We have seen the effects of a pandemic with our own eyes, we feared we are still struggling. But what if the virus we have to fight could not only kill us, but also generate extraterrestrial abominations? The answer can be found in the 41 minute medium-length film "Variant", a 2020 film by director Joe Meredith (interviewed by us here) and third chapter of his trilogy that began with "South Mill District" and continued with “Teratomorph".
Continuing on the same line of the first chapter, the plot doesn't appear clear and is not really linear, proving to be more of a narrative pretext to show the viewer the horrors of the world created by Joe Meredith than a way to narrate a single story from its beginning until an epilogue which, in this case, as in the previous ones, appears extremely open. The world of the films, for those unfamiliar with it, is a world that, following an alien virus called Havoc, is inhabited by mutants born from EonCorp's experiments, locked up in ghettos specifically used to contain them, abandoned to their fate, exactly as seen in "South Mill District".
The creature born the end of the second film, however, represents the birth of a new threat, and generates a new virus capable of bringing back to life and even changing the dead with the liquid it secretes. An interesting addition is a force of Insurrection that wants to end to EonCorp's fearsome experiments and that plays the role of effective protagonist of this last work, adding an interesting and realistic piece to the mosaic of Meredith's world.
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| Original illustration by Cristiano Baricelli |
As usual, the strength of the film, however, is precisely the terrifying creatures that are presented to us, more and more detailed and better rendered, looking truly organic, grotesque and credible despite their monstrous aspect often highly improbable. The special effects, therefore, are renewed further than those, already of excellent workmanship, of "Teratomorph", and make the experience even more visceral and entertaining, thanks, especially, to the transformation sequences, first of all the final one, with a strong visual impact and excellent construction, despite a scene displaying eyes jump out of their orbits not entirely convincing and with a rather amateur makeup that can only recall that of a period film, despite, overall, the scene is very impressive.
Another very interesting sequence is the one of the resurrection of a dead body buried underground in which, despite the "pipes” come out of his eyes in a not properly convincing way at first glance, it is still a very interesting idea. At certain moments, it seems to be observing real meat put to slaughter, dotted with live insects that feed on it and covered with "live" and realistic blood, if it is not real animal blood, giving the viewer a nauseating show as much as disgusting as fascinating and mesmerizing.
The direction of this medium-length film results more mature and studied, with Meredith who enjoys playing with the various angles and who gives us very creepy and disturbing scenes, even just for the approach to which we relate: even a scene of a girl in an elevator will generate anxiety to the viewer, both thanks to the way the room follows the subject and thanks to the neon lights. This time, moreover, the entirety of the film will have glitch effects and the shadow of an old VHS, giving the viewer the feeling of watching at a rediscovered vintage film, making the vision of certain special effects, always and however practical, even more impressive. The lights of the outdoor scenes are also excellent whether they took place during the day or the night. The settings are instead, claustrophobic and narrow and despite their almost familiar outlook, they manage to upset hinting the idea that something is wrong.
The two best-made scenes of the entire work are the one in which an EonCorp agent is killed in his newly known car, from the mirror, the skull mask of his driver, in a well thought out and completely unexpected twist. The second, noteworthy and, perhaps, one of the best of Meredith's three works, is that of the disturbing rape that perpetrated against the beautiful Cidney Meredith by a tentacled mutant that she herself expelled out of her very body, which she herself has "given birth to”. A scene full of erotism, where the purple light joins that of the impending danger dyed red, with a disgusting, organic and very visceral appearance, reminiscent of the legendary rape of the tree in “Evil Dead", of HR Giger's visceral erotism and David Cronenberg's wildest body horror.
If then, the movie appears to be a laudable product of the overseas horror underground, the audio department suffers in some spots because of the constant “vhs” filter, that makes some dialogues less comprehensible. Instead, nothing to say against the original soundtrack that alternates expressly synth sounds to some more “rocking” melodies, again recalling the ‘80/’90 productions that have clearly inspired and formed the movie director.
In conclusion, “Variant” is a step up from the previous movies, with the lore that makes use of a new starting point and with the past one that is, somehow, completed with the return of dr. Bottin (Toby Johanssen) already introduced in “South Mill District” and with the shooting of the final minutes and the situation that has been made in and with “Teratomorph”. A perfect epilogue, but an equally better starting point for a twisted and disturbing universe where, at any moment, a terrifying monster with various skull heads may knock at the door.
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