Wow, this is a REALLY bad movie!

It's not great by any means, but it's a pretty good movie that didn't leave me filled with regret for investing time in it.

At first rather annoying in its heavy emphasis on reenactments, this movie ultimately proves fascinating, simply because the complicated, highly dramatic tale it tells still almost defies belief.

While it is a pity that the story wasn't told with more visual finesse, this is trivial compared to our real-world problems. It takes a good movie to put that into perspective.

After "Homecoming", barely mediocre episode of the first season, Joe Dante has big comeback in the second. Although "The Screwfly Solution" is a very disturbing movie with occasional gore, this is more SF drama than horror. Through the story of the virus epidemic, which turns sexual drive among men into an urge to exterminate the women, this film deals with topics such as misogyny, radical Islam, radical Christianity, domestic violence, global warming, bird flu, and the question of whether the human race is a parasite that the Earth should be freed of. Although you will not be frightened and forced to watch it through your fingers, the film maintains a decent level of tension and leaves a much deeper sense of fear and nausea than classical horror, as it deals with topics that we face on a daily basis in reality, and which, at least at the subconscious level, keep us in constant fear.8/10Near the end of the episode, there's a visually very impressive SF scene, which I can not describe without spoilers, but which is really shame to miss. And there's also Brandon from "Beverly Hills 90210" in the main male role. Watch it, you won't be disappointed.

With only one more "Masters of Horror" episode yet to see (that one being "Valerie on the Stairs"), I can now safely begin to list my favorites and least favorites of the series. "The Screwfly Solution" is definitely in my top three of favorite episodes and I already regret that I kept it as one of the last ones to check out. This short movie has an excellent story outline, perhaps even the best of ALL "Master of Horror" episodes, and benefices tremendously from the skills and experience of its director Joe Dante. Most episodes in the franchise rely on gore and awkwardness, but "The Screwfly Solution" is the sole episode that is truly thought-provoking, disturbing and petrifying. Of course, Dante wouldn't be himself if he didn't also grab the opportunity to insert a lot of social satire and pitch-black humor, so the wholesome remains supportable in spite of the heavy themes of depressing content. The outbreak of a mysterious and horrifying virus threatens the survival of humanity. Suddenly, and without a confirmed origin, all males in the Northern hemisphere develop extremely misogynic sentiments and proceed to killing females without any form of remorse or guilt. Scientist Alan and his best friend Barney are convinced this is some sort of terrorist attack and desperately attempt to find a cure. Alan nevertheless notices the virus infects him as well and encourages his wife and daughter to travel as far North as possible. "The Screwfly Solution" has a unique and original narrative structure. For example, the film opens with (genuine?) documentary footage about the extinction of the parasite screw-worm fly. The connection with the events in the film only become apparent once the story develops itself. This, as well as other small gimmicks, makes "The Srewfly Solution" one of the most intelligent and profound episodes of the two seasons combined. Most of the "MoH" episodes are notorious for being a gore-galore (like "Pro-Life" and "Jenifer"), but this is a different type of masterful horror film- making. The gore and bloodshed are kept to a minimum, but numerous sequences are genuinely tense and disturbing, like the scene inside the airplane. Also, Joe Dante's social criticism here is much more subtle and effective than in, say, his previous episode "Homecoming". The episode deals with political statements, xenophobia, post 9/11 paranoia, but it doesn't get shoved down your throat so obviously. The only minor complaints that I have about this episode are the dubious ending and, quite frankly, the fact that it wasn't a long-feature film. One last thing that pleasantly surprised me about "The Screwfly Solution" is the more than adequate acting performance of Jason Priestley. I honestly must admit I only know him as handsome teen-girl idol Brandon in the early 90's TV-show "Beverly Hills 90210", but here he demonstrates that he has become a very mature and charismatic lead actor. It's a shame that he isn't starring in more movies. Highly recommended. It's in my personal top three of "Masters of Horror" episodes, alongside "Imprint" and "The Fair-Haired Child".

This is certainly among the poorer efforts of the series. The acting is decent, I suppose, though any shortcomings in that regard are probably the fault of the shoddy dialogue, rather than the fault of the cast's acting chops.What stands out the most to me is the lackluster writing. Honestly, it's just utterly lazy and bad. Other reviewers have commented, applauding the film for the sheer scope of the issues that are addressed, like global warming, Islamic fundamentalism, radical Christianity, bird flu, etc. Of course, to say these issues are "addressed" is a gross understatement. It would be more apt to say that these issues, and the author's opinions on these issues, are screamed into the audience's face at most points in the movie, with all the allegorical tact of a PETA commercial.All told, it's obvious that the writer and director felt the audience couldn't grasp the everyday concepts they predictably lay out, so it comes off like a fire-and-brimstone preacher forcefully indoctrinating the audience with the tried-and-true idea that "human beings and human nature are a cancer to the Earth." If I wanted to watch poorly written, unoriginal, and blatant hyperbole about how bad humans are for not taking care of the planet, I could just watch Avatar again.Too bad, too. I really like Joe Dante, and the concept itself had potential before it became mucked up by poorly written, ineffective social commentary.

and i think it's better by a longshot than the majority of other masters of horror episodes, but i really think the 'alien species is slowly eradicating the population of earth' was a fairly anticlimactic ending and i wish it had been left out. everything i had seen up to that point was scary and effective for me, not to mention deeply disturbing. i would have been more than happy to have been left in the dark as to why or how it all started. learning the cause of the violence wasn't necessary for my enjoyment.i know the aliens are present in the original short story, but i didn't think they worked well in the context of a one-hour episode.elliott gould was great and jason priestly (shockingly) both did admirably well in their roles.flawed, but worth your while anyhow.