Metamorphosis: The Alien Factor

Plot

An alien from outer space bites a bio-researcher on the hand and turns him into a monster. Its first victim is the guard at the laboratory he's working in. The guard's daughters are getting worried that their father hasn't called them and they go to the lab, where they meet their worst nightmare.

Cast

Background

Following on the moderate success of 1983's The Deadly Spawn, Ted A. Bohus and partner Dr. Ron Giannotto chose to surpass this success with a sequel, but the storyline evolved into something different. Having a slightly larger budget than for 'Spawn', Metamorphosis: The Alien Factor began production in an abandoned Jersey City warehouse with exterior and some interior shots in a Hackensack office building using childhood friends and New Jersey and New York City locals.

Reception

The film achieved a mixed to positive response, with critics praising for its direction, visual effects, and story, but criticizing for its acting and plot. TV Guide reviewed the film with its 1993 United States home video release, finding the film to be an "unusually vivid and accomplished low-budget horror film". Noting that the film was conceived as a sequel to Bohus' The Deadly Spawn, they remark how the sequel has nothing to do with the previous, and that the film made a "quantum leap" in visual effects. By limiting cast and location costs, production was able to concentrate efforts on effects, and that the monsters and stop-motion remain convincing and scary throughout the film. They praised how director Takajian sustained the suspense and tension throughout the film, pacing the progress so everything comes to a head in the final reels for maximum effect. They also note that the effects overcome earlier weak acting, and the growing intensity of the story and the more confident acting as the film progresses allow one to "forget the shakiness of what has preceded it". In agreement, Cavett Binion of All Movie Guide felt that the film made excellent use of a limited budget. Noting that the film was intense, well-written and sported some spectacular monster effects.

Release

The film was first screened at Cannes in May 1990, with a German VHS premiere on November 5, 1990. The USA home video premiere was December 15, 1993. In 2003, Lions Gate Home Entertainment released the film onto DVD.

Anecdotes

At the very end of the credits of the film, a now relatively famous sentence was added probably by a technician who worked on the project, or maybe by the director himself : «I don't get paid enough for this shit.»

Additional reading