This is the first movie from Dark Arts Entertainment, a new label run by Brian Yuzna (Re-Animator, Society) and John Penney (Return of the Living Dead III, The Kindred).

Struggling artist Lola (Faye Tamasa, Ringworms) has nowhere to stay. She decides to visit her brother Louis (Burt Thakur), who she hasn’t seen for years, and he offers her a place to live. His roommate Cage (Robert Brettenaugh) seems strange but it isn’t for long, right? Well, that’s when the city goes into lockdown for reasons unknown. Is it another pandemic? War? And why are seeds showing up in the mail? Lola plants the seeds, which end up creating a psychedelic plant that warps her brother into another reality and makes Cage even more sinister.

Directed and written by Jake Macpherson, this is a unique feature that creates its own world for the characters, as mostly it’s Lola and Cage on screen with Louis lost somewhere in-between. The plants that grow appear otherworldly, beyond the strange happenings outside like helicopters constantly flying overhead and the TV turning to static. This feels like the worst trip to a drug buddy’s house that gets bad, you get stuck and there’s no way you can leave. It’s tense, gripping and a great first feature from this label and Macpherson.

The MVD release of Terror Firma has a director’s commentary, an extended director’s cut, a gallery of behind the scenes photos and a trailer. You can get it from MVD.