepy feeling.
Mimic, despite an occasional weak moment in the script, is a satisfying horror film whose gloomy, gothic images need to be seen on the big screen. Dan Laustsen's photography finds incredible detail in the dark shadows of New York's underworld and such images will never have the same impact on video.
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