Replicator has a story to tell. Darby (Bret Noelle, The Woman with my Face) is a small town public defender. One day, her normally surly father is uncharacteristically nice to her. This is especially strange since they had a vicious argument the night before. But when other people begin to disappear, Darby realizes the issue is much more serious than she first thought.
By definition, body horror has to be over the top to be truly effective. Based on the opening scene, it seems like Replicator is going in the right direction. A courtroom scene follows that also plays to extremes – though in a completely different way. Unfortunately, it also is a precursor of what is to come. The film has no problems being loud and obnoxious; it just does it at the wrong times.
A comically drunk man who haphazardly stumbles and angrily mumbles through a dark alley? Check. Wild revelations that range from possible political corruption to sexual misadventures? That’s here. Oddly placed comedy complete with person laughing at their own joke? Replicator has that, too. It would be forgivable if the movie moved at a rapid pace, but things wander aimlessly for the first half hour before picking up. Even then, it just becomes a series of events that are barely connected.
When it comes to the body horror aspects, Replicator is laid back compared to the rest of the film. There are some neat practical effects, but these are offset by a lot of the seemingly really gruesome stuff happening off-screen. The plot also starts to lose its way towards the end. Lovecraftian visuals suddenly appear before vanishing just as quickly. Again, they look good, but for a sub-genre – and movie – that has been more about grit and grime, it does feel out of place.
By the end, the actual story gets lost. There are references to the difficulties of being a woman and how people take advantage of power, but nothing is ever fleshed out. The horror is treated as an afterthought resulting in a movie that seems to have a lot to say, but has no idea how to say it.
Replicator is now available on demand.
