If David Cronenberg Made A Comedy....
Stanley Runk | Camp North Pines | 07/06/2004
(4 out of 5 stars)
"Apparently Austrailian director Brophy wanted to make a film to rival New Zealander Peter Jackson's gorefest, Dead Alive. The outrageous gore and humor are very Jackson-esque in Body Melt. But this film is crazy-100% nuts. It's not as gory as Jackson's film, but it's alot more off the wall. In fact, I'm surprised this film isn't a bigger hit amongst hardcore horror fans. Must not have had very good distribution or promotion, and that's a shame coz this film should be viewed at least once by any horror fan. The gore here doesn't come from flesh eating zombies(which is very reliable subject matter for gore), but from an experimental drug, actually vitamin or vitamin supplement, it's never defined 100%. Some evil, wacky corporation/health club is making this stuff in the hopes of making a totally healthy human being, but the darn stuff just doesn't work right. It basically just makes the body lose all control and rebel against itself. This doesn't stop our corporation from wanted to sell it in the markets though. The Corporation decides to give this stuff a little test run in an unsuspecting small neighborhood. Once our neighborhood has taken it, the trouble starts. Trouble-with a capital T, that rhymes with P and that stands for Pool. Speaking of pool, some of these folks get invited to the health spa(for scientific observation I'm guessing) and meet their ends in particularly gruesome fashion. Most of the(short) film has the police investigating the entire mess and unraveling the conspiracy. I could easily see David Cronenberg doing this film, though it would be alot different. Just imagine if David Cronenberg decided to let his sense of humor take over(fat chance) for one film, and you get a pretty good idea of what Body Melt is like. This is an independant film done in Australia, which means no Hollywood meddling. The Hollywood system would NEVER allow such a film to hit theaters. That's fine though coz you can get this dvd for a pretty reasonable price. At least rent it if you aren't willing to gamble with your purchases. I can tell ya, if you like Peter Jackson's or Sam Raimi's early work, Body Melt is highly recommended for you."
A glimpse into Australian life.
Lady M the 1st | Australia | 03/26/2006
(5 out of 5 stars)
"Actually, that was just a little joke. 'Body Melt' is one of the best splatterfest/comedies I have ever seen despite the fact that I do believe I once lived in a place eerily similar to the fictious 'homesville'.
Anyone familiar with Aussie T.V will instantly recognise such famous faces as Neighbour's Ian Smith and Blue Heeler's Lisa McCune. Those of you who have no idea what I am talking about can rest assured that this movie is camp Aussie acting at it's best with lots of whacky nudity, mutations, inbreeders and vomit thrown in for good measure. Even the storyline is almost clever, albeit simplistic. But who needs a complicated plot when you've got lots of exploding bodies and melting faces...right?
M."