Don’t you just hate it when you’ve booked a nice weekend getaway with the girls, and a smelly turtle alien crashes the party? Ughh I can’t tell you how many times I’ve had to argue with Airbnb about why I want a refund after fighting a telekinetic creature that tried to hypnotize me into a gross, gory, otherwordly orgy. Writer/director Sam Walker confronts this very real-world problem head-on in his bizarro sci-fi/horror/comedy The Seed.

I’m a movie addict. I watch everything. I’ll knock down a romantic comedy and an arthouse classic in the same afternoon and wash ’em both down with some torture porn. IDGAF but my heart is in Midnight Madness. I’ve already covered two major film festivals this year, both with “Midnight” programs in their official lineup, but The Seed is the first true Midnight Madness movie of 2022. This ding-dang movie is nutters from top to bottom, complete with hallucinogenic visuals that’ll scramble your brain, and fleshy, strobe-lit “sex scenes” with an alien monster. If you’re looking for a movie to spice up your Thursday night or kickstart a weekend-long acid trip, The Seed is exactly the delirium you’ve been searching for.

“…the first true Midnight Madness movie of 2022.”

This wicked and weird picture stars Lucy Martin (Vikings), Sophie Vavasseur (Resident Evil: Apocalypse), and Chelsea Edge (I Hate Suzie) as three friends just trying to get out of town for a meteor shower. For some, this idyllic hideaway in the Mojave Desert is the perfect spot to shoot some engaging content for social media but for others, it’s a beautiful relaxing respite from the noise and stress of home. Regardless of how these ladies planned to spend the weekend, their trip get flip-turned upside down when something falls from the sky, and into their pool.

When they fish the object out, they discover that it isn’t a meteorite after all. Instead, it’s a stinky, fleshy animal(?). It looks like a slime-covered turtle that hulked out of its shell with two little beady eyes, and a powerful odor as its only self-defense. The girls can’t identify it, the pool boy can’t identify it, so they do what any rational person would do when a mysterious alien lifeform crash lands in your backyard. They say ew, gross and leave it where they found it. TLDR; The weird stinky turtle alien works his way into the house, dodges an assassination attempt, and sinks his telekinetic hooks into the girls for a high-stakes weekend of body-snatching debauchery and interstellar mind-melting.

If you’ve been bogged down by legacy sequels and superhero nonsense, why not unplug for an hour-and-a-half? Let The Seed blow your brain out the back of your head and across the vistas. No, this movie is not a grand epic here to re-invent the wheel. And yes, you will ask yourself ‘What the fuck did I just watch?’. Maybe more than once! But life’s too short not to watch a woman writhing around on the floor, ensnared in some extra-terrestrial orgasm trap.

The Seed is a low-budget, bizarro monster movie. So low budget that the little alien puppet spends a big chunk of the movie propped up in a bed. The performances are over-the-top, the special effects cleverly-disguised dollar store purchases with bar rail after effects, and it all works perfectly. To borrow a sentiment from former NOFS column Awfully Good, just because we call a movie “cheezy” or “bat-shit crazy” doesn’t mean we don’t like it. All I’m looking for in a movie (Oscar-worthy or not) is a little joy, and this bat-shit, cheezy, sci-fi spectacle of eye-popping alien insanity put a big dumb smile on my face. Mission Accomplished.

“Let The Seed blow your brain out the back of your head and across the cosmos.”

Sam Walker’s bizarre sci-fi/horror/comedy The Seed lands on Shudder March 10! Be sure to let us know what you thought of this wild midnight movie, and what you would do is a slimy turtle alien crashed your weekend getaway over on Twitter, Reddit, Facebook, and in the official Nightmare on Film Street Discord. Not a social media fan? Get more horror delivered straight to your inbox by joining the Neighbourhood Watch Newsletter.