Chameleon — Chameleon( Blu Ray)
From the late 1990’s, Chameleon is a low-budget body jumping sci-fi movie, with light touches of bloody horror and raw arty elements. The film sits between being a short film & feature, with a runtime of forty-one minutes. It regards a nurse who encounters an escaped entity, which sucks in the spirits, bodies, and all of those it encounters. Here from those resurrectors, all things low-budget sci-fi/ horror SRS Cinema is a Blu-ray. It takes in a new scan of the picture, a selection of short films by the same director, and an interview.
Chameleon is a America production from the year 1999. It was one of the early films by Chris Woods. Since the late 90’s, he’s helmed twenty-one films- taking in the likes of mockumentary horror Bleed (2002), war veteran serial killer found footage Amerikan Holokaust (2013), and documentary Blood, Guts and Sunshine 2: The History of Horror Made in Florida (2024).
The film focuses on twenty-something nurse Cathy Myers (Deborah Thomas)- who, on one of her late-night shifts, encounters a seemingly burnt and blackened patient, who puts his hand over her face, taking her body & soul. As the film unfolds, she encounters more & more people, who she sucks in.
It’s a rather tonally jarring picture- both in its tone, music, and use of sound. We move from stalking’s- either scored by droning sci-fi soundscaping or raw/crude punk/noise rock. Disorientating, wandering through the streets to a score of loose & crude heavy metal. Emotional flashbacks and drama moments are scored by felt piano music. And more deranged/colour shifting footage scored by noisy/angular sound worlds.
As our lead, Thomas is ok, if a little mixed in her acting- effective when shell shocked/ troubled, but less so when she has to show more emotional range. The small supporting cast is fine for a low-budget production.
Chameleon is certainly an interesting take on body jumping sci-fi horror, with some neat ideas/ concepts.
On the extras side, we have the following: Director Interview( 0.57), and a selection of shorts by the director: Broken Tomorrow (6.12), Red Moon ( 2.47), Remembrance ( 3.29), Sever (13.11), To Live Is To Die( 14.40), trailer, and SRS trailer reel.
I can see Chameleon appealing to those who enjoy the early work of David Cronenberg, or lo-fi sci-fi/ horror crossbreeds. And the five short films are a neat bonus.