When The Breed came out in 2006, the Michelle Rodriguez-led horror movie came and went without much fanfare, serving as another unfortunate blemish on A Breed Apart was announced to be in development, as the concept of genetically enhanced dogs going on a rampage sounded like a fun one if done properly. Plus, the casting of Hayden Panettiere made me excited to see her horror tenure continue. Unfortunately, not only does the movie fail to clear the original's low bar, but it becomes one of the best worst movies ever.

Written and directed by Nathan and Griff Furst, known as The Furst Brothers, A Breed Apart is a meta take on the original film, in which The Breed tried and failed to get made after the dogs and their handlers went missing. Over a decade later, a wealthy social media influencer invites a group of other influencers to that same island for a competition to win the deed to the island. When they realize the island is full of the man-eating dogs who went missing during the original movie's production, the group must fight for their survival.

A Breed Apart's Meta Story Is Interesting At First Before Becoming A Generic Mess

The Movie Weirdly Shifts Its Focus Away From Its Most Interesting Character

A meta-driven story is one that often hooks me directly into a movie, partly because it leads to some fun satirical beats regarding the industry and subverts expectations. A Breed Apart certainly started on an interesting note in this regard, catching me off-guard with the fact that it appeared to be set during the production of the Craven-produced original Breed, albeit a fictionalized one, as Panettiere plays fake actor Hayden Hearst, and its scrapped filming.

...the rest of the roster feel like they're such over-the-top archetypes of popular influencers that I felt no real connection to them, or a desire to get to know them.

But this is essentially the end of A Breed Apart's meta element, as the movie's shift to focusing on the influencer characters also pushes Panettiere's character out for most of the rest of the film. While this could have led to a fun takedown of the influencer culture through a creature feature lens, it's ultimately a missed opportunity, particularly with how little I liked any of the characters.

While Grace Caroline Curry's Violet and Virginia Garner's Thalia have enjoyable moments, the rest of the roster feel like they're such over-the-top archetypes of popular influencers that I felt no real connection to them, or a desire to get to know them. This is further worsened because the movie makes no real efforts to give anyone well-rounded arcs or characterizations, relying on their personalities for endless bickering amid the dog carnage.

I Can't Tell If The Movie Wanted To Be As Funny As It Was

Some Beats Are Intentionally Comedic While Others Are So Bad I Was Cackling

Where the original Breed was a far more straightforward horror drama, A Breed Apart proves to be a rather funny effort, though how much is intended is hard for me to say. There are parts that definitely feel like the Furst Brothers recognized the potential hilarity of their concept, including Violet kicking a rabid puppy like a field goal, complete with ridiculous editing and a quip of "I just kicked a puppy" from Curry's character. It also goes into Sharknado-level insanity as the dogs suddenly start climbing trees and swinging from ropes to go after the human characters.

Other parts feel like they were intended to be somewhat serious, and yet I still found myself laughing at just how ridiculous and over-the-top the execution was. Whether it's shots of the dogs attempting to break through a door to attack someone, or Panettiere getting a big hero moment of taking down the dogs with ease, only for the kills to be humorous, The Furst Brothers' tonal execution was really hard to nail down.

The Visual Effects Are An Absolute Atrocity

I'm Pretty Sure They Were Made With AI

With them being the biggest part of the film, the dogs themselves were important for A Breed Apart to deliver on, and yet they miss the mark by a country mile. Though no budgetary figures have been revealed, it certainly feels like this movie was made on a smaller budget, with some of the CGI looking quite terrible, particularly when interacting with the human characters. More egregious is that a lot of the movie's CGI looks to have been made with AI, as the brushstroke-like backgrounds and emotionless highlights of the animals look artificial.

What's even worse is that A Breed Apart's credits consist of behind-the-scenes footage from the production, which included real dogs, and decent puppets that I honestly would have preferred watching to the terrible CGI. Given The Furst Brothers are clearly aiming for an over-the-top and ridiculous tone, I'm sure the awful CGI was part of their vision, but rather than feel like a tongue-in-cheek genre film, it instead makes the movie one of the best it's-so-bad-it's-good horror films I've seen in a long time.

A Breed Apart hits theaters, VOD and digital platforms on May 16.