I loved Nekromantik, loved Der Todesking, and rolled my eyes at August Underground, but Thanatomorphose is hands down the most disgusting thing I have ever allowed to slither across my retina. It's full of flaws and I was about to turn it off after the first act, but then I started to "get" it and it's a pretty great underground effort.
Flaws first: script was God-awful. I would have liked this a lot more if it had either been in French or if I didn't understand English. Second, the acting was awful. Indie directors, if you're out there, listen to me: spend money on the actors. I'm telling you. You can fix anything in that frame except bad acting. God's honest truth. Also, I hated the score and the editing was weird in the first act. There were strange jumpy cuts through a lot of the scenes that didn't make any sense. Last, not all of the fantasy sequences really worked. Some of those could have been cut. I also would have cut the faux-artsy cinematography sequences as they serve no discernible purpose and it pulled me out of the moment.
All of those notes are fairly normal sins for underground horror. If you have a background in that kind of filmmaking those problems might not bother you as much as they would someone who is used to Hollywood-slick style.
All that being said, I think it's a solid movie. I read it as a metaphor for drug addiction. I think a case could be made for it being a metaphor for depression also. The main character is literally self-destructing, but her friends seem unwilling to help or unsure how to help. The hospital comes up more than once, and it is obvious that she should go, but with a person who has an addiction (or depression if you read it like that) friends often don't know what to do or how to help. She tries fixing it herself. She self-medicates. She literally places bandages on huge open wounds. She calls for help, but then lashes out at the person who comes to help her. She is listless and bound by inertia, but bizarrely industrious when it comes to nursing her illness (addiction). She's taking pills and jabbing herself with a needle, so I'm leaning toward addiction reference over depression.
So, if you decide to see it watch it with that in mind. If you're not a fan of underground indie horror stay far away.
Flaws first: script was God-awful. I would have liked this a lot more if it had either been in French or if I didn't understand English. Second, the acting was awful. Indie directors, if you're out there, listen to me: spend money on the actors. I'm telling you. You can fix anything in that frame except bad acting. God's honest truth. Also, I hated the score and the editing was weird in the first act. There were strange jumpy cuts through a lot of the scenes that didn't make any sense. Last, not all of the fantasy sequences really worked. Some of those could have been cut. I also would have cut the faux-artsy cinematography sequences as they serve no discernible purpose and it pulled me out of the moment.
All of those notes are fairly normal sins for underground horror. If you have a background in that kind of filmmaking those problems might not bother you as much as they would someone who is used to Hollywood-slick style.
All that being said, I think it's a solid movie. I read it as a metaphor for drug addiction. I think a case could be made for it being a metaphor for depression also. The main character is literally self-destructing, but her friends seem unwilling to help or unsure how to help. The hospital comes up more than once, and it is obvious that she should go, but with a person who has an addiction (or depression if you read it like that) friends often don't know what to do or how to help. She tries fixing it herself. She self-medicates. She literally places bandages on huge open wounds. She calls for help, but then lashes out at the person who comes to help her. She is listless and bound by inertia, but bizarrely industrious when it comes to nursing her illness (addiction). She's taking pills and jabbing herself with a needle, so I'm leaning toward addiction reference over depression.
So, if you decide to see it watch it with that in mind. If you're not a fan of underground indie horror stay far away.