Hello everyone, I hope you have been
keeping well. I am happy to report that Lively, my upcoming short
film has now – apart from a few exteriors postponed due to weather
– finished shooting, so it's time I get back to it here. First up,
is a little movie I've been meaning to talk about for a very long
time...
Five years ago, I began hearing about a
little indie called Bio Slime. I posted about it many times here, and
for a while it seemed like it would never see the light of day. Over
time, it changed its name to Contagion and then in lieu of
Soderbergh's little film, went back to Bio Slime. After eventually
being released on DVD by Shriek Show in March, I finally got my hands
on it.
The inhabitants of a low-rent apartment
building find themselves trapped inside with a ravenous slime
creature.
Bio Slime is like a lot of low budget
titles out there. The majority of it is rough, but has one or two
really solid elements preventing it from being dismissed outright. The setup is a
little trying – why is it that people can't resist fucking with
things that clearly say “danger” and “biohazard” – with
seemingly half the cast pilfered from the adult entertainment world. It
would certainly explain why there was a porn filming next door to the
apartment where the movie takes place.
The first act of Bio Slime kind of
reminded me of Jim Mickle's wonderful debut Mulberry Street, except
without any of the likable characters. Our protagonist, a drunken
artist named Troy (Vinnie Bilancio) or “Not Leo Rossi” as I like
to call him, manages to carry the film, but still lacks the charisma
of Mr. Rossi.
Hey, I happen to think Leo Rossi is the
shit (Relentless FTW!)
The term “rag tag” doesn't really cover it. |
Bio Slime wears its influences, like
Stephen King's The Raft, The Blob and The Thing on its sleeve, which
is almost be a detriment at times. In reference to the latter, a
character does utter the line;
“Look guys, I appreciate what you've
been through. Really, I do. But I'd care not to spend the rest of
this night, duct taped on this fucking bed!”
That was a cringe worthy moment. It was
one of those things you see happening and your mind wants to throw up
a little.
However, once the creature is loose,
this movie takes a turn for the better. Tom Devlin's creature effects are actually pretty impressive,
especially the ones in the last few set pieces. I really appreciated
that director John Lechago made practical a priority, as
there are movies that cost a thousand times more that end up looking
worse because they CG'd everything. There are, of course, some
digital effects in Bio Slime, but are only implemented when they
couldn't get what they needed in camera. I really liked the design of
the main creature, as well. To me, it resembled a Sentinel from The
Matrix films with a splash of H.R Giger. That's pretty solid for a
production that only cost fifty grand.
Gia Paloma showing off Bio Slime's best assets... |
And knowing that, I have to say that
despite all the movie's flaws, I have to admire Lechago's “just get out and do
it” attitude. In true indie fashion, he overcame the many obstacles
in his way, including the long wait to get it out there, and made his
movie, his way.
So, is Bio Slime a good movie? By most
definitions, no. However, I do feel it delivers on the
promise of the trailer I saw all those many years ago, which featured
a lot of slime-covered ladies – I'm not ashamed to say that the
sequences with the goo-slicked Victoria Del Mare & Gia Paloma are
downright sexy – and cool effed-up creatures.
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