Patchwork

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.

Before getting into the review, here are my ratings for this movie.

I give the story, 0.75 out of 2: The direction, 1.25: The pace, 0.75: The acting, 1.25: And, the enjoyment level, 0.75. These give Patchwork 4.75 out of 10.

There are two bad things about the movie. The first is that they are calling it a horror. The second is the many links to Reanimator. These are intentional as the director thanks Stuart Gordon in the credits. It wouldn't have been so bad if the correlations weren't there to sell the film. It's good to pay homage but do it more subtly.

I was okay with the glowing green reanimator fluid, which was understated in its appearance. However, the more prominent character of the surgeon is in your face. He is loud, brash, and completely ignorant, and an idiot to boot. But, you can see Herbert West just under the skin. Regrettably, the actor Corey Sorenson is not Jeffrey Coombs, and the surgeon is not Herbert West. The writer, Chris Lee Hill, along with the director, Tyler MacIntyre, should have created their own character here. Somebody more believable and less the village fool.

The story goes a step further than Reanimator in the respect that science can now recreate people as they wish... by using spare body parts. And, with the reanimation agent, there's no longer any time limit to how long a limb can last... or even if it comes from a cadaver.

So, shades of Frankenhooker here, though Frank Henenlotter doesn't receive a thank you. And, Patchwork does walk like and look like an up-to-date Frankenhooker.

It's here the story gets too clever for its own good. It would appear that the flesh holds the soul and the memories and the feelings of the owner, and not the brain. Because when the three ladies get stitched together, each of their psyches and personas remains. So now the host body has two more people to contend with. Oh, the joys of hearing these women grumble, whine, and moan about their lives. This belly-aching becomes nerve grating fast. And, for me, it lost all the humour it possessed. These segments needed to be wittier and funnier. Maybe the writers should have gone down to their local comedy club and asked an expert for help. Though looking at the trash the movie industry calls humour nowadays, all this film needed were more severed phallic members. There's one guy who enjoys his food. But, wait... What's that in his hot dog? It doesn't look like a sausage to me.

Don't get me wrong, there are some humorous moments throughout the film, but not many. The slapstick comedy segments suffer from timing and direction issues. Both of which needed reviewing and tightening.

I do have to give MacIntyre credit as there are a few scenes that work brilliantly. The first time we realise that Patchwork is three people and not one is a brilliant well thought out segue, and it's carried out in a blink of an eye. Patchwork enters her house and walks through the door into her kitchen and finds her two new personas waiting. This is a fluid transition that you may not even notice. But it is great in its simplicity and effect.

The special effects are haphazard. Sometimes the fake limbs are too floppy, and you wonder if the team had forgotten to slip the bone in, to give it stability. Then you have the great fx of the stitched face. When we first see Patchwork you can differentiate between her skin doners. Each lady has different skin tones and textures. The reveal in the mirror is shocking and beautiful. I loved this scene and effect. It's a pity that in the later scenes you know the actress is wearing a second-rate mask. The women's skin tones and textures vanish.

The acting is above average, though I would have prefered one of the other actresses to take the lead as Jennifer. Both possess better acting skills and on-screen presence. Especially, Tracey Fairaway, who plays Elle. Elle is the only character who has depth. And I believe most of her richness is due to Fairaway,

Even Corey Sorenson isn't too bad. It's a shame they took the character in the direction they did. I would have liked to have seen what he could have done with a better role.

Patchwork is more Dark Fantasy than a horror. And, I can't bring myself to call it a comedy, either...

So if you like Dark Fantasies about stitched up women with some humour thrown in, then this may be for you. I can say I'll not watch this again; I'll stick with the original Gordon films as they're all superior. The film did make me laugh... and that's always good. And, I'm glad I saw Patchworks crazy stitched face, which will stay with me for a while.

Now speed on over to my Obsidian Dreams to find out where Patchwork tripped and fell in my ratings.

Take Care & Stay Well.

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.

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).

You will love this. It has the irreverent and gleeful bloodshed and the same joyous ignorance of science fact that makes all the classic horror comedies, like the Basket Case series, work, as well as the grind-house style "Whiskey Tango Foxtrot" sensibilities. Not a laugh out loud style of horror comedy, but well loaded with chuckles and appreciative groans.

Fun, and full of grue. NOT a date movie, unless your date is a fan of gallons of blood and black market medical experiments, in which case, watch away!