The opening credits for Fetus proudly state (twice) that it is 'A gore film by Brian Paulin'. Yup! That it most certainly is. The story definitely comes second to splattery excess in what is one seriously strange journey into the macabre. And it's directed by Brian Paulin.
The bare bones plot sees bereaved husband Kevin (Brian Paulin) resorting to necromancy to be reunited with his wife Sara (Nette Detroy). Purchasing an 'instruction manual' from his local Satanic corner shop, Kevin conducts a series of rituals with little success, but lots of mess, the magick requiring unwilling victims (or bits of them, at least). Eventually, Kev succeeds in bringing back Sara, who looks like she's suffered the same fate as that first baboon in Cronenberg's The Fly; even worse, he also summons a screeching demon at the same time.
This all sounds pretty straight forward, but Paulin's telling of his tale includes freakish dream sequences and surreal moments that make it a bit of a head-scratcher overall. But hey, this is, as the credits say, a gore film first and foremost, so let's put the narrative to one side and talk about the blood and guts, of which there is plenty...
The film opens with Sara in hospital, in labour, but the birth doesn't go well: the baby is born via C-section and Sara haemorrhages, bleeding to death. After a dry spell, during which Kevin becomes more and more depressed, sees something weird in the viewfinder of his camcorder (?), and visits the book shop, things get juicy again: Kev abducts two men and gets to work on them, cutting open one victim at the base of his skull and inserting a crowbar, and skinning the second (after bashing him in the face with a hammer). He uses these victims in his first unsuccessful ritual.
Desperate, Kev seeks help from the owner of the book store (Kevin Barbare), who tells him to take a hike. So Kevin abducts him and, in a scene that had me more than a bit confused, causes the man to cough up his guts and his face to explode. Extremely gory it is, but it don't make much sense. Now it's time for Paulin to get sleazy: Kev kidnaps a woman, jams a tube in her neck and bleeds her out, after which he indulges in a spot of necrophilia. This causes his junk to go all manky, and the corpse to give birth to some baby heads and a fetus (which he decapitates). Then the woman comes back to life and stabs herself in the crotch. I'm totally confused.
Finally, Kevin constructs some kind of strange device incorporating the baby heads, a round piece of metal, the woman's corpse, and a hazmat suit. This succeeds in bringing back Sara (but not how he remembered her) plus the demon. And for some reason, Kevin gives birth to a baby out of what is left of his penis. The film ends with the demon ripping off the top of Kevin's head.
The make-up effects, also by Paulin, are sometimes a little too messy for their own good, making it hard to see what is going on, and a few of the more ambitious prosthetic creations aren't totally convincing (the crying baby heads and the Sara thing), but Brian also pulls more than a few unsettling show-stoppers out of the bag, making the film an entertaining treat for those who dig practical effects of the ultra-gory variety.
6/10. An often confusing but very bloody ride for fans of low-budget splatter.
