‘Septic Man’ (2013)

 

I’ve had a pretty good run, just recently, with books and movies that I’ve really got into and enjoyed and I’ll be totally honest, that’s exactly how I planned it. If I’ve got a bit of free time, I want to spend it reading and/or watching stuff that I know I’ll enjoy; that’s how I recharge my batteries before jumping back into all the other stuff ;o)

Every so often though, we all need to step outside our comfort zone and try something new. I’ve always been partial to a bit of body horror and any film with a title like ‘Septic Man’ is more or less guaranteed a viewing sooner rather than later. It’s a weakness and I’m not proud of it; I’m happy to live with it though ;o)

Anyway… I’m not sure quite what brought ‘Septic Man’ to my attention but the clip I watched certainly caught my eye so I had to give it a go and last night, that’s exactly what I did.

To be honest, I really wish that I'd watched something else instead.

A sewage worker is trapped inside a septic tank, during a water contamination crisis, and undergoes a hideous transformation as the toxic effluence takes a hold of his body. That’s only half of his problems though as what waits outside the tank could well be even worse…

Movie special effects (practical ones for preference) are awesome, that’s all there is to it. You really don’t need me to explain why ;o) As good as they are though, if you don’t have a plot that makes use of them, well… All you’re left with is a ‘movie sized advert’ for the person putting the make up on the lead, or artistically arranging strewn innards around the set. Like a ‘video resume’ for the make up artist… ;o)

And that’s what we have here with ‘Septic Man’. It all looks brilliant but there was no clear plot to accompany how it looked. All we’re left with is spectacle that doesn’t quite cover up the fact that there is not a lot else, if anything, actually happening.

Because of the water contamination, a woman dies a particularly sickening death, right at the beginning, leading to the town being evacuated. And… That’s the last we hear of that until the end of the movie. With no real attempt to join the dots and form some kind of narrative, Jack is on the case but trapped inside that septic tank very quickly, and with a couple of killers waiting outside. Are the killers connected to the water contamination in any way? As far as the movie is concerned, we’re just here to witness Jack’s transformation, no attempt is made to connect anything that’s happening, just sit tight and wait for the next gross-out scene…

And to be fair, every single one of those gross-out scenes are superb and hits the spot with a minimum of fuss and bother. It all looks brilliant but it is seriously held back by the fact that for the vast majority of the movie, Jack is stuck on his own in the tank, having to talk to himself just so the viewer can hear something other than water dripping. Jack’s transformation is worth sticking with but he has no real dialogue to back it up. What we’re left with is a good example of how ‘body horror’ should look, on the screen, but also a reminder of what can happen if you don’t pay attention to the other component, of the movie. ‘Septic Man’ has a real air of indifference about it, as a result, and that’s a real shame, given everything else done and dusted.

Oh well, you can’t win em’ all ;o) Onto the next one, hopefully that will work out for me… In the meantime, you can’t go wrong with ‘The Thing’ but I’m guessing you already knew that ;o)