Body Melt is an Australian horror-comedy; a satirical look at the flourishing business of health in the late 80s and early 90s. It is cheap, cheesy, gooey, gloopy, snotty, bloody and hilariously gross! Body Melt is a schlocky horror film in the vein of Street Trash or Bad Taste and some seriously vile fun!
The film opens with a woman shooting her lover with an ominous looking liquid. The woman is Shaan; the face of Vimuville. Shaan is the spokesperson for the Vimuville Health Spa who is also marketing vitamin products. We are privy to a phone call Shaan makes informing the caller that she has administered enough juice to her lover that he will not make it to the morning. The lover is appalled by Vimuville’s shenanigans and intends on making a visit to Pebbles Court. Pebbles Court in Homesville is a randomly chosen neighborhood who has unknowingly become part of an experiment. The lover lasts considerably longer than Shaan anticipated and actually makes it to Pebbles Court. Unfortunately he expires in grand fashion taking out a parked truck and flying through his windshield. Needless to say, he does not warn the residents of their impending doom. It does however alert the police who are on the case.
Shaan appears to be running the show, but her puppet master Dr. Carrera is actually the one behind the experiments. He runs a legitimate medical practice in town where he keeps a special phone in his drawer for calls coming in from Vimuville. Wouldn’t anyone in his office hear the secret phone ringing inside his drawer? Dr. Carrera wants Shaan to back down on the doses to a pregnant Pebbles Court woman but he is a little too late. Pregnant lady has already dropped her dangerous placenta and is lying dead on her bed with her belly torn wide open. Hubby comes home and is horrified by his wife’s corpse and is attacked by her placenta and killed. Death by afterbirth! Shaan does not seem the least bit concerned by the obscene and gory results of Vimuville’s experiments. She just keeps plugging away; refusing to adjust doses.
Vimuville is conducting experiments on the good people of Pebbles Court in Homesville. They have been sent Vimuville powdered drink samples which can help you melt away the fat; or perhaps more accurately just melt all of you away. Body Melt definitely delivers on its title! Vimuville’s experiment spares no one; kids, pregnant women, business men, housewives. Bodies don’t only melt, they explode! Cheeks explode, penises explode! One head actually implodes! There are not only messy deaths there are also hallucinations. A man waiting in the airport sees people who aren’t there and in a cafeteria he meets an imaginary woman who has been mutilated by a boyfriend and needs a place to stay. She moves back and forth between her mutilated and former self appearing and disappearing. Her sexy former self even seduces the man. One of the families from Pebbles Court decides to go visit Vimuville’s health spa. The husband, wife and two children are treated to a buffet made just for them. There is even a half pipe for skateboarding/rollerblading for their pre-teen boy. He dies badly. Not as badly as dad does though! Dad can’t stop blowing his nose. The snot begins to flow like a tap and eventually kills him. It must be seen to be believed!
If all that isn’t enough, Body Melt includes an odd subplot involving a mutated family. The mutated family plot does have a connection to the central story line. Two guys from Pebbles Court are making their way to the Vimuville Health Spa and stop to ask for directions. A cranky man with some really lumpy looking skin chats up the guys and calls his two children who come running. They have breakfast with the family and are hit on by the older daughter (she was either a very masculine looking woman or a man in drag). Later the two children (evidently the children appear to be in their twenties) kill a kangaroo so they can eat its adrenal glands. Frankly, I could have lived without the killing of the kangaroo bit. It does not end well for the two Pebbles Court guys. Body Melt does not end well for anyone actually. The story is bananas but Body Melt is really about its nastily delightful visuals.
Body Melt is a cheap, cheesy, cheeky, funny flick where bodily fluids flow freely. Body Melt is an utterly vile horror-comedy and I think it is a must see for fans of low-budget schlock. Highly Recommended.
Dungeon Rating; 4/5
Directed By: Philip Brophy
Starring: Gerard Kennedy, Andrew Daddo, Ian Smith, Regina Gaigalas, Vincent Gil, Neil Foley, Anthea Davis, Matthew Newton, Lesley Baker, Amy Grove-Rogers, Adrian Wright, Jillian Murray, Ben Geurens, Amanda Douge, Brett Climo
Killer crocs aren’t an original concept for a horror film by any means. But this one came from a friend who has recommended some real gems to me. A decent cast and breathtaking scenery and camera work definitely elevate this one above the pack.
GOREGIRL'S DUNGEON 