Bad Milo (2013)

2 Stars (out of 4)

Pain in the Rear

By Jeffrey M. Anderson

The basic theme of Bad Milo -- the id taking its own form and committing unspeakable acts -- has been done many times in horror movies. (The Brood and Basket Case come to mind.) Written by Benjamin Hayes and Jacob Vaughan, and directed by Vaughn, Bad Milo only adds the idea of the creature living in a man's anus, which is just gross, as well as the humor, which isn't very funny.

In the story, Duncan (Ken Marino) is under a lot of stress. He learns that there are to be numerous layoffs at work, and that his jerk of a boss (Patrick Warburton) has put him in charge of telling co-workers the bad news. His presentation is erased from his hard drive, and his retirement fund disappears. His mother (Mary Kay Place) shows too much PDA with her much younger lover, and continually pressures Duncan and his wife Sarah (Gillian Jacobs) to have kids.

Meanwhile, Duncan is having terrible gastrointestinal pain. One night this pain becomes unbearable as a creature, Milo, escapes from Duncan's bottom and begins killing the people that are bothering him. A hynotherapist (Peter Stormare) tries to help, but is it too late?

The main problem with this kind of movie is that the main character is required to be a passive milquetoast, and unless there's a certain amount of sympathy for him, it just doesn't work. Ken Marino's comical straight man here doesn't generate any laughs or sympathy. And often the humor that's going on around him is of the "shock" variety, as well as the same joke repeated again and again. Bad Milo probably wanted to be gleefully naughty, but instead it's just "bad."