Director: Norbert Keil
Writer: Norbert Keil, Richard Stanley (Screenplay)
Starring: Rebecca Forsythe, Lucie Aron, Barbara Crampton, Sean Knopp, Adnan Maral, Agnes Kiyomi Decker
Plot: Kira’s skin starts to age rapidly, dry out and crumble away. But then she discovers that she can replace her own skin with somebody else’s.
Runtime: 1 Hour 41 Minutes
There may be spoilers in the rest of the review
Verdict: Under the Skin Without an Alien
Story: Replace starts when young lady Kira (Forsythe) finds that the skin on her finger and hand is literally crumbling off, looking for answers after her one night stand vanishes, she invites a friend Sophia (Aron) to stay, where she makes a discovery, that the skin can be replaced, instantly attaching itself to her if placed on the crumbling parts. Turning to Dr Crober (Crampton) for answers, she doesn’t give her any which will help, only tests to look for them.
Kira continues to see the skin crumble spreading, which makes her turn to more dramatic ways of trying to cure the problem, one that will see her going to new extremes.
Thoughts on Replace
Characters – Kira is a young lady, with what seems like a normal life, until she starts getting a problem with her skin on her hand, starting small and spreading down her arm, as her skin starts to dry up. She tries to find a solution which sees her learn that she can replace her skin with others, forcing her to turn to drastic measures to make sure her skin doesn’t dry up. Sophia is a friend and lover to Kira, the only person that supports her with the problems she is facing, she tries to help find a solution and search for answers. Dr Rafaela Crober is the person that Kira turns to for help with her problem, like most doctors she gives the advice on how to cope with the problems.
Performances – Rebecca Forsythe is strong in the leading role, she shows the unsure side to what is going on, while also showing a devilish side at times. Lucie Aron makes for a great partner character, she fills in the advice like role we would be giving if it was our own friend. Barbara Crampton is the biggest name in the film and add her experience for her role which add the professional character to the film.
Story – The story here follows a young lady that is struggling with her own skin after it starts crumbling off, little by little, she seeks medical advice, but finds her own way to fix the problem, before learning the truth. This is an interesting story that does go in a direction you might not see coming, for the first half of the film, the story has dark idea that is twisted with blood, only for us to get an equally as dark second half if not darker. It can best be described as Under the Skin without the alien side to the story, which does make us know what we are getting into, with how Kira is acting through parts of the film. By the end of the story, you will be left asking a question about what you would do, if you got this chance, but we won’t say what the question is in this review.
Horror/Sci-Fi – The horror in this film comes form a mix of just what is happening to Kira and what Kira does to try and solve the problem, the wounds and effects from the skin damage is difficult to watch too, the sci-fi side of the film comes on stronger in the second half of the film, it poses plenty of questions.
Settings – The film does use the everyday settings which makes us believe Kira’s problem could happen to anybody.
Special Effects – The effects are the standout here, watching the moments of the skin removal can make you look away, the crumbling effect is also very different to what we have seen before.
Scene of the Movie – The truth.
That Moment That Annoyed Me – We do get one too many attempts at twisting the story.
Final Thoughts – This is a sci-fi horror that will make your skin crawl, it has a delightful style, even if it does have a easy split between the two sides of the story.
Overall: Skin Crawling Horror
