The Italian horror film industry really died on its arse, there is no other nicer way to put it. Although prolific for decades from the works of Mario Bava through to the Cannibal and Zombie crazes of the video nasty era and with plenty of talented directors working fervently it all came crashing to a head with many considering the final death cry being Michele Soavi’s 1994 film ‘Dellamorte Dellamore.’ Many of the greats from the era are now no longer with us, Lucio Fulci’s untimely passing just one such example. Others are still around but are either struggling to make films that are a shadow of their former greatness; yes I am talking about Dario Argento, or in the case of Ruggero Deodato teasing us for years with the prospect of films such as The House On The Edge Of The Park II which is currently in pre-production. Occasionally films filter through such as Gabriele Albanesi’ 2006 movie Last House in the Woods which I though was deplorable rubbish and we did get a couple of back to back video shot zombie movies from Bruno Mattei before he passed over. They were mildly entertaining but honestly compared to the excesses of Zombie Creeping Flesh, a shadow of what he was at his best.
Another movie in production at the moment that is peaking my interest is ‘Cult Of Lamia’ from David Bracci which will be starring Sonya Scarlet of Theatres Des Vampires but on the whole and I can only say it again, the Italian horror film industry is deader than the festering zombies it used to be renowned for.
This brings us onto an unassuming movie title that is anything but. ‘Adam Chaplin’ is not only an Itailan genre flick but it is also one of the goriest films made in many a year. To say there are bucket loads of blood would not be an understatement in the slightest, along with gristle and bone and every imaginable contortion that the human body can be put through, this delivers the goods in spades. Directed and starring first time actor and film maker Emanuele De Santi we have a bold and audacious film that really does have the scope to make the viewers jaw fall off and hit the floor with an almighty clunk.
The plot for what it is worth is a tad confusing and it is probably not best to watch this on first viewing after a few drinks if you want to get beneath the flood of claret, which there is absolutely no chance of avoiding. We are in the future and it strikes as some sort of fascistic sort of society that is crumbling and ruined. The antichrist may well have arrived as demonic figures are all over the place and quite often at war with each other. Apart from these we get the impression that the only people left wandering the wasteland are down and out surviving bums but on the whole their best task in the movie is to up the body count. Adam our hero is not having a good day. his girlfriend owed one inverted cross wearing masked and hideously mutilated nasty some money and as he was not prepared to wait for it, he did what any normal hideously deformed and mutilated bastard would do and burns her alive’ Luckily another demon has decided it likes living on Adam’s shoulder and will give him its superhuman powers in order to get revenge. The corrupt police are of course on the nasty bastards side, in fact to some he is no less than dad and everyone is out to have a piece of each other. One said piece that is had after Adam is arrested is one interrogating cop’s whole face which is slithered down a wall and kept alive through vile necromancy before finally being obliterated in a shotgun blast through the mouth, in a style not far removed from a certain scene in Ichii The Killer.
It is here that we get to the root of where Adam Chaplin is coming from. Although Italian and the hunk who is the main star looks like he could have escaped from the front page of an Italian romance novel (easy ladies) the filmic aspects and effects look very closely towards the Far East for inspiration. When bodies are destroyed they are done so in a welter of blows straight out of films like the original Manga ‘Fist Of The North Star’ and Ngai Choi Lam’s 1991 splatterfest Story Of Ricky. If you mix these with the aforementioned Takashi Miike stylings and newer ultraviolent new era Japanese films such as ‘Tokyo Gore Police’ then you really have the crux of what to expect here. That aside who cares when it is as gory as this is? You can just sit and watch it as bodies are mangled and blasted to pieces in massive explosions and even held aloft on massive poles whilst on fire and think “what the fuck, did I really just see that?”
If you are looking for the great return to Italian horror movie making you are not going to find it here. You will probably not be too surprised when you settle down to see Dracula 3D when it arrives that it is not going to be found there either, but at least once you get over all the ‘style over substance’ excesses of Adam Chaplin, you will damn well enjoy it! The future may not be bright but it’s certainly bloody so applause to Mr De Santi, surely a name to keep an eye on. Necrostorm the Italian company behind this have a film called ‘Taeter City’ coming soon, watch this space.
I should point out this is easily available completely uncut. One can assume that even the BBFC were cracking up as the blood flew across their screaming room and saw the funny side of it.
Pete Woods
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