The Terror Of The Unknown Being

The Terror Of The Unknown Being is a 2014, cgi/live action, action, fantasy, sci-fi, musical, horror comedy film that is distributed by Warner Bros. It features Micheal Norton as Dylan, Samson Kyodai as Black, Nicki Minaj as Emma, and Matt Hill as the main villain of this movie, Bass.EXE. It was filmed in Hollywood, Anaheim, and Buena Park, both from California. Originally, there was going to be an alternate ending, where Bass.EXE kills Dylan, Black, and Emma, and turning them into his replicas (with Emma still a female, but now a NetNavi, no longer a dylanus) and eventually turning all dylanuses on earth into his copies, and killing of all humans, but this ending recieved negative reviews, so the ending was scrapped and replaced by a happier ending, with Dylan killing Bass.EXE with an electric cable, and Dylan marrying Emma, which received positive reviews. The alternate ending however was fully restored and is now featured in the Bonus Features in The Terror Of The Unknown Being Blu-Ray combo pack.

Plot
On September 23 in an early year in a decade stated to be "not too long before our own" (Bush is mentioned as being the president, so it appears to be the 1980s), Dylan and his girlfriend, Emma, and Dylan's brother Black, work at Maxie's Pet Shop, lamenting they cannot escape the slums of Hollywood, living in a run-down, beat up neighborhood referred to as "Skid Row." Struggling from a lack of customers, Mr. Maxie (Vincent Jordan) prompts to close the store, only for Emma to suggest displaying an unusual critter Dylan owns. Immediately attracting a customer, Dylan explains he bought the critter, which he dubbed "Bass.EXE", although he sometimes names it "Emma II", from a Chinese pet shop during a solar eclipse. Attracting business to Maxie's shop, the critter soon starts dying, worrying Dylan. Accidentally pricking his own finger, Dylan then discovers Bass.EXE needs dylanus blood, human blood, and blood from other animals to thrive.

Bass.EXE continues to grow rapidly and Dylan becomes a local celebrity. Dylan soon attempts to ask Emma out, but she turns him down because she has a date with her violent, sadistic, human dentist boyfriend Otis Alverez (Steve Carlos). Despite this, Emma is interested in Dylan, as well as dreams of marrying him and escaping Skid Row. After Dylan closes up shop, Bass.EXE (Matt Hill) begins to talk to Dylan, demanding more blood than Dylan can give. He proposes Dylan murder someone in exchange for fame and fortune: Dylan initially refuses, but agrees upon witnessing Otis slapping Emma.

After Otis was finished with his patient, Artie Dennis (Bill Murray), who requested "a long, slow, root canal", Dylan books an appointment with Otis and arms himself with a revolver: however, he cannot bring himself to use it. Otis, who abuses nitrous oxide, puts on a type of venturi mask to receive a constant flow of the gas. Accidentally breaking an intake valve and unable to remove the mask, Otis begs Dylan for help removing it as Dylan just stands there. When Otis asks Dylan what he ever did to him, Dylan replies, "Nothing, it's what you did to her." Otis dies from asphyxiation and Dylan drags his body back to Bass.EXE. While dismembering the body for the creature, Dylan is unknowingly spotted by Maxie, who flees in fear.

After feeding Otis's parts to Bass.EXE, Seymour discovers the police investigating Otis disappearance. Bass.EXE, feeling guilty about wishing Otis would disappear, is comforted by Dylan and the two admit their feelings for each other. That night, Maxie confronts Dylan, about what he witnessed, and is prepared to report him to the police for the murder of Otis. Holding Dylam at gunpoint, Maxie offers to help him escape, in exchange for Bass.EXE and the routine on how to care for him, but if Dylan refuses, they go to the police. Out of options, Dylan gives a fake care plan for the creature, and causes Maxie to back into Bass.EXE's open attack range, who then murders and drinks the blood out of Maxie like a mythical vampire.

Despite widespread success, Dylan worries about Bass.EXE's growth and the insatiable appetite. Offered money and a contract for a botany TV show, Dylan plans to escape Skid Row with Emma using the money, leaving Bass.EXE to starve. After Emma accepts Dylan's marriage proposal, Bass.EXE catches Dylan leaving and demands another meal: Dylan agrees, but insists on meat from a butcher. While Dylan is gone, Bass.EXE calls Emma and Black, coaxes them into the shop and then tries to kill them. Dylan, returning in time to save Emma and Black, escapes the store with them. Explaining that he fed the creature to become successful and win Emma's heart, Dylan discovers she has always liked him. Approached by an executive from a botanical company named Patrick Dinkely (James Belushi), Dylan is offered a contract to breed Bass.EXE and sell the young Bass.EXEs worldwide. Dylan then realizes he must destroy Bass.EXE and the creature's plans for planetary domination.

Confronting Bass.EXE, Dylan learns Bass.EXE is in reality an alien from outer space. Trapping Dylan, Bass.EXE collapses the store, attempting to kill him. Dylan, trapped under debris, grabs an exposed electrical cable and electrocutes Bass.EXE, causing him to explode. Leaving the destroyed shop, Dylan safely reunites with Emma, along witb Black. The two wed and all three move to the suburbs: arriving at their new home, which is the one seen in Emma's daydreams, a smiling young Bass.EXE can be seen among the flowers and small animals in their front yard.

Alternate Ending
During production, director Oz shot a 23-minute ending. However, after receiving a negative reception from test audiences, the ending had to be rewritten and re-shot for the theatrical release with a "happier ending."

In the original ending, after Emma and Black were attacked by Bass.EXE, Dylan rescues Emma and Black, who are fatally injured. Confessing to a dying Emma he fed Maxie and Otis to Bass.EXE, Emma requests Dylan to feed her and Black to Bass.EXE and earn the success he deserves and they died in his arms after that he attempts to commit suicide by jumping only to be stopped by Patrick Dinkely (Paul Dooley). Martin offers to reproduce and sell Bass.EXE as he had grown a smaller Bass.EXE from one of the clippings that he harvested as the smaller Bass.EXE smiles at him. He also warns Dylan that his consent isn't necessary as pets are considered public domain. Realizing Bass.EXE's plans for global domination, Dylan climbs down the roof with the resolution to destroy the creature.

Returning to the shop, Dylan confronts and tries to kill Bass.EXE, who tears down the shop. Dylan survives the shop's collapse, but Bass.EXE grabs and slowly kills and eats him (also drinking his blood). Bass.EXE then spits out Dylan's jacket, as Dylan, Black, and Emma reappears in their new Bass.EXE forms and minds (while Emma's still a female, but now a Bass.EXE, and no longer a dylanus), and the original Bass.EXE laughs evilly.

The three chorus girls appear in front of a large American flag and tell how although Bass.EXE youngsters became a worldwide consumer craze, the young Bass.EXEs grew into an army of monstrous creatures (similar to a Bass.EXE that Dylan had) who begin to take over the Earth. Bass.EXEs are shown destroying cities, toppling buildings, as well as turning dylanuses into Bass.EXEs and eating people. The final shot shows the U.S. Army as it attempts to fight the Bass.EXEs as they ascend the Statue of Liberty. And then, a Bass.EXE breaks the fourth wall by coming out of the words "THE END?!" to eat the audience as the camera zooms into its open mouth.

Reception
The Terror Of The Unknown Being received many positive reviews from critics and fans. It is one of the most successful 2014 film, along with Guardians of the Galaxy, How To Train Your Dragon 2, and Rio 2.

Foul language
There are no bad language in this movie, despite being a PG-13 movie, other than one use of the word b*lls during the final fight scene between Dylan and Bass.EXE, which Bass.EXE said before he tried to hit Dylan's groin area.

Sex & Nudity

 * Emma is seen one time wearing a low-cut dress.


 * Bass.EXE can sometimes talk about phallic stuff.


 * Some S&M innuendos between Otis and Emma with two mentions of handcuffs.


 * Though the masochist character is played for comic relief, his banter with Otis is somewhat sexual.


 * Bass.EXE mentions "nookie" in a song.


 * Emma briefly talks about her sordid past and a night spot where she wore lewd outfits for money.


 * Dylan gets his pants pulled down and his boxers are revealed, but no inappropriate stuff were shown there.

Violence and Gore

 * A Net-Navi eats several cast members. Songs involving the Net-Navi often make references to blood, killing, and metamorphosis into more Net-Navis.


 * Emma is seen with a black eye in one scene and a broken arm in another, both given to her off-screen from her sadistic boyfriend Otis.


 * Dylan feeds the small Bass.EXE from droplets of his own blood. In later scenes, a larger Bass.EXE is sucking eagerly from Dylan's fingers.


 * In each of Otis' scenes, his sadistic nature is played comically, but can be disturbing to some viewers. Otis commits many comically violent acts during the song "Dentist!". In it, he makes references to injuring animals including bashing a cat's head, he hits a human nurse in the face twice, knees a teenage human patient in the groin, and jams dental instruments into human patients' mouths to cause pain.


 * Otis slaps Emma a few times in one scene (shown in silhouette).


 * A masochist, enters Otis' dental office for pain.


 * A picture of an animal's diseased mouth is briefly shown for comic relief.


 * Dylan holds Otis at gunpoint in once scene.


 * A dylanus (more specifically, Dylan) chops up a human body in an alley and feeds it to the Net-Navi who eats it eagerly.


 * Dylan backs a human character into Bass.EXE's cage, as the human character then gets attacked and killed, with some blood drops on the floor that can be seen after the gruesome attack.


 * In Bass.EXE's attack with Dylan the Bass.EXE's full menacing nature comes through and Dylan's life is threatened many times. A gun and ax are wielded and Bass.EXE destroys the pet store.


 * Bass.EXE (the main villian of the movie) dies from electrocution.

Alcohol/Drugs/Smoking
Otis inhales laughing gas as a drug and dies from an overdose in full view.

Frightening/Intense Scenes

 * Younger viewers may not understand the Greek chorus device, and may be disturbed as to why the three doo-wop girls are so seemingly indifferent to the bloodshed.


 * The scenes with Otis can be disturbing as previously mentioned.


 * Bass.EXE grows from a cute, little, kitten-sized critter into a scary, human-sized, life-threatning "mean dark mother or father" with sharp fangs and hates people, only liking to drink their blood. The Net-Navi's appetite for human blood and the subsequent killings can be disturbing.


 * Once Dylan discovers the Net-Navi's bloodlust, he faces the moral dilemma of whether or not to kill people and feed them to it in order to be rewarded. He is also not punished for his Faustian crimes in the movie ending (which differs from the play's original ending).

Rated PG-13 for mature thematic material including comic horror violence, substance abuse and sex references.

Trivia

 * The Bass.EXE is based on a character from Megaman Battle Network with a same name, 100% mainly on the appearance, voice (in males only), violent nature, dislike of humanity, etc.

Bloopers
Bloopers

Alternate Ending
Alternate Ending