Adam Chaplin

A homage to hyperviolent wuxia anime, supernatural vengeance flicks, and grindhouse, this bukkake of blood delivers more splatter for the platter than the filthiest gokkun fest. The directorial and acting debut of one Emanuele De Santi, this supernatural revenger flick plays out like some twisted hybrid of The Crow and Fist of The North Star, surpassing the live-action version of the latter in terms of sheer spectacle. A colourful cast, including some monstrous yet oddly sympathetic villains, help keep things ticking over between the bloodjaculatory set pieces. A testament to the fact that one can stretch a tight budget a long way. Hopefully, this'll not be the last seen of Santi.

A musclebound drifter named Adam Chaplin (Emanuele De Santi, also the director) wanders through Heaven City looking for the man who killed his girlfriend. Pushing him in his quest is a small demon that crawls out of a upside down crucifix scar on his back. His target, a deformed guy named Denny who runs the city and survives on the chemical Neurocril 3, hires a bunch of goons to take this threat out before he can reach him. Existing like some kind of live action anime film, this is a total 180 from the film reviewed above. De Santi obviously had limited funds, but goes above and beyond to infuse his SOV film with a sense of style. It also helps that it might be one of the bloodiest movies I've ever seen. The action is pretty much non-stop and keeps getting crazier and crazier until the finale where Chaplin is making heads explode in gory-soaked scenes that would make Ricky Oh faint. It is going to change your life or challenge THE EXORCIST as an all-time horror great? No. But if you are looking for some insane skull smashing, this is the champ.

After a long time I finally got something very entertaining to watch. 'Adam Chaplin' as the name suggests is the story of Adam Chaplin (Emanuele De Santi), who desperately loved his wife Emily (Valeria Sannino). They had a happy and complacent family life when his wife went into bad books of the demented and sadistic city mobster Denny (Christian Riva) and his equally animalistic sons Derek (Giulio De Santi) and Ben (Paolo Luciani). Emily had borrowed a sum of money from Denny but due to inability to pay her debt on time, she is brutally burned alive by Denny and his sons. Adam is living a secluded and sad life and is all set to exact revenge on the gangsters. For this Adam conjures a demon and promises to give his soul to it once his revenge is exacted. The demon makes Adam's right shoulder its residence and gives Adam supernatural strength to bring down his enemies. Armed with supernatural strength, Adam is now on the trail of his enemies and will not stop unless he has killed them all.

The story is fairly simple at heart, but is also bit different from the others because of the demon. Emanuele with his chiseled body and rolled up eyes looks threatening and different from most other protagonists. His brutal killings make him demonic and fearsome. The viewers may forgive his attitude for the cause he is after his foes. The gore is great and above everything, so you may literally want to take bath after the film is over. I enjoyed this film for its simple storyline and the presence of demon, who talks strange and makes Adam's enemies die of severe hemorrhage with blood imploding out of their bodies. This one is fun to watch because of witty one liners specially the ones spoken by the demon. The film uses bluish color tone for no apparent reason (maybe to induce creepiness?), which is a drawback. I believe it should have used the color scheme Alexander Aja used in 'The Hills Have Eyes' remake. The fights are brutal, violent and blood-soaked. Adam tops the punching chart with around five to six hundred blows in one go, making the pulp out of his foes. Denny's part is menacing and the viewers may find his actions very gruesome and inhuman. He and his sons behave like true psychopaths, who don't have a corner left for humanity in their hearts. So viewers will never empathize with them when they get fairly more than what they deserve. Another interesting character is Mike Carerra (Monica Muñoz), who is hell of a sociopath and doesn't like to talk to anyone. He is an Army veteran, whose list of war crimes is longer than the days he has lived on Earth. He is a killing machine and the gangsters deploy him to avenge Adam.

Emanuele De Santi is the new name in the world of gore, and 'Adam Chaplin' is like the Mecca of gore freaks. However, unlike Peter Jackson's 'Braindead', 'Adam Chaplin' has a serious storyline and every violent act has a genuine cause, so those looking for the tint of comedy in this will be somewhat disappointed. I am really happy to see Italy back in action. I really lament the death of Lucio Fulci, who I consider the enforcer of gore and violence in serious horror films. Ruggero Deadato is another name here, but he has confined himself within the limits exploitation horror. 'Adam Chaplin' is not an exploitation horror, as those who are punished are no Mr. goody-to-shoes. Overall, this is a great entertainer and we are hearing good tidings from Italy now. I hope to have a sequel of this with equally awesome actions or even more. I now remember the tag line that says "Nothing can prepare you for this extreme fight" and I guess Emanuele De Santi was right about this.

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.

An indie film with stylized anime-like action & LOTS & LOTS of punches & blood everywhere. The problem is it drags a bit much but still an okay watch for a B-grade action/horror film & a must for splatter fans.