Metamorphosis

The entertainment industry is extremely susceptible to the vagaries of popular culture trends. When I was a kid just starting a life time of watching movies the vampire was a monstrous creature of the night that would drain your life’s blood from you as you slept. My older sister once took me to see a ‘Dracula’ flick one time and arranged for our cousin to scare me in the middle of the night. I slept with a water pistol full of Holy Water purloined from the neighborhood church for the following week. Recently vampires must have gotten together and hired an incredible public relations firm for an image makeover. Vampires are now sex symbols; their movies now romantic melodramas show in theaters full of doe-eyed tween girls sobbing away. My best friend and I made a personal statement of protest by having ‘Team Orlok’ tee shirts sporting the image of Max Schreck from ‘Nosferatu’ on the front and ‘Really Vampires Don’t glitter’ on the back. Unfortunately the kids at the showing of ‘Full Moon’ didn’t get the reference. The reassuring news is there are still traditionalists among the latest generation of film makers willing to swing against the tide of pop culture to return the vampire to their creature of the night status. The film that has taken this stance is ‘Metamorphosis’ by Jenö Hodi. Right up front it should be noted that this is not a perfect movie; it has some notable flaws, but it is a whole-hearted, honest attempt to provide the audience with a good old fashion horror thriller. There are some aspects of this flick that does make it somewhat difficult to watch. The dialogue is stiff, frequently beneath the established talents of the cast but at least there is an effort made to make a scary movie in line with some of the grind house horror flicks I watched as a teen.

The team behind this flick are natives to the location, Hungary; Tibor Fonyódi as author and Jenö Hodi co-authoring and directing. Perhaps some of the perceived difficulties are attributable to cultural and linguistic difference from the American audiences. That may be a bit of overcompensation but the overall feel that comes across is both men have potential as evident in the underlying premise but they are still very much on a learning curve in this field. What does manage to sustain interest in the unfolding story is the utilization of some classic elements of old school vampire lore. The setting of Hungary and placement of the story’s roots several hundred years in the past lays down a solid foundation that could have supported a more sturdily constructed script. While there is an appropriate darkness to the proceedings the cast appears to have had trouble connecting completely with their characters. Even with giving it their best effort sometimes a film is unable to gel properly leaving the various elements drifting apart instead of forming a proper tapestry. Even with that the story holds together sufficiently to satisfy a horror fan yearning for a decidedly un-romantic monster.

In the late 16^th century the Countess Elizabeth Bathory (Adél Kováts) made quite a notorious reputation for herself as one of the most prolific serial killers in the Hungarian country side. These stemmed from her predilection for kidnapping local maidens in order to torture and kill them; using their blood as a revitalizing bath to retains her youth throughout the ages. Her reign of terror continued until she murdered the daughter of a beloved local minister bringing the wrath of the authorities down on her. Throughout the ages the tale of the Countess passed into legend forming the foundation of Dracula and other customary vampire folklore. Much later in modern times an American graduate student; Keith (Corey Sevier) along with his girl friend Kim (Jennifer Higham) and best friend J.J. (Charlie Hollway₎ are touring the Hungarian countryside documenting the Bathory stories for his thesis. While heading for a monastery reported to have records of the ‘Blood countess’ the trio cross paths with a young woman named Elizabeth (Irena A. Hoffman). Once they arrive at the monastery they meet a darkly mysterious man, Constantine (Christopher Lambert) who claims lordship over the ancient castle and its grounds. He also displays an immediate animosity towards Elizabeth. The dynamic between these two characters is drawn in such as fashion as to introduce just a taste of ambiguity to keep the audience guessing as to the true nature of their relationship and the extent of their motivation. While the attempt to return vampires to their heinous nature is refreshing in this period of angst riddled vamps more concerned with expressing their feelings than finding someone to drink those new flicks at least the newer movies utilized special effects properly. This movie cost an estimated $6 million the CGI should have been a lot better. Movies with much more modest budgets manage a lot more in the way of believability. Here the effects are so laughable that it destroys any possibility of letting the movie gain momentum. This is a shame since at its core is a workable piece of entertainment.

One aspect of this movie that needs the most work is the narrative voice. It gets lost in a muddled story and pointless dialogue. It sets off well aspiring to more than it ultimately is able to deliver. This is where some more experience is bound to help the writer and director. The horror genre in general has been diluted by torture flicks and mindless slash and dash movies. hopefully this film will inspire other film makers to return vampires to their roots and just maybe there will be a restoration of suspense thrills to horror movies. This one may have fallen short of it potential but it is a major step in the right direction.

Posted 08/15/2010