
DATE: Sunday, August 24, 1997               TAG: 9708260529

SECTION: DAILY BREAK             PAGE: E8   EDITION: FINAL 

TYPE: Movie Review

SOURCE: BY MAL VINCENT, MOVIE CRITIC 

                                            LENGTH:   60 lines

GROSS HORROR FILM EMERGES AS B MOVIE WITH A CAST

YUCK!

There's a gooey mess of giant cockroaches and their mutilated victims sliming up the subways beneath New York City. Wanna look?

If so, line up for ``Mimic,'' a horror flick that is admittedly a B movie with an A cast - and much ambition. In true ``Frankenstein'' territory, it once again warns us that we'd best not fool with Mother Nature.

Still, is repulsion the same as scariness?

Using the same old tricks (things jump out from the darkness, music suddenly blares), Mexican director Guillermo Del Toro seems to want to stage a meaningful allegory here. The result, though, is little better than any other horror flick, even though we appreciate the effort.

The main mystery is: how did he attract this commendable cast to this material?

Mira Sorvino (Oscar winner for Woody Allen's ``Mighty Aphrodite'') plays Dr. Susan Tyler, teamed with her husband, played by Jeremy Northam (``Emma''). A plague is mercilessly killing children in New York and the scientists create a species of roach killers they call the Judas breed, which fool the roaches by imitating (hence, we have the title of the movie). The scientists' Judas bugs save the day.

Switch to three years later. The Judas things were supposed to extinguish themselves, but no chance. They've reproduced and learned to mimic humans. At night, the 6-foot-tall roaches, imitating humans, sneak out for a snack.

Sorvino and hubby finally have to give up being scientific and use brute force to battle the giant roaches. A defense is not to sweat or smell like humans - and to smear disgusting goo all over. There's a lot of creeping about, with photography that is so dark you'll wish you brought a flashlight.

F. Murray Abraham, perhaps the least recognized of all Oscar winners (with the possible exception of that guy - what's his name? - from ``Shine''), has a bit as an ominous professor. Giancarlo Gianini, the legendary Italian actor (and Oscar nominee for ``Seven Beauties'') is a shoe-shine man. Charles S. Dutton is a feisty cop who has little respect for the scientists.

There's a fingers-reaching-through-the-sewer-grate shot that is a direct steal from ``The Third Man.'' (Obviously Del Toro is a fan of old movies).

But with all its aspirations, ``Mimic'' is, ultimately, just another horror flick. ILLUSTRATION: Photo

DIMENSION FILMS

Mira Sorvino plays a research scientist whose project gets out of

control in ``Mimic.''

Graphic

MOVIE REVIEW

``Mimic''

Cast: Mira Sorvino, F. Murray Abraham, Charles S. Dutton,

Giancarlo Gianini, Jeremy Northam, Josh Brolin

Director: Guillermo Del Toro

MPAA rating: R (violence, language)