Most horror fans love those cheesy, unconventional, gory, and peculiar types of horror films. Body Melt is definitely one of those type of gems. This shocking Aussie prize seems to have been overlooked within the horror community but is a very underrated marvelous masterpiece. If you are a fan of Dead Alive (1990) by Peter Jackson then you will love Body Melt (1993).
“BODY MELT” (1993)
By: Lance W. Reedinger
One of the greatest feelings for a horror fan is discovering a film which may have slipped past
our radar. This is exactly what the 1993 Ozploitation frenzied film “Body Melt” brings to the
undiscovered table. Mix a seedy pharmaceutical company, an outback mongoloid family, cookie
cutter suburban test subject residents, with a vicious vitamin supplement and you have a
recipe for a carnivorous cult classic.
Residents of the quiet town of Pebbles Court, Homesville, are the unknowing test subjects
for an enhancement drug that promises amazing physical results. Instead the drug ends up
causing hallucinations and body decomposition in glorious gory fashion. One of the employees
from Vimuville, the sinister drug company, does not agree with his company’s ethics and heads
to Pebbles Court to warn the gullible guinea pigs. Unknowingly drugged himself, Ryan( Robert
Simper from Howing 3) succumbs to the drug before he can cast his warning and the audience
gets a first glimpse of the effects of the vicious vitamin. When the third phase hits, we are
have our first tentacled treat, revealing the aftermath of the infection. Director Philip
Brophy introduces us to two detectives that investigate the alleged overdose and the
two sleuths guide us thru the choppy melee of victims that fall to the infection thru the
film. From the health spa headquarters of the company, a road stop to a “Hills Have
Eyes,” family compound, and quick returns to the infected of Pebbles Court, the
plot jumps more then an infected kangaroo on the super supplement. One can
forgive the non-sensible story and just enjoy the eye-popping practical effects.
Deadly erections, super snot rockets, melting faces, and mutant placentas keep
the viewer fighting between vomiting and laughing throughout.
In an age of 4K shots and all too perfect CGI, the glory of “Body Melt,” is the simple
style we get to view the film. A true time warp back to the mostly forgotten 90’s
era of horror. Sandwiched between the golden age of horror of the 80’s and the
reboot age of the 2000’s, “Body Melt” treats us to a simpler time of cinema.
Far from clean or even understandable, the film is just pure fun. Today’s
horror is over analyzed and redundant, at times we forget to just have
a good time. If “Wolf Creek,” “Trainspotting,” “Cabin Fever,” and “Requiem for
a Dream,” had a film orgy, “Body Melt,” would be their cinematic love child.
Scream Score 7/10
