Created by the shady animal research outfit the Jenner Clinic as an unsightly malformed mutant hybrid of both human and monkey DNA, Chad (vividly played by Douglas Mann, who skillfully alternates between being quite frightening and surprisingly touching) is part man, part simian and all-nasty, a hairy, gnarled, hunch-backed toddler with the mind of a child, superhuman strength, an easily set-off temper and a murderous sociopathic disposition which makes him one seriously lethal piece of messed-up work. Chad breaks free from his cage (where the poor critter has spent his entire life), butchers nine people, trashes the laboratory where he's been secluded from the rest of the world, and goes on the lam. He's doggedly tracked by diligent sympathetic journalist John Lynch, obsessed protective scientist Christine Kavanagh, and flinty, sinister, enigmatic lab company bigwig Hennessey (a marvelously steely Kenneth Cranham), the latter a first-class baddie who's hellbent on covering up the whole bloody affair so he can continue his morally questionable experiments undeterred.
Lawrence Gordon Clark's crisp, pacy direction, a knotty, thoughtful, intricately woven script by Stephen Gallagher which astutely examines a provocative science gone amok theme without ever becoming some preachy, self-righteous, heavy-handed tract (Gallagher adapted his novel "Chimera"), fine acting from a uniformly excellent cast, top-rate make-up f/x by Bob Keen, a few gory kill scenes, an elegant orchestral score, a genuinely creepy and grotesque, but strangely poignant and pitiable subhuman monster tyke, the compact, gripping narrative, a strikingly poetic and haunting conclusion, and the all-around well-drawn intriguing characters (Sebastian Shaw in particular has a lovely part as a sweet elderly scientist who unwittingly participated in Chad's creation) combine together to form a scary, suspenseful and overall superlative fright feature sleeper which not only delivers the expected spine-tingling goods, but also gives the viewer plenty of tasty food for thought to gnaw on.
Lawrence Gordon Clark's crisp, pacy direction, a knotty, thoughtful, intricately woven script by Stephen Gallagher which astutely examines a provocative science gone amok theme without ever becoming some preachy, self-righteous, heavy-handed tract (Gallagher adapted his novel "Chimera"), fine acting from a uniformly excellent cast, top-rate make-up f/x by Bob Keen, a few gory kill scenes, an elegant orchestral score, a genuinely creepy and grotesque, but strangely poignant and pitiable subhuman monster tyke, the compact, gripping narrative, a strikingly poetic and haunting conclusion, and the all-around well-drawn intriguing characters (Sebastian Shaw in particular has a lovely part as a sweet elderly scientist who unwittingly participated in Chad's creation) combine together to form a scary, suspenseful and overall superlative fright feature sleeper which not only delivers the expected spine-tingling goods, but also gives the viewer plenty of tasty food for thought to gnaw on.