Severed Ties: A Cut Above the Usual B-Movie

Severed Ties (1992) is a horror comedy with elements of both Re-Animator (1985) and Street Trash (1987). Evoking disgust and hilarity, this is a B-movie that you do not want to miss!

Imagine Herbert West with an overbearing (and overly familiar) mother (Elke Sommer). She has brainwashed him into believing there is nothing for him in the outside world. Like a lab rat, he is constantly monitored by his parent and her new partner (played by Oliver Reed). Unfortunately, this partner happens to be Doctor Hans Vaughan (a Neo-Nazi) who wants this research purely for profit.

The doctor and Harrison’s mother hope to profit from his breakthrough research into genetic regeneration – all through the use of reptilian DNA. Now imagine that Herbert West (sorry, I mean Harrison Harrison (Billy Morrisette)) escapes after having enough of Vaughan and his mother. Harrison runs into the arms of a homeless community, where he becomes accepted as one of them… and their saviour. Whilst hidden underground with the gang of derelicts, Harrison seeks to recreate his serum for the good of his new friends and mankind – but his mother and the Nazi Doctor have other plans.

Severed Ties was wacky, to say the least. The third film produced by Fangoria Films, this gooey and childish mess of sci-fi body horror’s plot is all over the place. We get that Harrison wants to escape from the slave labour of the underground lab. However, there is little direction in Harrison trying to reach his goal of his serum benefiting mankind. If you’re familiar with Fear Street, similar flaws in the plot crop up in Don’t Ever Get Sick at Granny’s.

The special effects, whilst not quite big-budget standard, are fun, cheesy, and full of gore. Whilst not quite believable, they still make this movie. The main meat of the film was very entertaining, yet I was not a fan of the ending. I don’t like spoilers, but I will say this: you will see the ending from a mile.