Mimic (1997)★★★★★

I’m pretty sure I saw this originally in theaters, when I was young enough to be a big horror fan but too young to really have big deep thoughts about movies. And I remember liking it back then! I mean, Mira Sorvino, Giancarlo Giannini, AND Charles S. Dutton? What’s not to like?

And then many years passed, and I didn’t really think about this movie all that much…and Guillermo del Toro basically disowned the theatrical version of this movie (thanks, Bob and Harvey Weinstein) and eventually released a director’s cut, which is what I watched tonight.

Again, I don’t quite remember how much I liked this movie originally…but I loved it this time around. I found myself literally at the edge of my seat for most of this movie, despite knowing/remembering most of what was going to happen.

I also looked into the differences between the theatrical and director’s cut versions. There’s not a lot changed, though there are a few additional scenes (and actually at least two removed scenes) and changes to the editing and color filters used. It’s tough to recall the feelings evoked by the theatrical version, but I found the director’s cut to be deeply menacing and foreboding.

There’s also not a LOT of gore in this, but there’s definitely some, and it’s definitely graphic. (Spoilers ahead) And some pretty cute kids - and at least one dog - get killed. I’m glad Guillermo del Toro released a version he was mostly okay with, because I definitely think this film is up there with some of the other major creature feature players.

Oh, and my favorite line(s)? “What kind of weird shit?” “Lots of it.”