Teratomorph Movie Review!

Back in the early chapters of 2018, I had the pleasure of reviewing a really sticky and gory messed up 25-minute short called South Mill District (see review of South Mill District here) by Joe Meredith. Set many years after the conclusion of a war between humans and aliens, it had such a heavy grim feel to it. Truly outstanding in set up, performances, and messy as hell FX work – near enough everything done by the twisted one-man-band himself, Joe Meredith (with addition FX work by James Bell).

Once again, the roll call for the credits read like a chanting mantra for Mr. Joe Meredith and he’s called in family members for the cast, one of whom was in the original South Mill District (joining another returning cast member). You guessed it, this is the sequel, Teratomorph.

Also making a welcome return are the wonderful atmospheric long shots, those static ones in which nothing happens but the eerie music playing. Brilliant! I’m not a big fan of flashy edited tosh so, like last time, the opening shot settled me right back into the comforting realm of Joe Meredith. There’s something dead in the water as we explore a desolate beach. Could it be human remains? Well, it looks like it except the face and head appears to be hollow like a mask.

There’s a young kid crouched near it, which he pokes with a stick, featureless expression, like he’s seen so much more than this. The skin has peeled back, the cranium looks as if something was once there or has got out. He walks off.

“You’re losing control of the Havoc virus! Decontamination ops have been ineffective…” we hear a voice speaking. Apparently the infection is showing up in a twenty mile radius outside the South Mill District. The contamination is expected to reach a place where around ten thousand people reside. The voice explains the origin and creation of this virus which we first observed in the first flick. There’s a masked fella diddling about with a truly fucked up cadaver and we are told the virus is mutating and evolving, which basically means the alien threat has returned but in a new and improved format. Then there’s a bigger variation of one of the smaller creatures via South Mill District, and the geeza has his face chewed off.

Let’s meet Subject X, the young teenage lad whom we first saw at the beginning. He is infected by the virus, his arm mutated, and he’s kept locked away to be observed throughout whatever else will happen to him. When a nurse enquires as to how his arm became this red mass of sinews and tree branch looking shit, we flashback to his day-to-day life in the wastelands, the gruelling factor in his mutation, plus the sheer unbelievable nightmares he faces off against.

There’s simply never a dull moment. Teratomorph is total and utter mind-bending warp-drive fast destruction of your body and consciousness. Some absurd and eye catching little effect seems to arrive scene after scene. The gore score is ten out of ten, but it’s the inventiveness of the monsters and deformities on show here which win hands down. 

The Thing (Carpenter), Tokyo Gore Police, the descriptions in the works of H.P. Lovecraft, the ‘80s Blob remake… file all of these on a wet and crimson moist shelf with this one.

The acting talents and the lighting are both elements that transfix you. Somehow the dulled down emotions of all the people who occupy this world hypnotise you. They are so real considering the tragedies surrounding them all. Oh, and that luscious choice of lighting, from the rich darkness to the reds, hmm, works perfectly.

If I have to find a minor low point, the ending lacked a skull-cracking punch which is what you expect as everything builds up like a runaway pram about to go under a truck. A nasty and brutal vision. It’s okay, but I just figured it could have been so much more. That’s brushed aside anyhow.

I actually felt some of those mesmerising thrilled-to-the-maximum sensations I had as a kid back in the early ‘80s watching Betamax and then VHS tapes of horrors and Science Fiction films. Honestly, I’m not being dramatic, but I wanted to jump out of my chair at times screaming, “What the fuck is this?!!” — in a good way.

Jay Creepy admits now, he did not know what to expect around the next corner, and this is from a 44-year-old bloke who has watched countless films since the age of 7. I can’t say it’s my movie of the year because we’re only a little way into 2019, but it’s going to take a big wham of an inventive imagination to beat this one. Full stop, Teratomorph floored me!

AKA: South Mill District 2

Directed by: Joe Meredith | Written by: Joe Meredith | Produced by: Scott Boone, Joe Meredith, Samuel Vainisi | Cinematography by: Joe Meredith | Editing by: Joe Meredith | Music by: Samuel Barnette, Joe Meredith | Special Effects by: Joe Meredith, James Bell, Erica H Majors | Cast: Cidney Meredith, Joe Meredith, Toby Johansen, Martin Trafford, Elijah Meredith | Year: 2019 | Country: USA | Language: English | Runtime: 35 min

Official Facebook Page: Teratomorph