Hard Shell

A science fiction film about a giant beetle from outer space. Chance and Jake went to see it at the Megakat Multiplex. Chance, who was afraid of insects, was annoyed because he thought Hard Shell would be about a tank, “not some giant beetle.”

The film featured a scene where a heroic fighter pilot attacked the title monster and was killed. He crashed his jet, and, although he survived and extracted himself from his downed craft, he turned in horror to see Hard Shell moving towards him, mouth open wide to devour him whole. The giant insect was eventually killed using a deluge of insecticide by the military. As he fell dead, the film’s narrator wondered if Hard Shell was truly dead and wondered what other secrets lay beyond the stars. Chance covered his eyes in horror. As he and Jake left the theater, he gave the movie “two claws down.”

The movie proved popular enough to spawn a quickie sequel, Hard Shell 2, which was being advertised on TV while the original was still in theaters. Having dealt with real giant bugs in the form of the alien Ci-Kat-A, Chance seemed more open to seeing it than he had its predecessor.