Adam Chaplin

An indie film with stylized anime-like action & LOTS & LOTS of punches & blood everywhere. The problem is it drags a bit much but still an okay watch for a B-grade action/horror film & a must for splatter fans.

A musclebound drifter named Adam Chaplin (Emanuele De Santi, also the director) wanders through Heaven City looking for the man who killed his girlfriend. Pushing him in his quest is a small demon that crawls out of a upside down crucifix scar on his back. His target, a deformed guy named Denny who runs the city and survives on the chemical Neurocril 3, hires a bunch of goons to take this threat out before he can reach him. Existing like some kind of live action anime film, this is a total 180 from the film reviewed above. De Santi obviously had limited funds, but goes above and beyond to infuse his SOV film with a sense of style. It also helps that it might be one of the bloodiest movies I've ever seen. The action is pretty much non-stop and keeps getting crazier and crazier until the finale where Chaplin is making heads explode in gory-soaked scenes that would make Ricky Oh faint. It is going to change your life or challenge THE EXORCIST as an all-time horror great? No. But if you are looking for some insane skull smashing, this is the champ.

WHat a strange moody fun movie. Italy is again King of the low budget horror gore, this is on par or better then the best of the Japaneses extreme, if you like things such as Machine Girl or Tokyo Gore Police, I can highly recommend this movie.

Effects where way over the top in blood and gore, a 12 out of 10. The acting was good or better, the make up effects great, the style, something often lacking in the low budget moves was really we done. The was a continuity of bizarre, slightly off normal throughout the movie that really worked.

All in all I thoroughly enjoyed this movie and I hope Emanuele De Santi does many more.

After a long time I finally got something very entertaining to watch. 'Adam Chaplin' as the name suggests is the story of Adam Chaplin (Emanuele De Santi), who desperately loved his wife Emily (Valeria Sannino). They had a happy and complacent family life when his wife went into bad books of the demented and sadistic city mobster Denny (Christian Riva) and his equally animalistic sons Derek (Giulio De Santi) and Ben (Paolo Luciani). Emily had borrowed a sum of money from Denny but due to inability to pay her debt on time, she is brutally burned alive by Denny and his sons. Adam is living a secluded and sad life and is all set to exact revenge on the gangsters. For this Adam conjures a demon and promises to give his soul to it once his revenge is exacted. The demon makes Adam's right shoulder its residence and gives Adam supernatural strength to bring down his enemies. Armed with supernatural strength, Adam is now on the trail of his enemies and will not stop unless he has killed them all.

The story is fairly simple at heart, but is also bit different from the others because of the demon. Emanuele with his chiseled body and rolled up eyes looks threatening and different from most other protagonists. His brutal killings make him demonic and fearsome. The viewers may forgive his attitude for the cause he is after his foes. The gore is great and above everything, so you may literally want to take bath after the film is over. I enjoyed this film for its simple storyline and the presence of demon, who talks strange and makes Adam's enemies die of severe hemorrhage with blood imploding out of their bodies. This one is fun to watch because of witty one liners specially the ones spoken by the demon. The film uses bluish color tone for no apparent reason (maybe to induce creepiness?), which is a drawback. I believe it should have used the color scheme Alexander Aja used in 'The Hills Have Eyes' remake. The fights are brutal, violent and blood-soaked. Adam tops the punching chart with around five to six hundred blows in one go, making the pulp out of his foes. Denny's part is menacing and the viewers may find his actions very gruesome and inhuman. He and his sons behave like true psychopaths, who don't have a corner left for humanity in their hearts. So viewers will never empathize with them when they get fairly more than what they deserve. Another interesting character is Mike Carerra (Monica Muñoz), who is hell of a sociopath and doesn't like to talk to anyone. He is an Army veteran, whose list of war crimes is longer than the days he has lived on Earth. He is a killing machine and the gangsters deploy him to avenge Adam.

Emanuele De Santi is the new name in the world of gore, and 'Adam Chaplin' is like the Mecca of gore freaks. However, unlike Peter Jackson's 'Braindead', 'Adam Chaplin' has a serious storyline and every violent act has a genuine cause, so those looking for the tint of comedy in this will be somewhat disappointed. I am really happy to see Italy back in action. I really lament the death of Lucio Fulci, who I consider the enforcer of gore and violence in serious horror films. Ruggero Deadato is another name here, but he has confined himself within the limits exploitation horror. 'Adam Chaplin' is not an exploitation horror, as those who are punished are no Mr. goody-to-shoes. Overall, this is a great entertainer and we are hearing good tidings from Italy now. I hope to have a sequel of this with equally awesome actions or even more. I now remember the tag line that says "Nothing can prepare you for this extreme fight" and I guess Emanuele De Santi was right about this.

When this came out it went immediately into the world of must see extreme gore flick. But the problem was released in Italian language it had to be translated. So far you will only find it common at conventions in it's original language or with German subs. And prices go high for this one. Luckily for the rest of the world there's also a release with English subs.

Sadly the one with English subs is 10 minutes shorter then the extended Itakian version but don't worry, even the shorter version will feed the gorehounds.

The story in such kind of flicks isn't that important but here we do have an actual simple story. But not for the casual horror geeks because Adam Chaplin always has that demon behind him telling stuff. It's low budget but the effects are really well done. And it's naturally gore galore all the way. Faces being smashed, arms being broken, heads being shot, you know what I mean, all done on- camera.

The acting is below zero and all looks a bit exaggerated. After 45 minutes you have seen it all, the way the killings are done and my attention faded away. But it do became a cult flick that is hardly sought by the gorehounds.

But if you can stand it until the end, the last 12 minutes are really messy.

Gore 4/5 Nudity 0/5 Effects 3/5 Story 2/5 Comedy 0/5