Thursday, January 23, 2025

Grafted, on Shudder

If it were up to the filmmakers who write and direct horror movies, there would be no medical research whatsoever. Want to develop new skin-grafting techniques to treat the disfigured? Oh, the hubris. Haven’t you seen Rabid? Wei’s father is doubly asking for it, because both he and she stand to benefit from the revolutionary technique he tries and fails to develop. Despite his spectacularly gruesome fate, she continues his research in Sasha Rainbow’s Grafted, which premieres tomorrow on Shudder.

Let’s just say Wei’s dad regenerated a little too much skin. Unfortunately, as the world knows from experience, dangerous, unpredictable experiments have a habit of escaping labs in China. In this case, Wei takes his notes to New Zealand, where her aunt has enrolled her in college. Auntie travels most of the time for her dodgy business, so that means the highly self-conscious Wei must deal with her entitled and resentful cousin Angela on her own. It also means she must endure Angela’s friends, Jasmine (who has a good heart, but is too passive to stand up to Angela) and Eve, the campus queen bee, who also happens to be sleeping with Wei’s biology professor, Paul Featherstone.

When Dr. Featherstone sees the potential of the experiments Wei runs in her spare time, he offers to collaborate, with the intention of stealing her father’s work. However, he never anticipated some of its applications. For instance, if Wei were to accidentally kill one of her bullying frienemies, she can use the newly developed serum to regenerate and graft the dead girl’s face onto her own.

There are some amusing grotesque body horror moments in
Grafted, but it eventually loses its way amid the gore. Many of the one-darned-things-after-another stretch credibility, especially as Wi’s accidental murders beget more and more contrived, but not-quite-so accidental murders. Frankly, it is weird how much Rainbow dumps on her, after initially inviting so much sympathy for the orphan. Ironically, Joyena Sun is so good as Wei, it creates viewer resentment against the film, but she still deserves credit for the vulnerability and fierceness of her performance. As a result, the film truly feels mean-spirited.

Grafted
also features some distinctly morbid makeup effects. Yet, it suffers from bad timing, because its big showstopper has already been scooped by The Substance. Nevertheless, Rainbow creates some truly spectacular scenes of festering rot and decay. It is a visceral viewing experience, but it is also conspicuously unbalanced. Only recommended for hardcore body horror enthusiasts, Grafted starts streaming tomorrow (1/24) on Shudder.