 Thanks for checking out this movie review video. So this is for the 2015 horror comedy patchwork and actually I wish I knew that it was a horror comedy going into it, but that's one of the problems I guess I end up having sometimes with not watching trailers and not reading synopses before watching films because I want to go into it blind. Now that said, this was a very pleasant surprise because I didn't know a whole lot about it, but I also feel like this would probably be better on an additional watch because I would then really know and expect that it's going to be a horror comedy because at first I thought they were going to try and play it straight and there was that little bit of comedy in it. And then I was like, what's going on here? So it took a little bit of time for me to settle into it for that reason. But I do think I might watch this again because the comedy elements are quite good and the story is solid enough. Anyway, this one is directed by Tyler McIntyre, who also did the film Tragedy Girls, which I enjoyed Tragedy Girls and I have a review for it on my channel. So if you want to see that review, look forward on my channel. This was written by McIntyre as well as Chris Lee Hill, who also wrote scripts for Tragedy Girls and Blowing Up Right Now. Don't know that film. This is apparently this film is apparently so heavily influenced by the film Reanimator that they literally put Stuart Gordon's name in the special thanks at the end credits. And if you know that going into the film or if you know that now and then you would go rewatch it or just think back to your experience of watching it, you can see like very clearly all the Reanimator tie ins, especially in the very beginning, they start with like the glowing green liquid and that glowing green liquid obviously shows up much later. But you can see it immediately. And not only that, but the whole like mad scientist thing who's kind of like unhinged is very Jeffrey Combs as as Dr. West and also, you know, doing unsafe things, but they take it to a very comedic level in this, whereas Reanimator does have that comedy to it. But this is kind of going a lot further than Reanimator does comedic wise while covering a lot of the same material of, you know, messing with people's bodies and playing with life and death. So I do like that it's very inspired by Reanimator and that they paid homage to Stuart Gordon for that reason. And remember, this was back when he was still alive. So, yeah, real interesting. Start with a with very solid comedy to it. And it made me hope when I saw that, that that would be the case for the entire film, honestly. And that did continue. And that's one of the the things that I think is is a pretty significant achievement with this film is that it's very hard to get a good mixture of comedy and horror together, especially because a lot of the times like one of them, it will end up taking over the other. And then they get to a point where they don't really mesh anymore and it feels off. It feels like they're not mixing the way they should mix. But I will say that this film handles it quite well because it always does feel like the comedy and the horror are going hand in hand and not competing with each other too often. There might be a moment here or there where it feels like maybe it's competing a little bit, but for the most part, I don't think so. And I think they did a really good job with doing that. And I think part of the reason you get that feel from it is the opening scene really sets the tone for, yes, there's really good horror. But yes, it's always also going to be very comedy driven at the same time. So you know what tone to expect. You know what the humor writing is like and you know what the horror aspect is like. So that's good. But I didn't know if they were going to maintain that when I first saw it or if that was just the intro portion. So for a bit, I was like, what's what's this going to be like? And then when I finally settled into it and I realized, OK, this is what this is. I was able to relax a little bit more. Great modern use of text and film. They did present that well, especially for being in 2015. I feel like it's only been very recently within the past few years that filmmakers have been integrating texting into film all that well. So the fact that they did it really well in 2015. Good job, Mac and Tire did a really nice job with that. How they have the kind of like the bubbles kind of like pop out of the phone so you can see what the texting is. So good job. You guys are kind of ahead of your time. Jennifer has a series of awkward interactions to introduce her. And I like that because it sets her up as a very awkward character. She has the awkward situation with the waiter who basically doesn't want to have any time for her, her boss, who's also kind of her boyfriend. I kind of got the idea. I mean, obviously he was married. I kind of got the idea that she labeled him as the boyfriend and he would not do that, especially because you see him much later and he's having sex with someone else at a hotel and then basically discards them. So I think it's that relationship is really just in her mind, especially based off of the interaction you see with him at the bar, especially right after the waiter. Then she gets the interaction with Garrett, which she doesn't want. So that's like an unwanted interaction that way. And then the friends that show up who are only willing to give her so much time. So I feel like that as an introduction for Jennifer is good because it paints her as not being all that close with anyone. And for that reason, when she goes missing, there aren't really that many people to be that concerned about her because it seems like everyone in her life isn't looking to give her that much time. Or in the instances of someone like Garrett, who she ends up going back to, obviously, for help, she's not interested in giving him time. So it really feels like all of her relationships are either more likely people not wanting to give her time because of who she is, but also those components of her not wanting to give other people time. So it's like in her life, she's folk trying to focus all her energy on people who don't want to spend time with her, whereas the people who do want to spend time with her, she's not focusing her energy there, which I feel like in the end plays out in a scenario of her being forced together with Madeline and Ellie. And therefore she is finally thrust together with people that she didn't want to have the time for in her normal life if she knew them in normal life, but has to and then she, you know, gets along in a way. So so all three brains mixed together in the skull. It was my question on this one from the standpoint of how is it that Ellie, Madeline and Jennifer are all actually interacting with each other? But I guess I assume that, you know, after you watch more, that was my initial thought is, are there pieces of all those brains? But especially once you have the the information from the mad scientist who put them together, basically, he is surprised about it. So obviously he didn't mix their their brains in the skull, but instead there's a component of kind of like the spirit of the people in other appendages, basically. So you can put any parts of a person together and based off the way that the guy executed this patchwork, I'll just call it patchwork, at this point, because I don't want to have to refer to where is three separate people. Yeah. So whatever way he put the patchwork together, it won't matter because they'll all kind of, you know, have the spirit of the person so they can interact with each other. So at first I was really confused about that aspect of it, how that was going on, and I didn't think it was all that believable, which I mean, it's really not, but then the whole movie is not believable. So once I settled into it, I just accepted the premise. I was like, OK, well, then I get it now. Like I get what it's going for. It is playing by its own rules. So yeah, that was fine. I guess the twitchiness when Jennifer is walking initially has to do with coordinating two other minds in order to work that body properly. That's the idea I got is that it wasn't her brain, just Jennifer's brain moving the body. But I guess it could have been in just a case where, you know, kind of like a newborn infant in a way you, you know, all your limbs don't work and you have to kind of learn to walk again, in a sense, so it could have kind of been that. But the way I looked at it is that she was trying to coordinate with Madeline and Ellie at that point and they had control over different portions of the body, which I think is also bolstered later when they're doing things. It's showing when the three of them are talking, either Ellie will be doing something or Madeline will be doing something and then the body does it. So it seemed like they had control over different appendages, basically, which I think is an interesting concept. Having the women talk as the inner dialogue works well. The only issue is the other two seem too carefree and unconcerned with the situation. The comedy does soften that issue, though. It's that situation where like Jennifer is really trying to take things pretty seriously initially, and it feels like Madeline and Ellie are really very blah, like blasé about it. Like they don't really care. They're more focused on having fun, which doesn't feel realistic, not even within the confines of the story that's created, basically. So I feel like that's kind of problematic. How it should have been is that all three of them should have been extremely freaked out initially and really trying to solve things. So I don't like that aspect of it. But I guess by the time you get to the end and you realize that Madeline's actually involved in this whole thing, she makes sense. But Ellie still doesn't make sense for acting very whatever about everything. So and obviously Jennifer does make sense because she's freaked out and trying to solve things. So I don't like that she's trying to solve things. And then the other two are just like, oh, let's have fun. We can do this and this and this and this. It doesn't feel real for what's going on. That's one of my small, well, I mean, it's not small, but that's that's one of few criticisms I have for this film. Once the Ellie part popped up, I realized they would give the backstory on all of the women, which I think is good because otherwise it seemed like it wasn't really going anywhere story wise. You really do need to understand who all these people are. So I do like that each one of them got their chapter. So that really worked quite well. I like how they show the lines of the mirror on Ellie's face when it's her turn, it's her chapter in the bathroom at the bar. If you remember, she goes to the bathroom at the bar where all three of them were at some point and she's looking in the mirror like prepping herself. And so they're like lines in the mirror and they're intentionally filming where those lines are going over her face, which is kind of like a foreshadowing of the patchwork face that will end up happening later, which obviously the audience has already seen. So it's more of like a foreshadowing for the character, which is kind of an interesting meta thing to do with the film. So I was I was looking at I'm like, well, this is foreshadowing. I'm like, but we already know this as an audience. I guess it's foreshadowing for the character in a sense, which is kind of funny. I feel like that's kind of a cheeky thing to do. And that's cool. The whole scene when Ellie goes to the guy's frat house and all the friends are there in his bedroom is actually pretty funny. Obviously that plays out yet again right before patchwork shows up and then just wrecks the whole place, which is another good scene. But that was the first like really funny scene to me that I actually laughed at where she's trying to Ellie's trying to get intimate with the guy. She's just like, who's that? And she's like, oh, that's just Dave. He's cool. And then it's the other friends and one of them's holding a camera. He's like, yeah, that's fine. It's all the way they played it. Like it could have been played in a really gross creepy way, but it was played in a funny way, but it's still gross and creepy. But you laugh about it. So and they do a good job in this with the the brand of comedy where there are disturbing things. There are gross things. There are ridiculous things happening. But it all has this feeling of being light and funny and fun. So it's pretty cool. I like that aspect of it. Ellie getting hit by the van was a good surprise. And the way it was shot made it extra funny. I really like it. You didn't expect it. The van just comes out of nowhere and just like, boom. So shot it really well. And that actually speaks to another overall thing I have to say about this is the directing and cinematography is quite good. And there are some really nice parts of some really inspired, interesting camera work and certain shots that were set up. So I like a lot of the technical stuff with this film as well. Also, the music, the music is really good and upbeat and keeps that kind of like light, fun, funny feeling throughout the film. So they did a great job match matching the soundtrack as well. When Madeline commented on Tom's hand in the bar, Tom Blake, the guy who had the drink named after him, which I thought was kind of funny. I assumed that that was an indicator that she was somehow responsible for the patch work. I saw that at that moment because that's something that's been done in film a bunch where the person who's putting bodies together and it actually just happened in the film May that I think at this point I have a review for up on my channel by Lucky McKee. That's something that's been done that people like get hyper focused on one part. She she focuses in on his hand and comments a lot about his hand. So I was like, she's into body parts. So therefore that's an indicator that she's involved in getting this patchwork done. Now they take it to that next step where she takes the guy home and then they show kind of like a flash forward where I guess she was holding him in the basement and then she had body parts in her fridge and freezer, which I hate that they put it in this part of the film. It's fine to have that in the film and that's a good twist to it. But I think it should have been much later that you reveal that because it really took away the surprise interesting element where you could have had it. It is a surprise for the other characters for Ellie and Jennifer later when they figure out that it was Madeline that went to this mad scientist and wanted to be put together with the two of them. And then she also went out and got them like that is a surprise to them. But it's not a surprise to the audience at that point because you've already seen that Madeline had body parts in her fridge and that there was that guy in the basement. So based off that, you are already assuming I was and I'm sure a lot of other people were you're already assuming that she's involved with that. So if they would have just taken that portion and put it later, like make that a flashback after it's revealed that she was involved, then it makes sense. But you took away your ability to have this great twist moment for people where they realize, oh, man, she was in on it because you introduced it way too early. That's my biggest criticism of this, like it messes up the flow and you could have had such a better, oh, my gosh, moment for the film. It also feels like with when they introduced the Madeline being a killer portion that they let too much happen after that, that just like leaves it hanging. At that point, you have to come back to it a lot sooner to kind of explain that. But it seems like they just throw it out there and then just kind of leave it. And for a bit, it feels like they're kind of just going to just going to not come back to it at all, which are just like, yeah, you can't just throw something like that out there and then just not explain it or not have more story to that. It just goes way too long before you get to the payoff for that. So it's in the wrong place. It really isn't the wrong place. It's fine, especially how it's shot and story wise, it's just in the wrong spot. They did lay the groundwork for the scene where Patchwork stops with the ax as Jennifer, Madeline and Ellie, when they're talking and fighting, when she was going to, you know, ax the mad scientist, but she ends up stopping. They did a good job because they laid the groundwork for that to be believable. If they hadn't laid that groundwork, people would be like, what the hell is going on? But the fact that they'd shown that when the three of them are interacting within the brain, they can stop each other from doing things by like actually, you know, touching each other, grabbing each other, grabbing the ax in the brain. So that's good. They did a good job setting that groundwork because it could have been a disaster. It could have been a real like what the hell is going on moment, but they did well. The scene of Garrett being super dense with the surgeon is pretty over the top, but it actually does fit with the comedic style of the film. And I actually enjoyed that at first. I was like, does this kind of ridiculous that Garrett's this dense that he would basically bust into this place and, you know, let his guard be down and let this guy basically end up killing him? Yeah. So I didn't like that at first, but then I was like, well, I mean, it kind of mixes with the over the top nature of this, the comedy of it. And that's one of the biggest things is the actual comedy that goes on between Garrett and the mad scientist is what made me forget about that because it's very funny. It's one of the better funny moments of the film, in my opinion. The releasing of the owl cat was a particularly good part for me. I thought that was funny because I was like, oh, man, this owl cat's going to do something. And then it just flies away and he's just like, oh, man. So there was a really nice comedic moment. They didn't need to bring that back from the beginning, but the fact that they did, I had already forgotten about the owl cat. So then when he's just like, release the owl cat. And I was like, oh, yeah, the owl cat, this is great. And then the comedy to it was was well, well done, well placed. And the ending of the film is basically like Frankenstein's monster and the bride of Frankenstein put together. So obviously very much like like reanimator, very much like Frankenstein, very much like bride of Frankenstein with, you know, patchwork, creating a new patchwork of a guy, you know, their perfect guy, which is interesting because a lot of this film has a focus on all men being terrible. You know, the women are terrible to each other, but there's also an outward focus of men being terrible, especially all those frat guys. They get theirs and that's really rolled up into a revenge, like a fun feeling of revenge for women, for men being terrible. You know, the obviously the the mad scientist, but also really big one being those frat guys and Garrett's good. But Garrett's also like a weenie, you know, like he's kind of like a very kind of milk toast type character. Like I said, the great music in this, they keep things keeping things upbeat and fun, great directing, great cinematography. The acting is well handled as well. They take a lot of good opportunities to inject humor and it blends right in. It plays with a cathartic, sorry, it plays like a cathartic revenge film for ladies that have been wronged by womanizing guys like I was saying. I like that fun aspect to it. And then, like I said, in the very beginning of this, I feel like this would probably be better on a second watch, not only because of, you know, my situation I was talking about where I didn't really 100 percent know which way it was supposed to be going. And then I was like, OK, this is like an over the top horror comedy. OK, now I know. So I think on another watch, I would be even more enjoyable for me. But also having gotten the full story down so you can really focus more on the dialogue and those funny moments because I do feel like I probably missed some of the nuanced comedy within it because they really do pack a lot of comedy into this. And like I said, they do a pretty good job with it. So I'm down. So not a perfect film, but good. And I think especially for what I can tell, it's a very low budget independent film. So pretty big achievement for that reason. So out of five stars with half stars in play, I'm going to give it a very solid three and a half star rating. I do recommend it. I do think people should watch it. And I would like to hear from you, especially if you've seen the film, put some comments down there. Let's talk about it, your feelings and what did you love about it and were there any things that you think could have been done better? But one of this is one of those films where you really do have to realize when you're watching it. There are definitely limitations as far as budget goes. So the practical effects aren't going to be the most crazy grandiose. So I think they came up with creative, interesting ways to do the practical effects, but not make it too expensive, like the way they did the patchwork and, you know, just putting like the staples and everything like that. And also the idea of the when the women are actually like conferring with each other and fighting it within the head, they just shoot it like a normal scene. So creative, they do a good job. So anyway, thank you. Put some comments down there. Do me a favor, hit that subscribe button. If you like this video or any video I've ever done, that is your way to repay me because I'm not making money doing this or anything. I'm just trying to build a nerdy horror community of people I can get nerdy with and talk horror with. So join, hit that subscribe, hit the notification bell as well. Because that way you'll know when I'm putting up new videos and then you can check them out immediately. But regardless, I really do thank you for taking your time to check this video out and until next time, keep it brutal.