As made-for-SyFy movies go, Metal Shifters isn’t too bad, if you’re willing to put your brain on hold and suspend all logic for the next 90 minutes. The small cast includes Kavan Smith (Stargate: Atlantis), Nicole de Boer (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine), and Paul McGillion (Stargate: Atlantis).
Metal Shifters
Studio: Anchor Bay Entertainment
US BD Release Date: February 7, 2012
Original Release Year: 2011
Rated: PG-13 (for sci-fi violent images)
Running Time: 90 minutes
Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1
Audio: English (Dolby TrueHD 5.1)
Subtitles: English (SDH), Spanish
Movie: 2.5 out of 5
A bacteria-infected meteorite hits a Russian satellite, causing it to crash land on a farm in a small town in Idaho. Two brothers, Jake and Ethan (Kavan Smith, Colby Johannson), down on their luck, retrieve the satellite, selling it to Earl (Donnelly Rhodes), the owner of the local junkyard. Earl is building a golem out of his own scraps for the town’s centennial, inadvertently using parts of the crashed satellite, which cause it to come to life and knock him unconcious. Meanwhile, Jake’s high school sweetheart, Amanda (Nichole de Boer), has just moved back to town with her daughter (Merritt Patterson) after a nasty divorce, and tells Jake that she’s not looking for a relationship right now. As night falls on this small town, the golem goes on a killing spree, first killing an innocent (and unknown) driver, and heads back into town. It’s up to the townspeople (apparently less than 15 total) to figure out how to stop this beast from destroying the town.
When you factor in the film’s low budget and obvious exploitation status, Metal Shifters is much better than it should be. All of the performances are above average for a movie of this type, with Kavan Smith and Nichole de Boer doing their best to carry the film and never take the material too seriously. Paul McGillion turns in a humorous supporting role as the town’s sheriff, and Donnelly Rhodes is perfectly cast as the eccentric junkyard dealer, Earl. The visual effects are also above average, and quite decent, thanks mostly for the fact that CGI was used mostly in long shots, relying more on practical effects like puppetry for when the actors have to physically interact with the monster. The noted exception is the movement of the light green goo, which is obviously green paint mixed with iron shavings, using a magnet for movement. The real telling sign that this is a low budget production is the lack of townspeople. When Jake and Ethan go into town, there is no one else walking on the street or diving by. When they go to the bar, there are only two customers. When the monster attacks, only the main characters are in the vicinity. Still, director Paul Ziller (who apparently directs 3-4 of these types of movies per year) keeps the story moving and the visuals interesting. Not a great movie by any stretch, but all in all, a welcome surprise.
Video: 3.5 out of 5
Anchor Bay brings Metal Shifters to Blu-ray in a nice 1080p/24 transfer using the AVC codec, on a BD25 disc. Flesh tones are consistent and accurate, colors are not overly saturated, and detail is excellent. Film grain is present and not overly distracting.
Audio: 3 out of 5
The Dolby TrueHD 5.1 track does its job, and is about what one would expect from a film of this type. Fidelity is very good, dialogue is clear, and both the surrounds and LFE actually have some life.
Special Features: 2 out of 5
The disc starts out with trailers for Ice Quake (another SyFy movie directed by Paul Ziller) and the documentary Corman’s World.
Under Special Features, there is a brief 15 minute Behind The Scenes documentary with the cast and the physical effects team, as well as a trailer.
Overall: 2.5 out of 5
Chalk this one up under the Guilty Pleasures category. Metal Shifters is a goofy, yet fun, SyFy Original movie that tries its best to rise above the mediocrity of its own sub-genre. Anchor Bay has provided a nice transfer of the film that is leaps and bounds above the HD broadcast, and managed to throw in a brief documentary.
