Initially developed as a sequel to 1983s cult creature feature The Deadly Spawn, Metamorphosis evolved into something entirely separate from that earlier film. Deadly Spawn producer Ted A. Bohus returned to shepherd this new project but even though it was planned to be a straight sequel, for whatever reason those plans were scrapped and what emerged was a film that tread the same B-movie terrain and kept the same love of monster movies and old school FX as The Deadly Spawn but was otherwise unrelated.
Written and directed by Glenn Takajian (with additional story material credited to Bohus), Metamorphosis involves two teenage sisters who break into the top secret bio-research lab where their dad works as a security guard after they suspect that their dad (who never came home after his previous nights shift) may be in trouble there. Of course, these girls are 100% correct and, in fact, the situation is much worse than they anticipated. It seems that the government has happened upon some alien tissue so theyve entrusted it to a research group called TALOS to run experiments on it with the hope that it will lead to some new, and undoubtedly awful, developments in the bio-weapons field.
But as movies have shown us time and again, alien DNA has a way of not behaving especially not when its meddled with by scientists and sure enough, once the tissue is spliced with lab animals and used to create mini-mutants, its just one infected human host later (as the head researcher suffers a nasty bite) and the TALOS facility finds itself dealing with the revolving transformation of Dr. Michael Foster (George Gerard) as he undergoes a prolonged and gruesome evolution. As grim as the situation looks as the ailing scientist grows less human by the day, things will quickly go from simply ugly to apocalyptic if this human/alien hybrid gets free from the confines of the TALOS facility and hits the outside world.
Making matters worse is the fact that Dr. Viallini (Marcus Powell), the sinister, white-haired scumbag who calls the shots at TALON, refuses to risk exposing what theyve been up to in their labs so theres no option to seek outside medical counsel for the researchers worsening condition. Before long, the mutating Dr. Foster wont be just writhing in a bed, hell be out on his feet (or slithering on his freshly slimed tentacles) looking to bring the pain and woe to any poor sap that happens to be walking the halls of TALOS including security guard John Griffen (Matt Kulis), father to two spunky teenage daughters.
As you can gather from its simple set-up, Metamorphosis narrative is a by the numbers affair. Ultimately, this is a movie thats mostly about having its characters fleeing down corridors with a slime-dripping, fang-filled, tentacle-lashing creature breathing down their necks but that doesnt mean it isnt great fun, or that its characters arent appealing.
As formulaic as Metamorphosis is, Takajian mixes things up a bit by relating a good chunk of the action in flashback. We begin in the middle of TALOS troubles as John Griffen investigates an anomaly alert in one of the labs only to be confronted with a bloody bio-researcher stumbling out of a lab, gasping his last breath. After Viallini and Dr. Fosters fellow researcher (and romantic interest) Nancy Kane (Katherine Romaine) discover the carnage, we cut to hours later as Viallini has Foster recapping to two intimidating goons Mitchell (Tony Gigante) and Jarrett (Greg Sullivan) as well as to the audience the whole back story that brought the TALOS corporation to this point. Once the flashbacks are over, the movie stays in the present for the duration of the film and the creature action escalates right through the climax.
As to be expected in a low budget production, the acting in Metamorphosis ranges from adequate, to amateurish, to awful but it should be said that even the worst performances have some charm. Tara Leigh plays responsible older sister Sherry Griffen while Dianna Flaherty is her rebellious little sister Kim and Patrick Barnes is Sherrys slightly dorky boyfriend Brian.
For Barnes, Metamorphosis was his one and only acting credit while it was Flahertys last after appearing in two previous genre faves from Troma The Toxic Avenger and Class of Nuke Em High. Tara Leigh has appeared in only a handful of projects since, including Joe Dantes 2006 Masters of Horror segment, “The Screwfly Solution.”
Whatever caliber of acting talent Metamorphosis had or didnt have to assist in bringing its story to life, the movies real star power lay in the accomplished FX work of Vincent Guastini (who handled the films makeup chores) and Don Taylor (in charge of visual FX). Generally, low budget creature features keep their monsters lurking in the shadows but thats not how it is with Metamorphosis. Here, the creature is seen in full view in brightly lit corridors and labs and is seen often and its all done with practical effects. As with The Deadly Spawn, there are even several stop motion shots in Metamorphosis, too.
Showing savvy showmanship as well as a canny use of their funds, Takajian and Bohus dont shoot their wad early, saving the biggest and best FX for the climax. With a prolonged climatic rampage on tap, this is the rare low budget monster movie that doesnt show a last minute diminishment of resources.
Projects like Prometheus are exciting because its never a bad thing to see an A-class filmmaker mounting a large scale sci-fi/horror picture with the money and muscle of a major studio behind them but Metamorphosis represents the flip side of that coin well. It may have gotten somewhat lost in the direct to video shuffle of the early 90s and failed to garner the same cult following that The Deadly Spawn has but Metamorphosis: The Alien Factor holds the torch for B-monster movies just as high. Its got heart, genuine enthusiasm and its low budget only seems to enhance rather than hinder its ambitions.
