Swallowed

'Swallowed' is a very different kind of horror movie. It doesn't rely on blood, guts and gore. But this is as unnerving a film as you're going to get. This was a difficult watch for many reasons.

Cooper Koch stars as Benjamin, a handsome young gay man who is about to move to California to become a porn star. Jose Colon stars as his best (straight) friend, Dom. One night - after an evening of clubbing - Dom has to make "one quick stop" on the way home.

I don't want to do spoilers here, but as you can imagine this quick stop turned out to be a complete nightmare. They soon find themselves in the cruel and unsympathetic world of drug smuggling - but this is by not your average drug trafficking movie! Not knowing what was going to happen to them with the dire circumstances they found themselves in, suspense gnawed at me all the way, and I was on the edge of my seat for most of the movie. I was so nervous for these poor guys!

The performances are very good. I liked Benjamin and rooted for him. Mark Patton stars as the film's main antagonist, Rich (even though he only appears almost at the final act). This final act had quite a few surprises in store!

There's quite a bit of full frontal male nudity here - even glimpses of an erection - but I honestly didn't mind in the least! It was relevant within the context of the film and never sleazy or exploited. 'Swallowed' is an interesting film with a great payoff. I really liked it.

Benjamin is set to move to LA, for life as a male porn star, on his last night, he and his best friend Dom have a job to do, to get a package of drugs from A to B, but an encounter with a redneck thug at a public toilet changes the course of events.

From the title, you may think you're about to watch a porno, and judging by the amount of full frontline nudity, you may just be closer to that than you think.

Overall, it's better than I expected, and better than some of the scathing review would have you believe.

I think the actual plot, and the ideas in general are fantastic, it's so imaginative, I thought the earlier part of the film was terrific, unfortunately the latter stages didn't quite work as well, when Mark Patton is introduced it gets a little silly.

Not a conventional horror in the sense, but some nice ideas nonetheless, they could have upped the ante in terms of horror, they easily have gone in a few directions.

On the plus side, I'll refer back to an earlier point, female nudity has been synonymous with horror films since the 1970's, so I guess it's good to see them flip the tables somewhat.

Overall, it's a decent watch.

6/10.

What a letdown. I rented this film expecting a horror movie. What I got was a weird drama thriller that barely falls under those categories either.

It's a thin script that's stretched out way too long for how little actually happens. No big twists, no big surprises, and moves like molasses.

Which is a shame because it starts off strong, establishing the characters, their relationship, and the intrigue of the plot set up, but doesn't do much of interest for the rest of it.

It is well acted though. From the two leads who are sympathetic, human, and believable, which gives the thin material more weight, to the female drug dealer who is intimidating while not crossing the line into completely unlikable. The one weak performance comes from Mark Patton, who's all over the place. But it feels like no one involved knew how his character was supposed to be portrayed.

Overall not very good.

"Swallowed" is a new release that had the potential to be a horror movie, but it falls short of expectations. The film was decently acted, but the plot is more of a thriller than a horror movie, and it lacks the blood, gore, and jump scares that we expect from a horror film.

While the movie has some intriguing ideas, it fails to explore them in depth. The bugs that appear in the movie are not explained, and we never really find out what they do to the human brain. Additionally, the lack of any real insight into the trip that they induce makes the plot seem rushed and underdeveloped.

One thing that stands out about the movie is the excessive full frontal male nudity, which may make some viewers uncomfortable. While it is not unusual for horror movies to include some nudity, it is overdone in "Swallowed" and seems unnecessary to the plot.

Overall, I would not recommend this movie to fans of the horror genre. It fails to deliver on its potential, and the lack of character development and plot twists makes it a dull and forgettable watch. I would give "Swallowed" a 4/10 rating for its decent acting but failure to deliver on its potential.

It's a shame when a movie makers have a fantastic story, actors, and setting to create something wonderful, and they throw it all away.

I'm not even upset with the amount of suspended belief I allowed to get into this story, it's the constant change in the narrative that made me want to stop watching,

The build up was good, and then when you get to final half of the movie, it feels so disconnected from everything they set up. It felt as if they had a bunch of wild ideas and they just went with it without ever thinking about the time of the of the first half of the movie.

All the love for indie makers, but for the love, make something that make sense rather than just trying to be different.