Most undeservingly overhyped movie of all time??

It's fun, it's light, [but] it has a hard time when its tries to get heavy.

I like movies that are aware of what they are selling... without [any] greater aspirations than to make people laugh and that's it.

Instead, you get a movie that's enjoyable enough, but leaves you feeling like it could have been much, much more.

Now here's a review that I never thought I'd be adding to my list of rare slasher movies. Could a feature length edition of a four-part series that was aired way back in 1991 on the comfort of a Sunday evening's television really be classed a slasher flick? Surprisingly the answer is yes. I remember watching Chimera as a ten year old child and being absolutely petrified by the sights I was witnessing. Many years later as my love for horror grew, I often reminisced about Lawrence Gordon Clark's opus and was enthusiastic when I discovered an ageing copy at a video store under the alias of Monkey Boy. Chimera had launched to much critical acclaim in the United Kingdom and I wondered whether it could survive the stark condensation from a four hour runtime to a measly length of a hundred and four minutes. Chimera launches with a suspenseful set-piece, which was drastically shortened from the sequence broadcasted on television in 1991. In its original format we were given a huge amount of development into the lives of the opening victims, whereas in this shorter version, the characters are slaughtered almost as soon as they are introduced. It all kicks off in The Jener Clinic - a remote fertility surgery in the Yorkshire countryside. A van pulls into the car park and out jump four panic stricken workers. They drag something screaming from the back of the vehicle before silencing it with tranquillisers and carrying it into the complex. Although we don't get to see the struggling aggressor, we can tell from its screams that it's certainly not human. As night sets in on the clinic, the alarm is raised when an unseen someone begins stalking through the surgery and slaughtering the staff Michael Myers-style with a carving knife. The unseen maniac escapes the location, leaving behind him a mess of butchered corpses and flames. The following morning we are introduced to Peter Carson (John Lynch). Peter is apprehended by Police whilst on his way to the clinic in order to meet his ex-girlfriend, Tracy. He is forced to identify the nurse's mutilated corpse, but when he asks for answers he is given the run-around by the senior detectives. Visibly frustrated at the lack of information he is given, Peter begins to suspect that the Police are covering up the true motives behind the massacre. He soon launches his own private investigation, which uncovers something worse than he could ever have imagined. The days when British Hammer Horror features were at the forefront of the genre have long since passed and UK cinema has yet to produce a slasher movie to rival its American brethren. It comes as some surprise that the closest they have come is with this made for TV thriller from the early nineties. Chimera combines a gripping story with the standard clichés to create an entry that sticks in your mind long after the closing credits have rolled. Mixing shady government conspiracies and genetic engineering with approachable characters and a bogeyman that splits the viewer between moods of sympathy and hatred, Stephen Gallagher's script generates enough complexity and terror to allow it to stand as a memorable viewing experience. The opening massacre borrows heavily from Halloween and its sequel, and in a further nod to the cycle, the killer sports a red striped top ala Freddy Krueger. As Chimera was made for television, the gore is kept to a bare minimum, but Clark's sharp and rapid direction and a plot that successfully delays the explanation to the psycho's identity keeps the tension running fluidly. John Carpenter has stated that one of the reasons that the original Halloween towered so prominently over the quality of its sequels was the excellent dramatisation of 'the shape' by Nick Castle. It's easy to underestimate the importance of a chillingly portrayed bogeyman, but it's something that Clark was aware of and Douglas Mann does an excellent job of giving the killer a distinguishing characterisation. In the lead, John Lynch fails to take advantage of a multi-layered plot and delivers a half-hearted colourless performance, whilst the majority of the cast members never leave the comfort zone of b-grade television dramatics. Only Kenneth Graham emerges with credibility, portraying the ruthless Hennessey with a vicious guile that offers the viewer a genuine hate figure. The fact that Chimera is based on Gallagher's novel from 1982 - a time when the genre was at its most productive - explains why the plot is so knee deep in slasher references. But to classify Chimera as just another cycle entry would perhaps be an injustice, because it falls into a huge number of categories. Part Sci-fi, part detective mystery and a huge part stalk and slash, Clark's opus is an altogether interesting feature that never outstays its welcome.It's somewhat surprising that as of yet there's no official DVD of the original four part series, but the feature length Monkey Boy VHS still deserves to be seen.

I remember watching this when I was twelve, it's one of those programmes that I remember images from, even years later I got hold of the chopped 'monkey boy' version, which, while it contained some of the scenes I remember, is simply not as good as the original mini-series. After watching that, I got hold of the complete mini-series which is simply so much better, as other users have said.In the full series, characters like Tracy and the farmer and his wife have time to develop as proper characters before they encounter the title creature. 'Chad' himself is given more time to become a sympathetic Frankensteins monster style figure.After rereading the book and listening to the radio adaption, this is the best version and captures the book as a TV drama very well.Although the rapid change in plot and genre can jar a bit (monster hunt with soldiers, x-files style conspiracy sci-fi etc) that is also one of it's strengths as its never boring. The performances, direction and even creature effects all hold up. It's now up there for me with all the great drama's such as Quatermass.Watching the full version, my childhood nostalgia is justified. Get the full version from raretelevision.com and enjoy!

Two things let down this prophetic drama; poorly-shot special effects and a long, unnecessary setting-up sequence about a nurse getting a job that takes up most of the first episode (apparently it was originally scripted to start right in at the clinic but the producers insisted on adding the extra material. obviously a long bus ride is their idea of a good time.) But once the real story starts we're into a very dark and uncompromising meditation on cruelty and humanity that was considered science fictional back in 1991 but which has moved within reach today. The identity and status of a creature with an animal physique and a human mentality is a matter for urgent and ongoing debate, and the drama dared to imagine that such a creature might not be denied a voice in its own fate.

I remember watching the full version on TV on 4 consecutive Sunday nights as a wee lad of 11. The 1st episode (Chad stalking the hospital) terrified me and gave me nightmares. It was great! I've only been able to see the cut down version since and it did not do the original justice at all. The hour spent introducing and killing all the hospital staff was reduced to 5 minutes! Try and get your hands on the full version, it'll blow you away.