Septic Man (2013)

I'm a huge fan of British-Canadian character actor Julian Richings, hence the reason I ever bought 'Septic Man' in the first place, and I've seen a lot of weird films in my time but I feel like this one was just pushing the offensive language, crass quotes and disgusting imagery to the extreme for lazy shock value, without really developing the story past gore and, yup, you guessed right by the title, raw sewage. I've never heard the word "sh!t" so much in a film since I first saw a Troma movie. And some of it just made no sense. We have a sewage treatment plant worker for example, the main character (Jack), approached by a total stranger by the name of Phil Prosser. This stranger who has never even met him before then proceeds to randomly insult him with odd comments, the weirdest being "I'll bet your wife smells sh!t on you every time she f*cks you". What the hell? Is that supposed to be humorous or something? I mean, I wouldn't mind the crude humour so much if there was actually a half-decent story behind it, but there's really not, which is too bad because there are a lot of talented actors and actresses who appear in this film (most of them either look disgusted to even be present, they look bored or they look like they're just doing it for some extra cash). I don't know, I just didn't see the point. Some people have compared it to 'The Toxic Avenger' (1984), but at least ol' Toxie had a good plot standing behind him when he was mutating! 'Septic Man' really doesn't. It's just a lot of toilet jokes coupled with a guy covered in cr@p. Where's the punchline? Bottom line: if you like any of the featured actors/actresses, it's worth checking out perhaps, but otherwise I wouldn't even bother with it. I think even the biggest fans of vulgar jokes and low-budget horror will be turned off not by its gross-out factor, but by its sheer dullness.

While trying to solve a town's water supply contamination problems, a sewage worker named Jack (Jason David Brown) slips and falls into a septic tank and over time begins to undergo a hideous transformation. He must also team up with a gentle giant (Robert Maillet) in order to confront his crazy murderer brother known as Lord Auch (Tim Burd). I'm just going to poot it out there and say that this film isn't very good. I wouldn't think one's expectations would be very high considering the film is called "Septic Man". Just to lighten things up, I will now to try to use as many toilet-related puns as possible in my review (I made one already if you didn't notice). Now just don't get the impression that you'll know what the film will be about after the first scene because it is just gratuitous in it's grossness, it just takes it down to gutter levels, and it just doesn't make any sense on its own. Don't expect any kind of plot or character development either. It's like the filmmakers flushed it down the toilet, never to be seen again. What you do end up seeing makes little to no sense and is hard to follow (at least I couldn't). They tried to introduce a subplot about some conspiracy being responsible for the contamination problem but they never really explored that. Also the scale of the crisis was only mentioned but never shown. Maybe they could have plunged those out. I thought the pacing of the film needed a few stool softeners as well so don't expect too much excitement either since most of the film occurs within said septic tank. With all that's been mentioned so far, it would not come as much of a surprise that the acting isn't too great either. It just started off bad and got worse as the film went on as the dialogue was laughably bad more often than not and the lead actor, Jason David Brown, was never able to convey a sense of danger that being trapped in a septic tank should have created. At least the makeup work done on Jack after the transformation, albeit exaggerated because I doubt it would have happened that way, was decent. If you thought the beginning was bad, trust me the end is even worse. It isn't too long either so you won't need too much toilet paper. This film is advertised as a horror film but I did not find it scary at all because I happen to be regular I do enjoy watching bad films on occasion just so I can enjoy their badness (as many do). This one was just a little too bad for my taste. Score: #2/10

I liked it and give it good marks for originality story wise. It's got a low score on IMDb but I think thats mostly because of people expecting something else out of it like a serious version of "The Toxic Avenger" or a horror/comedy. Overall I enjoyed the movie although it could have been so much more. It's played a little slow and it's a very drab and depressing scenario. Don't go into it expecting a wild ride or a terrifying revenge flick. Over all I liked it but thought it fell a little short of what it could have been. It's the kind of movie some will love and others will claim was a waste of time. Definitely worth a watch.

Before I begin, I am not connected to this movie in any way (check my other 100 or so reviews and you'll see) but I need to make that clear before I give it the review Im about to (in case Im accused of that).Firstly, this film has got nothing to do with The Toxic Avenger which another reviewer here seems to think it should have been (?), Im really not sure why that is. Maybe he just reads a movie title and decides what its going to be about by that, but I really don't think thats a smart way to approach cinema and I (for one) am so glad it wasn't some terrible flick by the cheesemongers at Troma as its miles above their output in terms of quality.The film opens with an outbreak of a water-born disease where a sewage system worker (hes known as the septic man as its a logo on his van) is approached to find the source and deal with it given an offer of a large sum of money. He enters the underground tunnels soon after, and quickly finds himself locked into a tank underground, where his problems really begin.While the singular elements of Septic Man may not be original on their own, what is original and fresh is how they're strung together. Be advised that this is NOT a horror comedy, in fact its quite dark, twisted, and disturbing at times, with a grim harsh plot running most of the way through. Its written by Tony Burgess, who also wrote the fantastic Pontypool (2008) and its likely if you found that slow going then this movie might not suit you either. Luckily many horror fans have progressed beyond watching a man in a mask chase teens through a forest however so we welcome anything with a modicum of the different. And I loved this film, in fact its quickly moved into my top ten horror films of the year along with the likes of Under The Skin, Found, The Borderlands, Dead Snow 2 etc.I suggest you go into Septic man not thinking you know what its about, and if you have the ability to watch a film while enjoying a build up in tension and story without it all being laid on a plate for you I think you'll love it. I have to say I was very pleasantly surprised. There have been so many mediocre horror films this year (Lord of Tears, Cross Bearer, The Cemetery etc) that its great when something comes along you thought might just be another. Septic Man is indeed a great new horror film that's an asset to the genre and one long standing horror fans (30yrs for me) will enjoy.