Patchwork

For the first 15-20 minutes, I thought this was the stupidest movie I've ever seen. But then it took a turn for the kooky, in a good way. Well acted and surprisingly funny. I expected there to be many negative reviews on this site from people who watched only the beginning but gave up, so I'm glad to see all the love.

That said, I think many viewers will not experience this the way I did, and won't appreciate its particular humor. But give it a try! There are small moments of refinement that show the makers paid attention to detail, from actress' facial expressions to an addition of music at unexpected moments (like a certain scene set in a frat house).

A simple trip to a local bar for three women turns into a nightmarish scenario for three young women in the new Frankenstein-esque new film Patchwork.

Jennifer, Ellie and Madeleine couldn't be more different from each other. Jennifer is the straight laced business woman who wears pantsuits. Ellie is the blonde bombshell whose naivety often gets her in trouble. And Madeleine is a quiet freakish kind of girl. But on one night the three find themselves in the same drinking establishment and before morning they will be hacked, sewn and strung together to make a single character out of the best body parts each subject had to offer.

Upon awakening on the operating table the creature that has been Frankensteined attempts to gain control of their individual joints and body parts allowing them movement. The process is harder than can be expected as each personality of each girl controls parts of the new body. But escape it does and alone with the three voices in its head, the creature attempts to put the pieces together as to how, why and most importantly, who is responsible for their horrid creation.

Directed by Tyler MacIntyre based on a script by MacIntyre and Chris Lee Hill, Patchwork is a wonderfully deviant film that is rooted in Frankenstein mythology but tips its hat to cult classics such as Re-Animator and Darkman. Actresses Tory Stolper (Jennifer), Tracey Fairaway (Ellie) and Marie Blasucci (Madeleine) are perfectly cast with spellbinding chemistry resulting in many of the film's laugh out loud moments. Stolper particularly shines and is able to transform into the patchwork creature with B-movie exuberance twitching like Vincent D'Onofrio's Edgar in Men in Black as she learns how to work her new body.

The film is equally dark and humorous. The violence is almost cartoon-like but detailed enough to ensure an R-rating. And the humor is spot on as the three girls struggle to learn about each other and work together in the same consciousness. Think of Patchwork as the horror version of Pixar's Inside Out.

Cut into various chapters which take a non-linear approach to the story the film flips back and forward in time as they introduce the characters while progressing the narrative. It's a perfect device for a film whose main character is a cut and paste creation itself.

And we could not conclude any review without commenting on the stellar make-up effects in the film. The patched female creation looked as good as any make-up effect on an Oscar winning film and should be applauded to its attention to detail.

Patchwork in playing this week and the Toronto After Dark Film Festival and I can't imagine how it will not be a fan favorite at the conclusion of its screening. It was a smart, snarky funny film and should be screened by anyone who appreciates the genre.

Yes folks, if your a fellow fan of horror movies, your going to spot the obvious rip off, of Reanimator based on the classic H.P. Lovecraft short story: "Herbert West Reanimator."

It's a classic bring the dead back to life and combining body parts like this was explored in 'Bride Of Reanimator.'

Depressingly, Stuart Gordon or Lovecraft are given no credits to this obvious rip off, but where this one is worth the watch(it's amusing) is that the reanimated person has to deal with 3 to 4 personalities at a time which makes it interesting and the reanimated individual is still sentient and capable of more than zombie talk.

It only get's a 5/10 due to the fact it's well and truly been done before and to be honest a lot better with the Reanimator franchise but never the less some kind of guilty pleasure was saying: 'Yippee, more Reanimator.'

Worth a watch if only for the comedy value and for horror fans of Reanimator. Alas it doesn't feature any actors of the calibre of the great Jeffrey Coombs but with it's budget, would you honestly expect it?

Enjoy it for what it is.

It's an alright movie, the whole movie is spent trying to figure out who did this to them. Which is quite obvious from the get go, then there is another layer added in the third act of this, which didn't add to much depth to the story aside padding it out.

The movie is spit up into several different acts, which gives the movie a nice chance to flesh everyone out, some of them are quite good but they don't really add much to the story. The big bad, I would liked to have seen more of, like what where they doing before this. You saw snippets but you never really get to deep dive into it, the best part for me was the girls interacting with each other and the love interest. The whole going on a rampage and killing random people, I didn't really get but it added more to the run time.

There was some really dumb stuff to, like running away from the lab. Where they got Frankensteined, only to go looking elsewhere for the person who did this. It doesn't make a whole lot of sense, overall it's a decent movie, not sure if I'd watch it again. Frankenhooker is a much better movie but it was a decent watch.

This movie is surprisingly decent. I was honestly expecting the worst (I really enjoy watching bad movies) but it wasn't as bad as I initially anticipated. The first act is not super promising, basically coming off as any other slasher/body horror film, but the tone almost immediately shifts with the reveal of the three being stitched together. The story is told in a sort of anthology or flashback type of way, going back to explain the lives of the three girls and how they ended up in the situation. The middle act begins to really pick up as the three girls begin to work together and go on a murder spree to find the person behind it all. Some of the jokes are spot on, and the majority of the performances are awesome considering the type of movie this is supposed to be. I was not expecting the twist, and the final act is awesome and fun. This may not be a top-tier movie by any means, but it is magnificently fun with some awesome gore, quips, and jokes.