A sewage worker gets trapped inside a septic tank during a water contamination crisis and undergoes a hideous transformation. To escape, he must team up with a docile Giant and confront the murdering madman known as Lord Auch.
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This is a tender, generous movie that likes its characters and presents them as real people, full of flaws and strengths.
To all those who have watched it: I hope you enjoyed it as much as I do.
Yo, there's no way for me to review this film without saying, take your *insert ethnicity + "ass" here* to see this film,like now. You have to see it in order to know what you're really messing with.
An old-fashioned movie made with new-fashioned finesse.
I'm a huge fan of British-Canadian character actor Julian Richings, hence the reason I ever bought 'Septic Man' in the first place, and I've seen a lot of weird films in my time but I feel like this one was just pushing the offensive language, crass quotes and disgusting imagery to the extreme for lazy shock value, without really developing the story past gore and, yup, you guessed right by the title, raw sewage. I've never heard the word "sh!t" so much in a film since I first saw a Troma movie. And some of it just made no sense. We have a sewage treatment plant worker for example, the main character (Jack), approached by a total stranger by the name of Phil Prosser. This stranger who has never even met him before then proceeds to randomly insult him with odd comments, the weirdest being "I'll bet your wife smells sh!t on you every time she f*cks you". What the hell? Is that supposed to be humorous or something? I mean, I wouldn't mind the crude humour so much if there was actually a half-decent story behind it, but there's really not, which is too bad because there are a lot of talented actors and actresses who appear in this film (most of them either look disgusted to even be present, they look bored or they look like they're just doing it for some extra cash). I don't know, I just didn't see the point. Some people have compared it to 'The Toxic Avenger' (1984), but at least ol' Toxie had a good plot standing behind him when he was mutating! 'Septic Man' really doesn't. It's just a lot of toilet jokes coupled with a guy covered in cr@p. Where's the punchline? Bottom line: if you like any of the featured actors/actresses, it's worth checking out perhaps, but otherwise I wouldn't even bother with it. I think even the biggest fans of vulgar jokes and low-budget horror will be turned off not by its gross-out factor, but by its sheer dullness.
This film is a missed opportunity. The writer should have sped up Jack's transformation into the Septic Man, then let him loose on the township. However what you have is a meandering story of Jack who gets trapped in a water treatment plant where two maniacal killers are using one of the sluices as a dumping ground for body parts, which is causing mass contamination of a township's water supply, and his transformation... along with an awful amount of vomit.I watched this film as I had previously viewed Pontypool, which was written by the same writer. That was an original horror movie based on a noise created virus affecting people. On that, I took a chance on this.... and wish I hadn't. The two movies are similar in a couple of ways, as that they basically revolve around one man. In Pontypool, it's the DJ in his booth, Stephen McHattie (who gives a cameo in Septic Man as the Mayor), who gives a believable performance and is helped with tight direction.In Septic man, Jack, portrayed badly and unbelievably by Jason David Brown, is hindered with bad direction and strange and implausible characters, especially the killer brothers. Even Molly Dunsworth gives a lacklustre interpretation of Jacks dowdy, browbeaten, pregnant wife; I've seen her in other roles, such as Haven, and she can do so much better. And genre regular, Julian Richings, feels like he's turned up on site and read his lines. It's nice to hear his original English accent.This is a dull and boring film, for the most time, though the special effects when Septic Man starts to become are pretty nice and gruesome - respect to The Brothers Gore. The scene where Jack peels back the skin on his arm is cringe-making.There is so much of Troma's Toxic Avenger in this movie. By the end of the movie, Septic Man looks like a more up-to-date, bigger budget, Toxi. Regrettably, it's not as good.
I cannot for the life of me fathom some of negative reviews. I guess people don't go for something this far out of the horror mainstream, or something. I *loved* this movie. I see it as like a giallo film, but an especially brilliant one. Yes, it has its flaws, points where they don't even bother to try to hide the artifice, and the ending was probably its weakest point (except perhaps for that totally unnecessary first scene, which seems completely tacked- on and should just be fast-forwarded through.) It doesn't matter. Every horror movie that has ever had artistic aspirations has just been blown out of the water. This is like the "Delicatessen" or "City Of Lost Children" of horror movies. It's absurd and surreal and artificial in places and stretches the boundaries of credulity here and again and is above all pretty unique, which is fitting considering it was the same writer as "Pontypool", another flawed but extraordinary gem that is similarly unique and creative enough to be well worth seeing despite some of the weak spots.
Well, one thing can be said: it starts with an explosive bang! The first couple of minutes are disturbingly graphic (but fun if you like graphic like I do) but then....nothing. An hour in, and the guy hasn't left the septic tank he's found himself trapped in. Padding the running time are characters with unknown and confusing purposes, and not much else. Add to this a muddled ending, and you get one big disappointment. Honestly I'm not sure what the filmmakers were trying to do here. I was expecting a yuck fest along the lines of the Toxic Avenger, and all I got was a boring story with no nothing going on. (Although it can be said they do try a little in the last twenty minutes when it comes to the gore, but by then it has already worn out its welcome) Seriously, avoid like the plague.And god, don't get me started on the song.