Feed — Feed(Blu Ray)
Feed is an early 2000 Australian film that combines elements of crime thriller and body horror with light touches of twisted dark comedy. The kinetically edited and music-heavy film concerns a cybercrime investigator who discovers a website where seemingly women are being fed to death. Here from Unearthed Films is a Blu-Ray release of the film, which includes a good selection of extras.
Feed is from 2005, and was directed by Brett Leonard- who has thirteen features to his name, as well as ten music video/TV related fair. His features go from zombie/ splatter film The Dead Pit (1989), sci-fi thriller The Lawnmower Man (1992), swamp-bound horror The Man Thing (2005), and high school drama Triumph (2021).
The film largely flips back and forth between our two leads- macho, steel cross-wearing cybercrime investigator Phillip (Patrick Thompson), and blond-haired, sure of himself/ at points unbalanced Micheal (Alex O'Loughlin) who runs the female feeder-based website.
Phillip discovers Micheal's site, as it’s difficult to enter. So he believes something illegal is going on. He tries to convince his boss, but he says he’s overreacting- so on his own time/ money he decides to make a trip from Oz to the USA, to track down Micheal.
For his part, the slim, fit and back-tattooed Micheal is focusing on looking after his latest model Deidre (Gabby Millgate) who weighs in at 600 pounds, sits in a skimp two-piece nighty- and is fed burgers and pizza at first, then slop and finally pure fat.
The whole thing is rapid/flashily edited- just like a music video. As well as shifting between the two men's present, and past/ childhood, so at points, it does all get somewhat confused.
The film clocks in at the one hour and forty-minute mark- and has an exhilarating /almost coked-up quality. But I’m afraid it’s very much a film of pros and cons.
On the positive side- the slowly revealed O'Loughlin managers to be creepy, sleek and darkly charming- with his side of the story having a more mysterious flare. We get a fair few corny/ but nevertheless entertaining lines. As the body horror elements amp up, we get some fairly disgusting moments, and the touches of gore/ derangement towards the end of the film are most welcome.
On the less positive side of things- there's some truly terrible acting from the supporting cast- most notably from the cybercrime unit boss, who often looks like he’s just managing to read his lines. On the subject of acting Thompson is highly mixed- often on the knife edge macho hamming it up, and laughable bad. The fat suits used in the film at points look very ropy/obvious. The use of music is erratic- at points mood fitting, at others jarring & overdone. And lastly, the finale is dragged out way, way too long.
This new region free Blu Ray from Unearthed features both uncut and US Cut versions of the film- the first runs at one hour and forty, and the second runs one hour and thirty-one minutes- I only watched the uncut one, so I'm not sure what’s cut/ changed.
We get a good selection of extras- though I’m guessing that most of these are archive/ not new. First off, we have a commentary track from director Brett Leonard- this isn't bad, largely remaining interesting/ not too ego-heavy. He starts off by talking about how the film's two leads first came up with the idea of the film. He talks about the fat suit detailed painting & textured, and how he thought it looked so real. He talks about how the whole film was shot in OZ- pointing out/ discussing locations as they appear. He touches on how people are more sexually free in oz, compared with the US- and tells us there are over four thousand sites on the internet regarding feeders. We find out the sexualised scenes were improvised to give more of a rawness/unpredictability. He talks about how it was shot on an HD camera- with a deliberate garish TV/ internet look- with upfront colours. He discusses how many of the same cast and crew came over from his previous film 2005’s The Man-Thing, and how he feels the film to hand is meant to be a dark comedy. Later on, he talks about which of the two characters is the most morally right, and we find out the whole thing grew from a thirty-page treatment he and the two lead actors did. So certainly, a track that’s worth a playthrough.
Next, we get the following extras: Deleted Scenes w/ Commentary by director Brett Leonard (22.42). Alternate Ending w/ Commentary by Director Brett Leonard (22.42). Behind The Scenes (28.12). Infomercial (7.46). Final day interview with the director (4.22). Interview with Alex O’Loughlin (6.03). Interview with Producer Melissa Beauford (4.52). Interview with Jack Thompson (0.56). Feed In Philadelphia: The North American premiere (8.37). As well as a photo gallery, and original theatrical trailer.
Before this release I wasn’t aware of Feed- so thanks to Unearthed for the reissue it- with it's hefty selection of extras. Yes, as a film Feed has some problems/ issues, but all in all, it’s an entertaining rush of a picture blending elements of thriller, body horror, and dark comedy.