Young, hyper-arrogant geneticist, Dr. Peter Houseman (Gene LeBrock) teaches at Virginia University. In his spare time, he works on reversing the aging process in his lab. Of course, this is a sci-fi / horror film, so something must go terribly wrong.
So, when Houseman deviates from proper practices, his funding is cut. Does this stop him? Nope. He simply tries out his experimental serum on himself, resulting in a murderous mutation run amok.
METAMORPHOSIS is sort of a knock-off of films like Ken Russell's ALTERED STATES or David Cronenberg's THE FLY. As such, it isn't a complete failure, at least not in the first act. Peter starts exhibiting behavioral anomalies, and remembers only snippets of his violent escapades.
So far, so good.
It's when he undergoes his physical transformation that the wheels sail off. Writhing around on his bathroom floor in his underwear, the absurdity ensues. Peter goes from looking as though he fell asleep in boiling water, to resembling The Tall Man from PHANTASM! If only it ended there, but no, he soon turns into something like ambulatory liverwurst.
Remarkably, the story itself remains in the "okay" range. That is, until the grand finale, when the-monster-formerly-known-as-Peter is ultimately revealed to be... Barney The Purple Dinosaur! Oh, and there's also the obligatory "twist" at the end that only makes things worse. Much ado about very little...
So, when Houseman deviates from proper practices, his funding is cut. Does this stop him? Nope. He simply tries out his experimental serum on himself, resulting in a murderous mutation run amok.
METAMORPHOSIS is sort of a knock-off of films like Ken Russell's ALTERED STATES or David Cronenberg's THE FLY. As such, it isn't a complete failure, at least not in the first act. Peter starts exhibiting behavioral anomalies, and remembers only snippets of his violent escapades.
So far, so good.
It's when he undergoes his physical transformation that the wheels sail off. Writhing around on his bathroom floor in his underwear, the absurdity ensues. Peter goes from looking as though he fell asleep in boiling water, to resembling The Tall Man from PHANTASM! If only it ended there, but no, he soon turns into something like ambulatory liverwurst.
Remarkably, the story itself remains in the "okay" range. That is, until the grand finale, when the-monster-formerly-known-as-Peter is ultimately revealed to be... Barney The Purple Dinosaur! Oh, and there's also the obligatory "twist" at the end that only makes things worse. Much ado about very little...