There seems to be two different schools of horror fan. First, there are those that enjoy horror films with substance — believable acting, original storylines, awesome special effects, etc. Then there are those who like movies that really have nothing going for them other than a complete gross-out factor — over-the-top gore, no real plot to follow, and filth galore. In my honest opinion, it seems that Éric Falardeau’s Thanatomorphose fits more properly in the latter class of genre.
This is the first movie in a long time that I actually had to ‘fast forward’ through in order to get to the end. It wasn’t because it freaked me out and I couldn’t handle it. No, instead, it was because I hated every second of it. With a runtime of 100 minutes, about 90% of that time was without any dialog at all. This would have been fine, if there was something exciting going on to fill up the void. On top of that, the acting was non-existent. I didn’t care that the main female character was dying. In fact, I was hoping she would just get it over with more quickly than it actually happened.
Maybe it’s because I expect too much from this genre; maybe it’s because I am not an ‘artsy’ person. This film just does nothing for me. The one good thing that I can say about it all is that the make-up and effects were done very well. The last scene, where it all comes to an end, is pretty great and I wish I could have enjoyed the entire movie the way I enjoyed the last 5 minutes or so.
I feel that this film certainly deserves an A as a film major’s class project, but I do not believe it deserves the international distribution that it received.
If you want to watch a horror film with no substance, give this one a shot. I hope you enjoy it more than I did. I give Thanatomorphose 1 maggot out of 5.