Replace

....as the heroine says at one point. There is a really good story lurking in this film somewhere, but it's too stylised to really pull you in. It's a sexy and sometimes gory film, but it is too heavy on the style and sound to continually keep your interest. Reminded me a bit of the film The Hunger, more pop video than coherent narrative. An enjoyable watch, but some scenes were just dragged out to long. The editing was annoying and detracted from the flow a bit. Still, not a bad film, but could have been executed better.

Replace is about a young woman (Rebecca Forsythe) who suddenly develops a fast-spreading skin condition (it looks like she's peeling) and desperately looks for a cure. At least that one aspect of the story. The young woman also has short-term memory loss and slight moments of distorted reality. She meets strangers who say they've already met, including a skin specialist. Is she going nuts? Or is she already there? Let me back up. When we first meet Kira, she's heading to the apartment of a man she met at a bar. They laugh, they flirt, she spends the night. When she wakes up, he's gone, and the skin condition appears. She tries scratching it and picking at it, as one is wont to do, which only makes matters worse. She visits a dermatologist (Barbara Crampton) who prescribes some medication "for the pain." But Kira discovers something really wacked, and completely by accident. She learns that if she peels off some affected skin and then applies someone else's skin to that spot, the new skin will adhere immediately to her body. This contradicts known medicine, as skin grafts can be a very lengthy and painful process. Has she found a cure for her malady? Lest one think this is just about a woman and her need for some good lotion, there's a mindbending twist, a psychological smack in the head for the viewer. It's too wonderful to explicate here, but in the great tradition of these thrillers, not all is what it seems. In fact, little is.

The final twist is perfect. Enough pieces fall into place that Kira's situation makes some sense, although not every question is answered neatly. The script is well written (by Norbert Keil and Richard Stanley), and Forsythe, Crampton, and Lucie Aron (as Kira's neighbor) turn in strong performances. Well made all around.

Replace (2016) has been on my watch list ever since the official poster came out, what motivated me to watch the film was the body horror genre and the potential this film had. I knew almost nothing about this film, other than the IMDb bio and the mixed reviews. I recently found the film on DVD in HMV without a price-tag. When I sat down and watched the film I was instantly stunned by the introduction, however I quickly found myself foreseeing a disaster after the introduction.

The execution of Replace is very amateur and bombastic, mainly the music choices, sound editing and the editing. The music was quite hyperbolized attempting its hardest to provoke any emotion that's intended, the problem is that the development for this film is lacking, so the soundtrack appears as bombastic. The sound editing was very baffling, you could clearly tell when a line was dubbed, however voices of the actors would echo randomly for no reason, the sound editing was very inconsistent and became a massive distraction.

The editing for this film is perhaps the worst aspect, the editing really damages the film stylistically. This film is utterly confused on what style it intends to illustrate, this is conveyed through the complete switch of style of music, initially the soundtrack choice is synthetic, although later the soundtrack becomes orchestral, with very stock violins and bombastic motifs utilised to force the emotion down your throat. The editing is also a problem due to its tendency to flicker uncontrollably. At times you have no idea on what's happening.

In terms of what this film accomplishes, the twists and gore effects are superbly done. The gore effects seem very organic, although these gore effects are juxtaposed by the unphased performance of the main character, the pain is barely felt.

As a whole, Replace is a student film that has some great cinematography although also includes baffling editing, terrible sound design, sometimes laughable dialogue, and a score that's very bombastic and confused.

Was drawn into seeing 'Replace' with a cool poster/cover, a very intriguing and creative premise and as someone with a general appreciation for horror. That it was low-budget, which from frequent personal experience is rarely a good sign due to that there are so many poor ones out there, made me though apprehensive.

'Replace' is sadly however yet another film seen recently, hence some reiteration because the exact same strengths and flaws those films are present here, that to me was incredibly disappointing considering its potential which it doesn't do anywhere near enough with. As a film it's lacklustre, with a plethora of problems (huge ones too) and doesn't do enough with its potential, which was hardly small. There is very little good about it

Lets start with the positives. The scenery is atmospheric and spooky and 'Replace' is surprisingly well shot.

Found too that the acting was not bad, doing their best with disappointingly nowhere near enough material to work with, and that there were a few nice twists that intrigued and weren't telegraphed too early.

Unfortunately, the story does feel paper thin, disjointed and over-stretched and some of it feels vague, under-explained in the last third where the film especially became duller, more predictable, more senseless and less scary. Too many characters are too sketchy and with nowhere near enough to make one want to endear to them. The effects are ropy at best.

Dialogue can be stilted and rambling, with lots of clichés and no depth whatsoever (definitely one of the worst assets), while the pace goes to a standstill very quickly and drags with very little going on worth caring about. Found too many the supposedly shocking moments not surprising or scary and the supposedly creepy atmosphere dreary, due to the excessive obviousness, a lot of dumb and vague moments and explanations and the lack of tension and suspense.

There are a good deal of underdeveloped plot elements and often nonsensical and confusing character motivations, while too many of the things to make you jump or shocked are far from creative or scary and are pretty tame. There is not enough threat here and what there is of it tends to be used poorly, it is completely unimaginative and more odd than creepy, with little sense of horror or urgency. Some badly sagging momentum too. The direction is leaden, inexperience seems to be all over the film. There is no creativity or anything shocking.

As said previously very well, the music, sound and editing are the worst assets. The music is too loud, sounds cheap (may have worked 25 or so years ago but doesn't work here), tries far too hard to generate emotion and is far too predictably placed and often out of kilter. The sound is too echoey and often without warning or reason and makes some of the voices sound strange. The editing is haphazard and affects the coherence of some of the goings on and story structure.

Overall, lacklustre but far from unwatchable. 4/10 Bethany Cox

Having read the other reviews on here I don't really see any valid reasons for this film getting such a low rating.

I think people were expecting some kind of Texas Chainsaw Massacre gore fest - which this film isn't. It requires a bit more attention.

The acting is superb, the story well written, and this is excellently executed.

The pace of the film is good and engaging.

The best thing to do is watch this and make your mind up.