Saturday, July 24, 2010
Michael Allen
Director: Jeno Hodi.
Writers: Tibor Fonyodi, Allan Katz and Jeno Hodi.
The Countess Elizabeth Bathory is a person of such infamy that even today her misdeeds are told in cinema and story. Bathory bathed in pheasants blood and is likely the most deadly serial killers of all time, with up to 600 deaths attributed to her name. Her exploits have been documented in at least a dozen films, with Metamorphosis one of the most recent (Moira). An interesting subject does not always transition to cinema, however. A review at the website Moira places Metamorphosis on the site's five worst films from 2007 and this review will not attempt to sway this objective and accurate critique of the film. To release on DVD August 24th, through MTI Home Video, Metamorphosis is dreary, uninspiring and there really is nothing here that has not been tried before.
Metamorphosis begins with three Americans travelling through Hungary, as character Keith (Corey Sevier) writes his university thesis on the Countess Bathory. In Hungary, Keith and his friends Kim (Jennifer Higham) and J.J. (Charlie Hollway) get involved in an ancient blood feud, which has lasted centuries. Then, as the website Moira correctly notes of director Jeno Hodi "[he] moves the story to the present-day and fills the central roles with alternately blandly pretty boy and crassly annoying American twentysomethings."
The tagline for Metamorphosis poses an interesting question: "what lurks on the other side of mortality" (IMDB). However, the way this film goes about answering this question is with poorly dubbed and verbose dialogue, which will leave most bored. Those who sit through the entire film will not be rewarded for the patience, as more philosophy on immortality drags on and on and on without a solid answer, nor a direction. Even actor Christopher Lambert as the industrialist Constantine can not freshen up the film with lines like "Oh, the bible - the bestselling fiction of all time" (Metamorphosis).
This reviewer is not surprised in the least that this film has taken three years and almost four to be released in North America. The theme of mortality has been done before and better in films like Bruce Almighty and even Lambert's previous film Highlander. This Hungarian born director just cannot connect these Eastern European motifs with a North American audience. As well, having a background in a slew of action films like American Kickboxer 2 and Black Sea Raid does not allow for Hodi to transition well in to independent horror filmmaking, where the competition is thick and bloody.
To show its ugly head on DVD next month, Metamorphosis is not recommendable for many of items listed above and for brutal continuity errors, a flat sound design, and some campy dialgoue. Also, as another reviewer recognizes: "it would be nice to see someone take some risks with the mythical creatures [vampires]" (Critic Nic). Some gorgeous cinematography, which includes the actress Irene A. Hoffman, and a few nicely choreographed action sequences are not enough to make Metamorphosis a worthy use of your time.
Plot/story/subject material: 6 (not poorly written, mostly poorly executed, but the script does meander in the extend last act).
Characters/individual characters: 6.5 (average).
Continuity/editing/control/sound design: 4.5 (several blaring mistakes involve a chair, which is used for firewood, suspiciously reappears in the next shot - wth?, more continuity errors involve undamageable clothing worn by Lambert and the list goes on).
Overall: 5.75 out of 10 (not good).
Metamorphosis on MTI Home Video:
Metamorphosis at MTI
The film's homepage:
Metamorphosis at Cine Partners
A positive review of the film by Critic Nic:
Metamorphosis Reviewed by Critic Nic
A well-written, and informative review at Moira.com:
Metamorphosis Reviewed at Moira
Just trying to pay my way through University:
Advertise Here - Contact me Michael Allen at 28DLA
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Writers: Tibor Fonyodi, Allan Katz and Jeno Hodi.
The Countess Elizabeth Bathory is a person of such infamy that even today her misdeeds are told in cinema and story. Bathory bathed in pheasants blood and is likely the most deadly serial killers of all time, with up to 600 deaths attributed to her name. Her exploits have been documented in at least a dozen films, with Metamorphosis one of the most recent (Moira). An interesting subject does not always transition to cinema, however. A review at the website Moira places Metamorphosis on the site's five worst films from 2007 and this review will not attempt to sway this objective and accurate critique of the film. To release on DVD August 24th, through MTI Home Video, Metamorphosis is dreary, uninspiring and there really is nothing here that has not been tried before.
Metamorphosis begins with three Americans travelling through Hungary, as character Keith (Corey Sevier) writes his university thesis on the Countess Bathory. In Hungary, Keith and his friends Kim (Jennifer Higham) and J.J. (Charlie Hollway) get involved in an ancient blood feud, which has lasted centuries. Then, as the website Moira correctly notes of director Jeno Hodi "[he] moves the story to the present-day and fills the central roles with alternately blandly pretty boy and crassly annoying American twentysomethings."
The tagline for Metamorphosis poses an interesting question: "what lurks on the other side of mortality" (IMDB). However, the way this film goes about answering this question is with poorly dubbed and verbose dialogue, which will leave most bored. Those who sit through the entire film will not be rewarded for the patience, as more philosophy on immortality drags on and on and on without a solid answer, nor a direction. Even actor Christopher Lambert as the industrialist Constantine can not freshen up the film with lines like "Oh, the bible - the bestselling fiction of all time" (Metamorphosis).
This reviewer is not surprised in the least that this film has taken three years and almost four to be released in North America. The theme of mortality has been done before and better in films like Bruce Almighty and even Lambert's previous film Highlander. This Hungarian born director just cannot connect these Eastern European motifs with a North American audience. As well, having a background in a slew of action films like American Kickboxer 2 and Black Sea Raid does not allow for Hodi to transition well in to independent horror filmmaking, where the competition is thick and bloody.
To show its ugly head on DVD next month, Metamorphosis is not recommendable for many of items listed above and for brutal continuity errors, a flat sound design, and some campy dialgoue. Also, as another reviewer recognizes: "it would be nice to see someone take some risks with the mythical creatures [vampires]" (Critic Nic). Some gorgeous cinematography, which includes the actress Irene A. Hoffman, and a few nicely choreographed action sequences are not enough to make Metamorphosis a worthy use of your time.
Plot/story/subject material: 6 (not poorly written, mostly poorly executed, but the script does meander in the extend last act).
Characters/individual characters: 6.5 (average).
Continuity/editing/control/sound design: 4.5 (several blaring mistakes involve a chair, which is used for firewood, suspiciously reappears in the next shot - wth?, more continuity errors involve undamageable clothing worn by Lambert and the list goes on).
Overall: 5.75 out of 10 (not good).
Metamorphosis on MTI Home Video:
Metamorphosis at MTI
The film's homepage:
Metamorphosis at Cine Partners
A positive review of the film by Critic Nic:
Metamorphosis Reviewed by Critic Nic
A well-written, and informative review at Moira.com:
Metamorphosis Reviewed at Moira
Just trying to pay my way through University:
Advertise Here - Contact me Michael Allen at 28DLA
| | |
Stumble It!Subscribe to 28 Days Later: An Analysis by Email
Posted in: 2010,christopher lambert,elizabeth bathory,horror,jeno hodi,metamorphosis,movie review,mti home video,release date,thriller,vampire,vampires
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