“Survivor Type,” written in 1977 but not published until 1982 (in the anthology TERRORS), and not widely known until 1985 (when it appeared in SKELETON CREW), is one of Stephen King’s most outrageous stories. Its concept, of a man literally cannibalizing himself, wasn’t entirely unique (“The Savage Mouth” by Sakyo Komatsu, originally published in 1969 and translated into English in 1978, pivots on auto-cannibalism), but the story is a quite an attention-getter, with King himself claiming it “goes a little bit too far, even for me.”
This 30 minute adaptation, hailing from 2012, was one of several SURVIVOR TYPE films made for the Dollar Baby program, in which student filmmakers are allowed to make short films from King’s stories for the sum of $1.00. I haven’t seen the other SURVIVOR TYPE adaptations (which hail from 2011, 2013 and 2017), although I have viewed the 2020 CREEPSHOW ANIMATED SPECIAL version and can say with certainty that this live action take is superior.
The writer and director was the Maine born Billy Hanson, who’d already made a handful of shorts by the time he got around to SURVIVOR TYPE. The film’s quality is evident in the fact that it’s won numerous awards, including the first-ever “Truly Disturbing Award” at the Everybody Dies Horror Film Festival. The problem is Dollar Baby rules stipulate that its participants aren’t allowed to publicly exhibit their films on- or off-line, meaning SURVIVOR TYPE has gone largely unseen outside film festival screenings.
The British-born Gideon Emery plays the title character, a heroin smuggling surgeon who finds himself stranded on a rocky island (actually Leo Carillo State Park in Malibu, CA) after surviving the sinking of a cruise ship. Utilizing a camcorder (in place of the diary entries that constituted the story), he documents his time on the island.
After capturing some birds and fish for sustenance he breaks a foot. Gangrene rapidly sets in and the doctor, after generously partaking of the two kilos of heroin in his possession, amputates the offending limb and devours the flesh. Having found a new source of sustenance, he takes to slicing off the rest of his afflicted limb, and then goes to work on the other leg, and so on…
In praising this film the performance of Gideon Emery must be singled out, as it is, quite simply, perfect. His arc from smug certainty to raw desperation to outright insanity, conveyed over the course of a four day shooting schedule, is brilliantly pulled off, and the video diary format, which makes this a Found Footage film, brilliantly conveys that arc. And yes, the depictions of the leg cutting and flesh eating are appropriately graphic and disgusting (there is, frankly, no other way to properly do it).
My one complaint? The percussive score, which is affecting but inappropriate, breaking the film’s otherwise impeccably wrought illusion of authenticity.
Vital Statistics
SURVIVOR TYPE
Dirigo Entertainment
Director/Screenwriter/Cinematography/Editing: Billy Hanson
(Based on a story by Stephen King)
Producers: Erin Cancino, Billy Hanson, Justin Nix, Levi Caleb Smith
Cast: Gideon Emery, P.J. Brown, Carolina Castro, Cutty Cuthbert