Project Viper
Project Viper is a 2002 science-fiction thriller starring Patrick Muldoon, Theresa Russell, Curtis Armstrong and Tamara Davies that debuted as a Sci Fi Pictures TV-movie on the Sci Fi Channel. It was directed by Jim Wynorski under the pseudonym "Jay Andrews".[1]
Plot
The space shuttle Olympus is on a routine mission, but with a far-from-routine payload: "Project Viper," an experimental hybrid of human genes and computer chips, designed to adapt to any environment, particularly that of the planet Mars. But as the shuttle crew prepares to launch the prototype into space, something unexpected occurs. Soon the astronauts are dead, and the Secretary of Defense orders the remaining prototype destroyed. To do the job, he calls on special agent Mike Connors (Patrick Muldoon).
Unaware of these proceedings, Project Viper head Nancy Burnham (Theresa Russell) and her team at NovaGen — Steve Elkins (Billy Keane), Sid Bream (Tamara Davies) and Alan Stanton (Daniel Quinn) — are celebrating the fruition of their scientific dream. One more member, Cafferty (Lydie Denier), is on her way — but never makes it. Soon the second prototype is stolen from the high-security lab by those who waylaid her, but escapes into a lake near the town of Lago Nogales and begins feeding on the unwary populace. Connors, Burnham and crew arrive to find a suspicious sheriff (Tim Thomerson), mysterious disappearances, gooey remains, unpredictable genetic side-effects, treason and murder, as the clock ticks down toward a nuclear strike the military has prepared to stop the rapidly and continually growing Viper. Connors eventually destroys Viper with an EMP bomb, but the other one on the space shuttle crashes into the ocean.
Cast
- Patrick Muldoon - Agent Mike Connors
- Theresa Russell - Nancy Burnham
- Billy Keane - Steve Elkins
- Tim Thomerson -Sheriff Morgan
- Tamara Davies - Sid
- Daniel Quinn - Alan
- Lydie Denier - Cafferty
- Curtis Armstrong - Keach
- John Beck - Simpkins
- Andy Milder - Chambers
- René Rivera - Pete Gonzales
- William Langley Monroe - Gen. Cartwright
- Adam Koster - C-133 pilot
- Geoff Stults - Boy in pickup
- Lorissa McComas - Girl in pickup
- Rod McCary - Dr. Shoup
- Steve Purnick - Mr. Norton
- Eric-James Virgets - Deputy Ferguson
- Adam Gordon - Crewman Terrance
- Todd Kimsey - Crewman Mitchell
- Redmond Gleeson - Local man
- Steve J. Hennessy - Plainclothes agent
- Paul Preston - First NASA Suit
- Eamonn Roche - Mission Control Fred
- James Cromwell, Joe Sabatino - MPs
Crew
- Director: Jim Wynorski (as "Jay Andrews")
- Writers: Curtis Joseph, David Mason
- Executive Producers: Steven Paul, Datty Ruth, John Paul Pettinato
- Producer: Paul Hertzberg
- Director of Photography: Mario D'ayala
- Editor: Craig Kitson
- Music: Neal Acree
- Production Designer: Robert E. Hummel
- Costume Designer: Gail De Krassel
- Casting: Linda Berger
- Visual Effects: Foundation Imaging
Release
Project Viper debuted as a Sci Fi Pictures TV-movie on the Sci Fi Channel on April 20, 2002.[2] It was also released to DVD and VHS later that year in August, with the DVD including a widescreen transfer.
References
- ↑
- "Project Viper". Official site (Sci Fi Channel). Archived from the original on April 4, 2004. "Directed by Jay Andrews in the tradition of genre great Jim Wynorski."
- ↑ Huddleston, Kathie (April 15, 2002). "Project Viper: A genetically engineered supercreature meant for the Red Planet is loose on planet Earth" (260). Science Fiction Weekly (SciFi.com). Archived from the original on February 11, 2003.