Body Melt

 



Director - Philip Brophy (No Dance)
Starring - Gerard Kennedy (The Lost World, Neighbours), Andrew Daddo (Ned, Trouble Down Under), and Ian Smith (The Jesus Spoon, Underbelly)
Release Date - 1993
Genre - Horror/Comedy
Tagline - "State one: hallucinations.  Stage two: organ failure.  Stage three: body melt"
Format - Bluray (Personal Collection) (Screener)

Rating (out of 5):

 

 

     Ozploitation is something I just discovered a few years ago which is rather pathetic really.  There has been some quality horror films come from Australia that I am just now discovering.  This all started a few years back when I discovered Razorback and fell in love with.  This made me try other films like Wolf Creek, The Loved Ones, Wymwood, Daybreakers, and so on.  Sure, I grew up watching Mad Max but I never considered that part of Ozploitation until now.  A few months back Vinegar Syndrome released the 1993 horror comedy Body Melt.  I had never heard of this one before but after checking out the trailer for it I knew I was going to enjoy myself.  Thank you Vin Syn for sending this one my way!

     The film follows a group of people who are being used as part of a pharmaceutical experiment.  When they are first introduced to the drug they begin to hallucinate, then they start to die from the inside out and then their skin begins to melt off their body.  As the company tries to abort their experiments but the police get involved and matters get even more complicated when a disgruntled employee goes behind the CEO's back to conduct experiments of her own.

     I had no idea what to expect when I tossed in Body Melt but now I can safely say that Vinegar Syndrome has earned my undying respect.  They earned by heart with their Demon Wind release and they just continue to impress me with film after film especially their horror and exploitation releases.  Body Melt was a fantastic gruesome horror comedy full of slime and oddball characters.  I will be revisiting this one over time and I'm sure I will enjoy it just as much the next time as I did the first.  The acting in this one is very entertaining.  The cast is not going for any awards.  Instead, they bring to life some very colorful and entertaining characters that the viewer will not soon forget.  The story for this one is super fucking fun.  We get a pretty straight forward story following a pharmaceutical company that is experimenting on people but then we get these side stories connected to the main story.  This made for a very entertaining movie experience.  There is a few slow scenes that did not affect the overall film but did throw the pacing off.  Finally, this film is full of slime and gore.  The effects are top notch and fit the film perfectly.  In fact, I was very impressed by how amazing some of the gags actually looked.  I'm shocked I've never heard someone praise this movie in the horror groups considering how everyone is all up on other movie's dicks that don't look nowhere near as good as this one.  Overall, Body Melt is the Australian horror film you didn't know you needed.  I cannot recommend this film enough.  Check it out on blu from Vinegar Syndrome.