About.com Rating

The Bottom Line

An ambitious but slow and poorly acted vampire melodrama.

Pros

• An original take on the Elizabeth Bathory legend
• Christopher Lambert is likable
• Good for some unintentional humor

Cons

• Poor acting
• Little action
• Awful attempts at comic relief
• Nonsensical plot

Description

• Starring Christopher Lambert, Corey Sevier, Irena A. Hoffman, Charlie Hollway, Jennifer Higham, Zolee Ganxsta
• Directed by Jenö Hodi

• Rated R
• DVD Release Date: August 24, 2010

Guide Review - 'Metamorphosis' DVD Review

In the early 17th century, Hungarian countess Elizabeth Bathory is locked up for killing virgin girls and bathing in their blood, a misguided attempt to attain eternal youth. Her daughter, also named Elizabeth, is taken from her, and the two never see each other again.

Fast-forward to the 21st century, and scholarly young American Keith (Corey Sevier) has arrived in Hungary to research the Bathory legend for a book, his goofy friends J.J. (Charlie Hollway) and Kim (Jennifer Higham) in tow.

On the way to the Bathory monastery, they meet a mysterious woman in white named -- you guessed it -- Elizabeth. Intrigued by Keith's sympathy for the infamous Elizabeth Sr., she offers to guide the group to their destination. Keith and Elizabeth soon fall for each other, but she has a vampiric secret that threatens not only their relationship, but also the lives of Keith and his friends.

When Christopher Lambert is the best actor in your movie, you know you're in trouble.

In Metamorphosis, he towers over the rest of the no-name cast, whose broad, over-the-top performances are straight out of high school drama class. Hollway and Higham are particularly painful as the designated comic relief, not that they're helped in any way by a script that peppers us with annoying one-liners like "This place would scare the crap out of Frankenstein!"

Unfortunately for us, Lambert, who plays his role with a good-natured playfulness, appears on screen for only about 20 minutes. The plot is dominated by the Keith-Elizabeth relationship, meaning the action and horror elements are downplayed in favor of a Gothic romance. If it hadn't been filmed in 2007, I might've accused it of jumping on the Twilight bandwagon.

The plot deserves some credit for trying to weave in elements dealing with the afterlife -- Heaven, Hell, Purgatory -- but in the end, it just doesn't make much sense and takes itself far too seriously. The overly dramatic tone, though, does lead to some unintentional humor when the climactic battle of vampire rivals devolves into...kung fu? Really? Another laugh-out-loud moment occurs when Igor (yes, Igor) breaks the chair he's sitting on and tosses it in the fireplace, then walks back to the table and sits down on…the same chair?

If only the entire movie were as laughably bad. Instead, Metamorphosis is just good enough to be bad, but not bad enough to be good.

The DVD

No special features.

Movie: D+

DVD: F

Disclosure: A review copy was provided by the distributor. For more information, please see our Ethics Policy.