This is a good adaptation of the Jack Ketchum novel, the screenplay written by the author himself.
In a coastal Maine town the police come across the dismembered bodies of a woman and her babysitter. They call in retired cop George Peters (Art Hindle of THE CLONEMASTER) to take a look at the scene, since he was instrumental in dealing with the cannibals when they were first discovered years ago. His theory is that some of them survived and they've been prowling up and down the coast, from Maine to Canada. Now they've come back and are hiding out in one of the many caves.
The feral humans attack another home. This belongs to David and Amy, who have a newborn infant. Amy's friend, and her ten-year old son, are visiting her. When the cannibals attack they kill the husband and take the wife with them, presumably for breeding purposes. They also make her nurse a baby, which greedily latches on to her. The friend and her boy manage to save the baby and escape out the window and flee into the woods.
The police do manage to find the cave but are viciously attacked. George is knocked unconscious and later wakes up to find his companions slain. So it's up to him to stop them. The highlight of the movie is Pollyanna McIntosh as "The Woman", the leader of the cannibals, in a very convincing performance.
This is one of the better Jack Ketchum movie adapations, though I can't help but compare it to THE HILLS HAVE EYES, since that also dealt with cannibals after a baby.
While the special effects are decent enough, the scenes in which they are carrying around dismembered arms and legs aren't all that convincing as there's no weight to them. After all, if a six year old kid is schlepping an adult leg that's at least 35-40 lbs of meat there--and it wouldn't be light, like a hollow latex leg. Also, from my recollection
of the book, which is a sequel to OFF SEASON, there was just a group of feral kids and here there are a few adults mixed in with the cannibalistic group. I think since OFF SEASON will probably never be made into a movie, Ketchum and the producer decided to incorporate elements from that first novel.
This is a good adaptation of the Jack Ketchum novel, the screenplay written by the author himself.
