Early reviews, particulary the one from Bloody Disgusting intrigued me a lot, and I've always had a lot of respect for Larry Fessenden and the work he does on indie horror scene, from directing to producing to acting. I'm happy to say this is my favorite work of his.
"Depraved" is the good old Frankenstein tale, put into a modern setting with modern problems. Henry, an army veteran and a field medic who's suffering from PTSD has teamed up with his life-long friend, the rich, greedy and egocentrical John to create a new life - Adam. All three of the main characters are more than one dimensional, brought on to screen by good performances, with the most pleasantly surprising being that by Alex Breaux who portrays Adam or the created life, the monster. Unexpectedly great portrayal, perhaps the main reason I'm recommending this. "Depraved" runs for 110 minutes which was concerning at first, but the pacing endured and boredom can be avoided (can, of course, also means there's a can't). Make no mistake, it's a drama before it's a horror, but it flows nicely and evenly, the dialogue is enjoyable and there's enough thought provoking material to filter. The FX is good and believable, cinematography is crafty and diverse though I noticed a few seemingly unintentionally out-of-focus shots.
I generally don't like Frankenstein tales much, there have been a lot of painfully average examples, even the one with Daniel Radcliffe and James McAvoy was worse than this. "Depraved" might not be the freshest or richest one of them, but it feels steady, heartful and entertaining. I've seen almost every directional feature of Fessenden (the ones that've come out since 2000) and I do think I can objectivly conclude that this is his best. My rating: 7/10.
