What if Invasion of the Body Snatchers got an injection of sexual tension and implied potential gayness? Then you get Michael Mongillo’s The Changed (2021). Make no mistake – this is a queer horror reviewer you’re talking to here. The above mentioned aspects are reasons why you should watch this film. Also it has Tony Todd. Isn’t that reason enough?

The Changed (2021) follows a group of suburbanites who find themselves in the middle of a mysterious pandemic – one transferred through mouth to mouth contact and turns victims into mindless clones. As the protagonists try to figure out what the hell is going on and how to fight it, they wrestle with a blood-chilling question: is it even worth it to keep fighting?

This is the first time I’ve seen a film that doesn’t have a Michael Bay-level budget pull off a sci-fi thriller successfully. 

The cinematography is a reason all on its own to experience this film for yourself. Cinematographer Rj LaRussa makes the most of every shot of this film. One of my favorites was a collection of several night shots that mixed nighttime with subtle backlighting to deliver a chilling visual of the clones waiting outside the protagonists’ house. LaRussa also makes the most of reflections in this film. Rather than making numerous cuts, LaRussa simply had minor characters reflected in glass. Not only does this method probably save time with camera set-up, but it also makes the scenes a thousand times more ominous and foreboding. 

Major shout-out to sound mixer Taylor Warren because this film relies heavily on off-screen sound to make the most of its one-location setting and Warren delivers. I myself am no expert on sound mixing, but I have a few friends who are and they’ve told me how sound mixing is far more of an art than a science. Even blockbuster films can have terrible sound mixing, and sound quality is what’ll make or break a film. With the way Warren conducted sound mixing on The Changed, there was no doubt in my mind that the characters in the basement heard the knock-knock-knock coming from the front door, or that all hell was breaking loose in the hospital while Jane (Carlee Avers) hid in a supply closet. Warren is also the film editor, and as such deserves a big kudos for the opening title sequence. Frankly, the opening title sequence alone was a wonderful experience. 

The score for this film is better than some I’ve encountered in big budget films. Len Miller’s score carries the horror of the film seamlessly through each scene and fits the tone of the film perfectly. Miller combines digital sound composition resembling an alarm or a siren with classical composition of shrieking violins that chills the viewer. 

If you prematurely scrolled to see my rating, you must be wondering by now why I haven’t given The Changed a 10/10. The main reason is in the narrative itself. The logistics of the alien invasion are sound and adequately explained throughout the film’s runtime. What is lacking is the character development of our survivors. The actors are killing it, especially Jason Alan Smith (Mac) and Doug Tompos (Kurt), but a great performance can’t save a screenplay.

As a viewer I simply wasn’t persuaded by the narrative as to why I should care about this ragtag group of survivors. What we learn about them as people is minimal, thus clouding their motivations beyond surviving. So while I was wowed by the technical aspects of the film and the actor performances, I was left wanting more from the characters. Though this is my only major complaint, this is a significant aspect of a survival film that needs to be met from the beginning.

Last but not least, there were several opportunities for gay kisses in this film and none were taken. I’m a little offended as a Gay(™) myself. I really thought we were going to see Tony Todd (Bill) make out with Mac, the main protagonist (not for Bill’s lack of trying). Kurt even considers swappin’ spit with Bill before getting cold feet. But all of the lethal alien kisses end up being (technically) hetero. So yeah, The Changed could’ve been a lot gayer. (For the cis-het readers, this complaint is light-hearted. Don’t get your camo cargo shorts in a twist.)

Regardless, The Changed is an excellent film and I will be recommending it to my friends and fellow horror fans. If for whatever reason this review hasn’t convinced you, then at least watch this film for Tony Todd’s incredible performance. This should surprise no one – Tony Todd is a horror legend for a reason – but it’s clear he hasn’t lost his touch in the slightest. 

7 out of 10 Almost Gay Kisses