URBAN FLESH – Alexandre Michaud

Three boys and a girl form a cannibals gang overrunning the city: they deceive, slaughter and devour their victims for their mere need to get fed. The killings go relentlessly on until this death trail attracts a policeman who tries and go to the source of it. The events get out of control when the assassins group rushes into the policeman’s house, segregating and torturing his wife.

URBAN FLESH, released in 2007, is a second edition of a work produced by Alexandre Michaud himself in 1997 and as the author explains in the introduction, audio and video necessarily show the effects of this late re-elaboration. The video quality doesn’t affect the movie’s worth, while the audio being too much re-elaborated suffers the dullness given by the background noise, which ends up making the comprehension difficult.

Focusing on the movie, URBAN FLESH doesn’t disappoint the splatter fans: the author loves blood and the cannibal plot automatically drives to massive quantities of haemoglobin on the scene. The almost 90 minutes of the film keep hanging round human meat meals, without any shame in showing the blood orgy. In the long run it becomes a bit boring, but gets appealing again right in the end thanks to the pressure on the accelerator which gives birth to a violence whirl…happening to turn against them.

A slight variety in the plot and some more gore inventions are what Michaud’s movie would need (which would’ve been good for the film, unless you shorten it of 20 minutes). The special effects do work well but they are more or less always the same repeating throughout. Another element which the director should’ve (not “could’ve”) shown in more massive quantities is a certain soft-core which cannot miss in such productions. Michaud suggests and never shows, but it’s a shame and quite laughable/ridiculous to see the dark lady taking a bath all dressed up.

The cast and the soundtrack are undoubtly aces in the sleeve of this movie: the actors, even though very young, appear experienced and convincing, while the metal soundtrack helps to speed up the rhythm, sustaining the killings and the events follow-up. The tracks selection is excellent, varying from the american brutal to melodic italian songs.

If you love splatter, do watch URBAN FLESH.

Director, Editor: Alexandre Michaud
Screenplay, Production: Jef Grenier, Alexandre Michaud
Helltimate Studios