It's not fair! Not only does Emanuele De Santi have the physique of a demi-god but he's multi-talented to boot: for his first film, Adam Chaplin, a gore drenched supernatural revenge tale, he acted, directed, wrote the music and probably served sandwiches and coffee during filming breaks as well.
The formidable De Santi plays man-mountain Adam, a tortured soul seeking revenge for the murder of his wife by horribly disfigured man/monster Denny Richards. With the help of superhuman powers endowed by a hellish imp-like creature named Derek (who dwells on his shoulder), Adam punches, chops, kicks, shreds, slices, and purées a whole heap of lowlifes in spectacularly gory fashion before finally confronting Denny for one last bloody battle.
Having seen the trailer on YouTube, I knew this was going to be an extremely violent movie, but was still unprepared for quite how insanely gory it actually is. From the get go, the red stuff flows freely, but as the film progresses, De Santi keeps on finding new and even bloodier ways to kill off his characters; by the final reel, people are being smushed, crushed, and smashed with an impressive level of ferocity, regularity, enthusiasm and creativity.
The excessive gore is obviously the film's major selling point, and it certainly doesn't disappoint: bones are snapped, heads crushed, bodies torn asunder—and it all looks superb (even the CGI blood, which apparently utilises some new-fangled method to make it more realistic than before). In one memorable scene, a victim gets thrown with such force against a wall that his entire body is reduced to a fleshy pancake; another sees a man impaled on a metal pole (up the jacksie and out his chest) and, still alive, set alight and paraded around by Adam as a grotesque, flaming trophy.
There is, however, more to enjoy about Adam Chaplin than just the splatter: De Santi might be a newcomer to the scene and his budget limited, but he has delivered a fine looking film, with stylish visual flourishes aplenty, a well developed ultra-violent comic-book feel and unique characters. I love how nearly everyone in the film (other than Adam) sports some kind of prosthetic facial appliance to make them seem comically grotesque (reminding me a bit of the assorted weirdos in Ryan Nicholson's Hanger), and Derek is a particularly cool creation: unsettling, but not without his endearing qualities either, the creepy little fellow delights in revealing himself to each victim just before Adam tears them a new one.
Produced by Italian production house Necrostorm, a company 'dedicated to creating horror, sci-fi and fantasy products that convey the 80s/90s atmosphere', Adam Chaplin is a serious contender for the title of goriest film ever made, and a real treat for splatter fans, perhaps even signalling the return of Italy to the forefront of gore-drenched horror. Enjoy!
8.5 out of 10, rounded up to 9 for IMDb.
