American film director Brett Leonard is probably best known
as an early purveyor of virtual reality/internet/computer related horror in the
beginning of the 1990s having directed The Lawnmower Man in 1992 followed
by both Hideaway and Virtuosity in the same year of 1995. Ten years later, history repeated itself with
the director doing two films again in the same year this time for the
Australians: the Marvel Comics movie Man-Thing and today’s Unearthed
Films transgressive shock horror release Feed.
Very much a product of the 2000s with
herky-jerky editing and a then-electrically charged regard for the internet and
fear of modern technology, the film is perhaps best remembered as a singular
grossout with a cover and premise so foul you’re likely to leave it on the shelf. Still, good or bad Unearthed Films saw fit to
bring this very digital video looking film production to modern moviegoers and
fans of the boutique label eager for an old fashioned cheap sick thrill.
Australian cop Phillip (Patrick Thompson) works as a
detective in cybercrime for Interpol but is left shaken by a real-life case in
Hamburg, Germany involving castration and cannibalism, fueling an already tense
romantic endeavor with his girlfriend. Immersing
himself into his work with Nigel (Matthew Le Nevez), the two begin investigating
a website dedicated to fat fetishism and particularly feeders leading them
towards an Ohio based businessman named Michael Carter (Alex O’Loughlin) and
his morbidly obese captive Deirdre (Gabby Milgate) who livestreams feeding
sessions to mercurial subscribers on fringes of the dark web.
Taking on the form of a Hardcore or 8mm
investigative thriller where our protagonist hobnobs with pornographers
trying to get closer to the truth while getting in over his head as well, Feed
in between the obscene precursor to My 600lb Life or The Whale
mostly functions as a crime scene investigation piece. All fine and dandy except the film takes a
twisty turn in the final act that renders the whole thing just downright mean.
At once from the man who brought ‘virtual sex’ into the
world via The Lawnmower Man and trying really hard to be the next Se7en
or The Silence of the Lambs by way of Demonlover or fear
dot com, Feed is the horror movie equivalent of Super Size Me. Just watching it diminishes any hunger you
might’ve had. A movie that piles on
feeding horrors to a degree that manages to outgross the likes of The Greasy
Strangler or Captivity which featured feeding horrors of a funnel
tube of disgusting junk being funneled down the victim’s throat, Feed is
a 2000s equivalent of an aristocrats joke.
While Patrick Thompson and Alex O’Loughlin give decent enough
performances in what is ostensibly a B-movie with O’Loughlin giving the
trademark villainous speech about his place in the world as a compassionate
feeder, the one who goes above and beyond the call of duty is Gabby Millgate as
the poor obese woman. Best known for her
roles in Muriel’s Wedding and Babe: Pig in the City, under fat
makeup and prosthesis she endures more than most actresses should be asked to
deal with for a movie. With scenes of
gross fat being forced down her throat spilling all over her face and mouth,
you just feel bad for this woman even though in the back of your mind you know
it is make believe thanks to the Nick Nicoladu Make-Up Effects Group.
Mean, crude and maybe even somewhat lowbrow, Feed is
the kind of thing you take a long hot shower after viewing. Enough to put you off your food for a good
while, Brett Leonard’s gross out vomitorium in the form of a crime thriller
comes to blu-ray stacked with tons of extras including but not limited to a
director commentary, deleted scenes, an alternate ending and even a shorter ‘friendlier’
US cut. Fans of this, if there are any,
will find themselves feasting (no pun intended) on the plentiful extras being
doled out here and in the time-honored tradition of Unearthed Films it comes housed
in a collectible slipcover.
I’ll be
honest, this movie made me feel bad, like I was gawking at a burlesque show at something I
shouldn’t even know about. The less said
about fringe websites like these, however catchy the premise may be, the
better. Yes feeding and fat fetishism is
a real world phenomenon. No this isn’t
the right movie about that topic. As it
stands, ‘Fat Bastard’ makeup or not it is kind of a grim 2000s geek show more
interested in gawking than making sense of any of it.
--Andrew Kotwicki