Dévorant

I'm amazed with myself for watching this right to the end. And I'm kicking myself too. That's why it gets two stars instead of the one it actually deserves.

The storyline was weak and full of holes - if I can see them, why can't the people giving ten-star reviews? Then the acting, lol. Mark Patton playing demented fairy queen Rich was a hoot. He was the opposite of menacing. One could have found better in an amateur dramatics club. Jena Malone was pitiful as the hardnut dope runner.

Cooper Koch and Jose Colon playing Ben and Dom respectively were better and seemed to have some rapport between them. I get why Koch was chosen as the one to be the one breaking into adult films, but for me, Colon was far sexier.

As for the action, whole segments were lost in boringness where attempts to raise tension laughably failed.

Regarding the ingested substance which gives rise to the name of the film, the premiss is so far away from reality that it loses the viewer.

A low budget failure that I wasted time on so you don't have to now that I wrote a review.

... come out right? Well no pun intended here, but as the title suggests ... well if you only know the title, you may be in for quite the ride, like I was. Just the beginning was quite something - you get the feeling for our two main characters and what they are about.

Of course only as the movie progresses we get to see how deep their friendship goes ... almost literally and no pun intended. There are scenes here that are not easy to watch - even if they are not explicitly shown. On the other hand, this has quite a lot of male nudity in it. If you have issues with that - well you have been "warned" (I too am more fond of the female body, just saying).

On another note, the movie has Mark Patton in it. If you do not know him: he was in one of the Nightmare on Elm Street movies. And his character was quite prominent - also in how he changed perception in male leads. Not just for the time this was made.

He really goes all out with his character here. Even more fun when you have met him in real life and know what a sweetheart he is - the character he portrays is anything but. But that is acting - the slow burn on the other hand may not be everyones cup of tea ... suspend your disbelief and go with the flow ...

I really like the movie for its acting and unpredictable story. Very strong and believable performances. The storyline is very simple, but disturbing. Mark Patton gives us a hilarious over the top character. I think the real horror is in the uncertainty and not knowing what is going to happen once the drugs are swallowed... There was definitely more room for a background story of the main characters to get more attached to them. But Colon (no pun intended) and Koch feel very believable in their stressful situations. Some funny and uncomfortable scenes aside the movie gets its tension across be it not in slasher/gore/bloodbath style. So not your average Saturday night movie, but worth the watch.

I was thinking this would be a really gross or a horrific body horror film and it wasn't anything that was really great. The body horror was barely there, it wasn't really scary. I would not call this horror. I kept waiting for something to happen, for it to get truly gruesome because I really felt from what people were saying that I would end up profoundly disturbed, but it never happened. Acting was good, I would call this a thriller but not horror, no way. It's a good story but it needed more to be considered a really disturbing body horror movie. I was thinking it might have some elements of Shivers or Rabid, but it never really went for it.

'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.