"Feed" is an impressive new psycho-thriller, definitely not without flaws or weaknesses but nonetheless capable of providing a compelling story as well as a handful of genuine shocks and/or repulsive images. The plot often gets compared to the overrated 90's thriller "Seven", but "Feed" is a lot more realistic, or at least the most basic elements in the screenplay are. This movie primarily handles about extreme sexual fetishes and, as much as we'd all like to deny it, they really do exist. The movie opens with a fictional re-telling of the Arnim Meiwes murder-case. This odd German guy cooked and ATE a man whom he met through the internet, because they both deeply desired to experience this. Onwards to the main storyline, which revolves on a twisted persona who fattens a helpless woman until she weighs more than 600 pounds. His intentions with her may be typical movie-material (he video cams her on his internet pages and accepts bets on when she will die), but actual fetishes like this are real and they're nearly impossible to understand. The scenes in which Michael nourishes his obese muse Deirdre disgusting hamburgers and even shoves funnels and plastic tubes down her gullet are unpleasantly perplexing and, yes, maybe even a bit disturbing. However, "Feed" loses a lot of its power as soon as the story too obviously turns into a typical power showdown between the evil mastermind and the obsessive copper. Aussie cyber detective Philippe Jackson, whose passionate sex life we also get to see in great detail, stumbles upon Michael's well-protected website and single-handedly travels to the States to put a stop to it. The maniac once again turns out to be traumatized since childhood and, naturally, he's very eloquent and always has a genius speech ready whenever someone points out his sickness to him. These are some clichés "Feed" regretfully suffers from, but it remains a clever thriller and SO much better than the mainstream crap that reaches the theaters. Brett "The Dead Pit" Leonard's directing is solid and he surely makes the most out of a tiny budget. Alex O'Loughlin's portrayal of the weirdo Michael occasionally reminded me about Ted Levine in "Silence of the Lambs", and that's always a good thing. The make-up effects are pretty convincing, most notably the jaw-dropping fat suit they put on poor actress Gabby Millgate. The creators' twisted sense of humor is extra emphasized by the soundtrack, which contains ambiguous 60's songs like "Yummy Yummy, love in my Tummy", "Cherish" and "Lips like Sugar". Time to wrap up with some food-related terms & expressions: "Feed" is at times finger-licking good and certainly recommended to the horror-connoisseurs among us!
