Text © Richard Gary / Indie Horror Films, 2020
Images from the Internet
Lifeform
Directed by Max Dementor (aka Brian Schiavo)
Strangewerks Films / Wild Eye Releasing / MVD
Entertainment
105 minutes, 2019
People being inadvertently changed into monsters through nature or
science is hardly new. It isn’t difficult to go even further back than, say, The Hideous Sun Demon (1958) to find this subgenre. A big difference, though, is that in earlier
versions, it was usually men that were transformed, but as time passed on, it
focused more on women, usually the sexier the better. The obvious notation that
will be associated with this release is the Species franchise (beginning in 1995) or its lesser cousin Splice (2009), but it has
continued, even as recently as Bite (2015).
As for trying to bring back the dead through science hoping with a
result of normalcy has also been present for years; again, the obvious
touchstone is the Re-Animator films (starting in 1985). These sub-genres tend to be films I enjoy, so
when I saw the trailer for Lifeform, I definitely was hoping to get the chance to see it… And, Ta da!
Social worker Sam(antha) (Virginia Logan) is
married to stem cell research scientist Hadrian (Peter Alexandrou). Hadrian and
his assistant, Chloe (Kate Britton) are working on a project to help heal by
replacing cells. They also have the working-close-together-for-a-long-time
hots for each other, and Hadrian (man, that’s a clumsy name; perhaps it is to
explain indirectly the actor’s accent) is torn between his love for his wife
and his attraction for his assistant. While I don’t respect that as I’ve
happily been loyal for over a quarter of a century, this really is quite the
fetching cast. But I digress…
When Sam catches the two scientists neckin’,
she runs out into the New York City street where she promptly has a brain
embolism and collapses on the sidewalk (this is all in the trailer, by-the-by).
Natch, Hadrian is in remorse, but is still working with Chloe, and they
inject her with some test fluids taken from a jellyfish, of all things. Of
course, this leads to transformations, brain eating, and lots of tentacles, but
more on that later.
As time
passes, Sam mutates more, sexual tensions rise all the way around, and people
drop like flies (yes, there is a decent body count).
The film is beautifully shot in widescreen,
and while many of the images are dimly lit, it looks really good; many apply a Sergio
Leoni-level close-up so at least parts of the face or forehead are out of
camera range. Again, good looking cast, so it’s not a problem, other than on
occasion (but not often) it’s a bit hard to define exactly what is going
on.
As for the logistics, this is a decent story
with some interesting subplots regarding the scientist’s boss and family, even
with some holes here and there, but the dialogue is bland and could use some
punching up. The same can be said for the fetching participants’ not so
fetching wooden acting.
The effects run from looking decent
(appliances) to pretty cheesy (digital). One of the creatures even looks like
pre-Ray Harryhausen stop motion. Actually, considering the obvious budget
constraints this film must have been under, this is some decent work (remember
how near the end of the first Evil Dead how fake the clay body looked as
things goo’d out of it?). And for those who are into this sort of thing, there
is a lot of female nudity, especially from the navel and up. Again, not
complaining!
Speaking of the carnal phases of it, there are
a lot of subtle fetishes thrown in here along with the bare skin. For example,
even though the original cells were from a jellyfish, there is a lot of
inspiration from tentacle hentai, and also some B&D thrown in, with various
women tied to chairs or chained up. Now one of the reasons for the various
monstrous varieties that appear is that the creature (Sam) is a shapeshifter
(says the publicity), and as an example, one of the more interesting ones is a
cross between a preying mantis and scorpion (and a nod to 1956’s The She
Creature).
I do have a few quite silly questions here and
there that took me out of the story. For example, there is a monster running
loose killing people in Park Slope, Brooklyn; have you even been to Park Slope?
Even in the middle of the night, it’s a pretty hopping place, even by the warehouses
between the Brooklyn and Manhattan Bridges. Also, some shots were obviously
filmed on a main Avenue, but it’s like they all appear to be from the same
block, if one goes by the scaffolding that seems to nearly always be there.
What’s up with that, asks this Brooklyn born and bred boy?
For me, the biggest fault is its length, as it
could have easily been edited down to under 90 minutes. But this is only the
director’s second feature, and he’s got some learning to do. His first full
lengther from 2010, The Shriven, also has similar themes, such as a murderous
shapeshifting woman and tentacles (I have only seen the trailer), I say give
him a chance. With its flaws, this was still a fun flick.
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