Horror Movie Review: Leeches! (2003)

They Will Bleed You Dry…

From GBHBL favourite, David DeCoteau comes Leeches! A b-grade horror movie about leeches that get nasty after they suck on the blood of some ‘roided-up’ teens. This fun, cheesy and cheap flick stars Matthew Twining, Josh Henderson, Stacey Nelson, Alexandra Westmore, Mark Ian Miller, Mike Cole, Trevor Harris and Michael Lutz.

A group of competitive student swimmers are desperate to be winners, so much so, that they have started taking steroids to enhance their performance. The pills in the swimmer’s bloodstream has a nasty effect on the local leeches and they begin to transform. Resulting in some bloody, monstrous, homoerotic mayhem. It’s a DeCoteau special and we love him for it.

It’s a cheap movie, yet once again, DeCoteau manages to spin gold out of straw. Ok, don’t look too closely at the gold, after all, you can see the strings moving the leeches at times, but you get the picture. Leeches! A solid horror flick with some surprisingly good acting, decent story and fun visuals. It’s silly, but it’s a fun kind of silly. It may not be aiming to get some laughs but it will get some.

The thing is the actual leeches aren’t the star of this movie, even if they get the title. Nor are the actors, per se. The star of this movie, are the bodies of the male cast. DeCoteau has almost all the men topless, no matter what they are doing. Alongside that, the film is gratuitous with its shots of men in speedos. It feels almost sleazy. It’s also very silly and you could make a drinking game out of the many times we see a dude with a shirt off. You’ll be wrecked very quickly.

It needs to be reiterated that there’s a lot of fun to be had with this movie. It looks, sounds and feels like the era it was released in but that just adds to the charm. Even the annoying things, such as quick cuts and strobe lighting effects, can be overlooked because the movie’s quite short and concise.

Don’t expect greatness and you won’t be disappointed. You will be entertained though.