TICKS / First Look Pictures - 1993

Welcome to Friday Night Drive-In with Tabonga, here at The Dungeon!.. Tonite's feature is a decent little creepfest filmed at Big Bear Lake and Big Bear Valley in the San Bernardino National Forest. Some of the actors are Ami Dolenz, Seth Green, Alfonso Ribeiro, Peter Scolari and Ron Howard's dad and bro, Rance and Clint!

The music's by Daniel Licht and Christopher L. Stone. Daniel has worked on CHILDREN OF THE NIGHT, SEVERED TIES, INSIDE OUT II, CHILDREN OF THE CORN: THE FINAL SACRIFICE, HELLRAISER: BLOODLINE and the TV movie HENDRIX. Christopher worked on FOREVER AND BEYOND, COVERGIRL, SWORD OF HEAVEN, PHANTASM II and FELIX THE CAT: THE MOVIE. Get this, in 1965 Christopher was the youngest member of ASCAP, having written the score for three motion pictures by the age of 12!

Lettuce bring in our littlest helper and button pusher, what else, Rufus The Gnat!.. Hey-yo, Rufus! He's not here to bug us, but rather, to start our show, so, push the big red 'GO' button there right in front of you, now, Rufus! Here's some... TICKS!

A typical story from the early nineties... Problem teens in Los Angeles join an inner-city wilderness project in an attempt to get back in touch with their priorities, but, when they get to the camp, they begin having problems adjusting to the wild. Local marijuana growers using herbal steroids to accelerate plant growth create mutated ticks because of their leaky delivery system! It actually sounds possible. Alternate titles are INFESTED, C2 - KILLERINSECT and PARASITES.

Seth and Alfonso play Tyler and Darrel, Tyler demonstrates how you can ignite a tick! Alfonso shows off his acting chops by playing a tough guy!! I've become a fan of Seth's lately because of ROBOT CHICKEN!

Wanted posters for marijuana (marihuana) growers hang in the general store.

What a wild career Clint Howard has had! I first remember him from the STAR TREK episode where he played the mini space dude, Balok. He went on to be in these fine films... EAT MY DUST, ROCK 'N' ROLL HIGH SCHOOL, EVILSPEAK, NIGHT SHIFT, TANGO & CASH, THE ROCKETEER, CARNOSAUR, THE ICE CREAM MAN, BARB WIRE and THE DENTIST 2.

He plays Jarvis, the guy in charge of the 'weed on steroids' project. He's just stepped in his own bear trap and is in an extremely vulnerable position. From there, he notices that some of the oversized tick eggs on the ceiling are starting to drop around him!

After the dog dies of unknown causes, the local vet discovers something quite curious... Tick on a stick!

The thing springs to life and scampers away with the needle still stuck in it!!

Darrel gets infected and rips this one off his chest in disgust!

Here's how the beautiful people deal with things.

Some nice moody blue shots.

I think Jarvis is trying to say... "Crappy new year, everbloody!!"

I just think this is a cool looking scene.

The bad guys join the fun only to get a face full o' tick!

This picture of the living room after the van crashes through the wall would make a teriffic painting!

The electrical wiring starts shorting out, creating a strobe effect, so, I captured the brightest images of Darrel as he splits in half!

Then, it's this dude's turn to get whut's comin' to him! Goodnight, sweet slimeball!..

Leave it up to pretty boy to be the big scardy cat!!

They have to use a Scooby-Doo escape method to get out of the cabin.

There's only one solution, blow the damn thing to HELL!!

Tyler picks up any survivors in the van and heads back to LA... Tune in tomorrow for a 'lost' movie that has been amazingly 'found' by Eegah!!