In the near future, where there is no longer an ozone layer and much of the world is a burned out husk, a scientist (Tcheky Karyo) comes up with a way to 'give mother nature a kick in the butt' so that humanity will survive. His unorthodox experiments, however, has the government searching for him and his family (Alice Krige, Balthazar Getty). This is because he has discovered a way to speed up evolution and literally overnight create an entirely unique ecosystem within the confines of his house. But experiments go awry and he becomes contaminated, becoming a part of the house, sporadically appearing like a ghost to talk to his wife and son, who soon begin changing as well. This movie, while at times original and fascinating is nevertheless interrupted by some extremely irritating cliches, primarily when the characters are in the 'outside' world. In these sequences Getty if provoked by the high school bully, tormented by the overly macho physical ed teacher and falls in love with the cute blonde girl, who also happens to be the phys ed teacher's daughter! Stereotypes aside, HABITAT is one of the most interesting direct-to-video sci-fi movies to come out in months.