Sean Parker
If you’ve read any of my reviews on this site, then it’s pretty apparent I have a sweet spot for microbudget, b-grade, and independent film. Any film with practical effects and a halfway decent idea has pretty much locked me in for its runtime. Cranked Up Films has been pumping out some really cool titles in this arena, like Extra Ordinary, After Midnight, Riot Girls, and Porno. So, when a title like Replicator comes out from Cranked Up featuring creature design and makeup effects by special effects legend David Greathouse, I’m all in. Greathouse has been working on films for over thirty years, with titles like Return of the Living Dead III, The Stand (1994), Tales from the Crypt Presents Demon Knight, and the very recent Fresh Hell Trilogy making up a small percentage of his illustrious resume.
Opening on a Lovecraftian note of tentacles, purple lighting, and a goopy amputation, my hopes were relatively high for Replicator. The effects-heavy moment had me grinning with anticipation to see what director and co-writer Mark Andrew Hamer had in store for me over the next seventy-five minutes.
As the story shifts, it introduces us to our main character, Darby (Brey Noelle), a righteous, young public defender on the right side of justice, looking to stop an abusive husband but lacking the evidence. Pretty quickly, Replicator shows us the caliber of this small town’s male population through Darby’s affair with the corrupt sheriff (Brian Spangler), her no-shame horndog alcoholic father (Jim Azelvandre), and even the language patrons use against the local bartender, Neila (KateLynn E. Newberry), who also happens to be Darby’s best friend. After a fight with her father, Darby wakes up the next morning to find he’s turned over a new leaf, making her breakfast and acting in a very suspicious manner. When an accident leaves him dead, the medical examiner (LeJon Woods) finds disturbing details in the body that lead him to believe something not of this world may be to blame.
From the start, Replicator had me hooked with its premise. A small town with misogyny issues flips the script on The Stepford Wives story and replaces dominating men Body Snatchers style. Add in the Lovecraftian pieces and the effects, and Replicator didn’t need to do a whole lot to keep my attention.
However, while the idea is excellent, its point gets lost in the weeds. From the onset of the film, there are details that, frankly, make very little sense. Perhaps the most head-scratching in this case is the medical examiner’s insistence that a cry the creatures let out is unable to be heard by the human ear before playing a cassette tape back so we can listen to it. I suppose this isn’t unlike horror tropes of capturing ghosts on the visual medium. But there are no audio adjustments, no “I ran it through resonance equipment,” and it doesn’t come through as a static-ridden hiss or anything. The audience is forced to believe they can now hear the noise simply because it was recorded on tape. The audience is already suspending reality for the obvious plot points, but this kind of easy scrutinization hurts the experience.
Because Replicator trips over the specifics, it’s difficult for Hamer to accomplish a steady atmosphere throughout the film. The movie favors following Darby through the discovery of horrible men surrounding her and takes too long getting back to the cosmic threat. Though the film is less than eighty minutes, it tends to favor Darby’s interactions with the sheriff and Neila over the science-fiction-horror film the audience has come to see, simultaneously missing out on effects-driven connective tissue opportunities that would earn it greater balance, coherence, and favor with the audience who would enjoy seeing more of Greathouse’s fantastic creature work.
Essentially, while I deeply admire the idea that Hamer and co-writer Russ Lindway have created for Replicator, its story feels incomplete and undercooked. Replicator feels derived under the rigid template of similarly styled films, meant to volley from drama to action until it builds to a climax, but sometimes it forgets to go back and forth. And, though this may sound overly critical, multiple occasions in the film could have benefited from feminine input, especially since the movie’s central theme concerns female condescension, dismissal, and perspective. There are multiple dialogue choices this assessment applies to, as well as scenes. Darby and her father Ron’s strained relationship seems far weirder, with Ron comfortably nude and sniffing his fingers as a guest in Darby’s apartment. Sure, they succeed in making the character the absolute worst, but where is Darby’s limit for enduring disrespect?
Replicator has its moments, but the many baffling avenues the film decides to traverse makes it hard to fully embrace. The idea holds weight, but the execution is sometimes counterintuitive to what it’s trying to say, which can, at times, be perceived as disingenuous. Still, if you’re in the market for an underground indie with impressive special effects that arrives in bonkers body-horror land for the last twenty minutes, you may find some enjoyment from Replicator.
Replicator arrives in select theaters and on PVOD on December 10.
Replicator | Horror Film | Official Trailer HD
When the most nefarious citizens of a small town suddenly make 180-degree turns to righteousness, a young, justice-seeking public defender, embarks on a journey that reveals otherworldly forces may be responsible, and that the way to virtue is a bloody, terrifying road. Directed by Mark Andrew Hamer Written by Mark Andrew Hamer and Russ Lindway Starring KateLynn E.
