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Grafted
[Blu-ray]
Blu-ray ALL - Australia - Umbrella Entertainment Review written by and copyright: James-Masaki Ryan (17th August 2025). |
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The Film
 "Grafted" (2024) Wei (played by Joyena Sun) was very little when she witnessed the death of her scientist father (played by Sam Wang), who was experimenting with skin rejuvenation. Many years later, Wei moves to New Zealand to stay with her aunt (played by Xiao Hu) and her cousin Angela (played by Jess Hong) and attend university. Being shy and reclusive as well as having a complex about the large genetic birthmark on the side of her face, she has difficulty fitting in with Angela and her best friends Eve (played by Eden Hart) and Jasmine (played by Sepi To'a). But her dream is to one day complete the work started by her late father, and the one person who is willing to help is her science professor Paul (played by Jared Turner). But Paul has plans of his own, as does Eve, who is having an affair with the professor and not particularly fond of his time being spent with the new scholarship student... The opening sequence of "Grafted" sets the horror tone quite well with the father's experiment gone wrong, seeing that the serum was grafting more than just injured skin. Although he tries slicing his mouth open to breathe, it soon grafts together again, and repeated slashes do nothing to stop the quick grafting process. There is not much gore to speak of for an extended period in the film, until the accidental death of Angela nearly a third of the way into the story. While the gory aspect of what "Grafted" hints in the trailers, there is a good amount of character development in the first half that does not feature gore, but difficulties in relationships, bullying, peer pressure, blackmail, and cultural differences. Wei's insecurity with her looks, her trauma of seeing her father die while trying to find a way to fix her birthmark, as well as her difficulty in finding footing in New Zealand from China is well played. Sun's performance is quiet and sincere as a young woman who cannot quite fit in socially, but is looking for a way to restore her father's dignity and wishes. Her trying to connect with her cousin Angela are also fascinating to see, as Angela has fully assimilated into New Zealand culture being born there and not speaking a word of Mandarin, even though her mother constantly speaks it at home. She is also trying to lessen her own background when she is with friends, like in the Chinese restaurant scene in which she knows she likes the food such as chicken feet, she is not looking to show that side of herself in front of her friends. As for Angela's friends, Eve is the blonde haired model like beauty that is the dream of every boy (and especially one professor) on campus. Fashionable and flirtatious, she is certainly the center of the group and is not at all afraid of consequences. But she is also not a typical dumb blonde, as when she sees Wei and Paul together discussing about science, she snaps pictures to make it seem like there was something happening between them, for future blackmail purposes if it needed to be. Jasmine is the only one that finds more kinship with Wei, as she is of Maori background and discrimination is something she has more than likely experienced in the past. She is friendly with Wei and helps her try to be more confident with herself. But with the accidental death of Angela after a fight with Wei, things shift into the horror territory swiftly. From "Eyes without a Face" to "The Texas Chain Saw Massacre" to "Face/Off", there have been multiple examples of films showing face transplants in differing ways. "Grafted" shares similarities with each, but it is also quite different on its own. "Eyes without a Face" has a doctor trying to save his daughter's disfigured face by experimenting with face transplants. "The Texas Chain Saw Massacre" features the character of "Leatherface", who wears the skins of victims' faces over his own. "Face/Off" shows a government agent going undercover as a terrorist leader by transplanting the terrorist's face onto his. In "Grafted", Wei needs to hide the fact that she accidentally killed Angela, so in addition to disposing the body, she severs the skin off Angela's face and attaches it to her own with the grafting serum so it would perfectly graft on top of her own skin. The next day she wears Angela's clothes and goes to school as her. She starts digging herself deeper in a hole she cannot escape from, and eventually she the body count as well as face count rises in the story, and it is a fascinating watch to see one person turn from a shy recluse to a psychotic killer in the story. The entire story is basically told through the perspective of Wei, and while at the start it is the innocent protagonist. But towards the middle, the audience realizes they are in the shoes of the killer. Directed and co-written by Sasha Rainbow in her feature film debut, "Grafted" deals with many female issues from a female perspective through the art of gory horror. Hweiling Ow is credited as the main screenwriter and used her personal experience as a Chinese immigrant in New Zealand as part of the story's basis. Body horror is usually associated with male centered stories, but it's interesting to see it linked with the different kinds of pressures dealt in this story. The cultural differences with moving to a foreign country and not fitting in, "Mean Girls" type drama with peers, and more are well played and well written. But like the aforementioned "Face/Off" the idea of transplanting one's face seems almost too good to be true. Yes, in that film it was surgical and how Travolta's face fit so perfectly on Cage and vice versa seems utterly implausible. No scars on either of them, their hair is also magically transplanted, as well as their body sizes. But in "Grafted" it is explained how the scars are gone, as that is the main purpose of the serum. But for mouths, eyes to fit just right without any odd stretching is magical, and also how skin tones seem to magically fit as well. When Wei wears the faces of others, she does have an awkwardness in answering and talking, and there are some moments when others ask about her voice sounding slightly different. Somehow her Mandarin Chinese accent turns slightly more Kiwi when wearing another's face, but how does that work? In addition, while Wei and her victims all are on the slender side, people would probably notice that there is a difference. There are many questions asked that have implausible answers for the logic behind everything. But the entertainment value is the key, and to see the transformations both physically and mentally, the gory effects in place outweigh the impossible nature. "Grafted" is not out to be the most scientifically accurate story out there, but it shows what science could possibly do. A century ago, the idea of skin grafting or organ transplants seemed like a distant future. It is much more of a reality now and advances will continue. Will it get to the level of "Grafted" where you could store and swap others' faces to wear? Who knows? "Grafted" premiered on August 8th, 2024 at the New Zealand International Film Festival and received a general theatrical release from August 12th. It also screened at Australia's Monster Fest on October 10th, 2024, followed by a theatrical release from November 21st. The film received some theatrical releases in some countries, but for the most part went straight to streaming. The film received positive notices for its themes explored and the performances, but there were some drawbacks with the face grafting idea being too far fetched. For its home video debut, Umbrella Entertainment has released the film on Blu-ray in their "Monster Picture Presents..." line. Note this is a region ALL Blu-ray
Video
Umbrella Entertainment presents the film in the 2.39:1 aspect ratio in 1080p AVC MPEG-4. Shot digitally on an Arri Alexa Mini LF, the image looks excellent throughout. Colors are consistent and the picture quality is always sharp, framing is correct and there are no issues to speak of to fault. The color palate stays on natural levels, showcasing both light and dark portions well without problems with compression or other anomalies. It is a pleasing transfer throughout. The film's runtime is 95:32.
Audio
English/Mandarin DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 The original audio track is presented in lossless 5.1 form. It is mostly in English with some portions being in Mandarin. Dialogue is always clear and clean and center based, while the surrounding channels are used for the effects and music. The music and effects are well balanced, with good effects for scares with some of the gorier aspects, and never sounding overly powerful against the dialogue. Again, a pleasing transfer for the audio as well. There are burned-in English subtitles for the Mandarin portions and optional English subtitles for the English portions. The burned-in subtitles are in a white font and are easy to read without errors. The optional English track captions the English dialogue, and are accurate, including correct spellings of Kiwi English with "big-as", "nice-as", etc.
Extras
"Making of Grafted" featurette (4:07) This short EPK has interviews with the cast and crew discussing the director's style, the relationships between the characters and the themes explored in the story, as well as including behind the scenes footage from the production. It is short and simple without giving away too many spoilers. in 1080p AVC MPEG-4, in 2.39:1, in English Dolby Digital 2.0 without subtitles Behind the Scenes Footage (27:31) Presented here is select raw B-roll footage from the production, from rehearsal takes to camera setups, director interjections and cast members discussing the scenes. The sound is picked up directly from the camera's microphone so it can be difficult to hear at times. in 1080p AVC MPEG-4, in 1.78:1, in English Dolby Digital 2.0 without subtitles Trailer 1 (2:11) Trailer 2 (1:52) Presented here are two effective original trailers for the film. They have both been embedded below. in 1080p AVC MPEG-4, in 2.39:1, in English/Mandarin Dolby Digital 2.0 with burned-in English subtitles for the Mandarin portions TV Spot 1 (0:32) TV Spot 2 (0:17) TV Spot 3 (0:17) Three TV spots are included. The first and third TV spots are in the original 2.39:1 aspect ratio, while the second is in the 1.78:1 aspect ratio. in 1080p AVC MPEG-4, in 2.39:1 / 1.78:1, in English Dolby Digital 2.0 without subtitles There isn't a whole lot to the extras here. No commentary, no lengthy interviews, no deleted scenes, no featurettes detailing the makeup or digital effects work. Other notable clips: A clip from the film Another clip from the film Interview with Sasha Rainbow by Movieweb
Packaging
The disc is packaged in a clear keep case with reversible artwork. The only difference being the opposite side lacks the Australian MA 15+ rating logos. The packaging mistakenly states region B only as it is actually region ALL. It is also available with a limited edition "Monster Fest Presents #003" slipcover and a double sided poster exclusively at the Umbrella Webshop. The slipcover has differing poster artwork for the front and a slightly differing layout for the rear. This is the third film in the series following "Mad Heidi" and "Ribspreader". The double sided poster has the keep case inlay poster art on one side and the slipcover poster art on the other. The poster is folded and held in the keep case.
Overall
"Grafted" is an enjoyable body horror with emphasis on emotional and psychological drama, but still having good humor and gore attached. Umbrella Entertainment's Blu-ray is great with the image and sound quality, though the extras seem to be a little on the thin side. Still comes as a recommended watch. Umbrella Webshop link
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