Film Review: GRAY MATTER (2018)

GRAY MATTER *** Canada 2018 Dir: Greg A. Sager 85 mins

Starting off in the 1960's with a group of young lads flicking through a bunch of stolen titty mags. They are rudely interrupted by a meteorite crashing through their tree house which makes them local news stars. Flash forward to the present day and we see the meteorite being bought online by a sci-fi geek who puts it on display in his apartment ( "my sweet ass meteorite!" ).
Having laid dormant for decades this supposed "meteorite" hatches when it senses another one heading towards Earth. This one hatches on impact and reveals a parasitic creature that attaches to its chosen host which basically turns them into a zombie. Unknown to the human race our planet is being watched by another alien race. These "Grays" have seen this invasion unfold and attempt to help us. They do this by abducting a young woman and reprogram her to find out and destroy the parasites. This has some great visuals of the Grays and their ship but is also cursed with some rather dodgy practical effects. The parasites are kind of cute when on their own but once attached to their hosts they just look like oversized plastic lobsters. The acting isn't great but luckily it is not very dialogue heavy with vast silent scenes of distant starring, grunting/screaming and a lot of gesturing. The zombie like possessed hosts are my favourite. Shawn Swain who plays the sci-fi geek is the best character, with various witty one liners ( "no more buying shit online") and has the most confidence. It has a very distinct whiff of Invasion Of The Body Snatchers about it which I quite enjoyed. With a great horror aspect to it as well it makes for some great messy gore scenes. It's not particularly clever or taxing on the brain but it is quite fun.

Review by Sarah Budd