Changing Skins

Dr. Bob Birchwood , a professor of microbiology and his wife, Myrna , a free-lancing child psychologist living in the New Jersey Pinelands agree to foster-parent a four and a half year old youngster named Victor now in the care of the county juvenile authorities. Victor was abandoned by his mother, a teen-aged street-walker and drug addict the day he was born in a Camden hospital because he has a severe case of vitiligo. She refused to accept him as her child. The Birchwoods reside on some thirteen acres located in the New Jersey Pinelands, a large portion of which is devoted to the raising of animals, some of which are used at their farm laboratory and the major portion of which are sold to other laboratories for testing purposes. At this same time that Dr.Bob and his wife Myrna are bringing Victor into their household, he contracts with a former student who now owns a small cosmetics company to work on the development of a tanning pill. To help with this project he hires two young ladies , recent biology graduates from his university, to augment his small lab staff. They will live in a house on the farm. To help facilitate the lab testing requirements, the cosmetics company owner provides a mated pair of black gorillas, obtained from a zoo in South America, who will be housed in a secured five acre section of the farm. While seeking relaxation and recreation, Lisa and Maggie, the two recent lab hirees, visit a local tavern. where they strike up an acquaintance with two pineland inhabitants, Tex and Mex. Tex and Mex are into growing marijuana on a large scale in the pinelands, using a small horticultural business as a cover. Little Victor, meanwhile is quickly adjusting to life at the farm and forms a bond with the two gorillas. This bonding leads to his involvement in a serious situation with them from which he must be rescued. In addition to the regular lab work Dr. Bob is also looking into Victors skin affliction. And he decides it would be very helpful if he had Victors mother available for reference purposes. To that end he arranges for his director of security, Charlie Moss, a retired African-American county detective to locate Victors mother and bring her to the farm. Meanwhile, events are unfolding at the lab and farm that are not on Dr. Bobs agenda and some happenings with much significance are taking place. The laboratory searches for skin darkening techniques are not yielding any significant results but skin coloration secrets are being uncovered outside the lab, almost accidentally. These findings lead to some startling discoveries. Contributing greatly to these discoveries are the two gorillas whose nocturnal wanderings are of great consequence. Adding to the picture is one Andy Rayburn, a Philly drug king and distributor who becomes entangled in the operations at Dr. Bobs farm lab. Having negotiated a deal with Dr. Bob to free some of his men from the threat of profiling by lawmen by virtue of his recent discoveries on skin changing. A confluence of events occurs to create a disastrous situation. Involved in this confluence are a group of animal-rights activists who have selected Br. Bobs animal farm as their target. The ensuing pandimonium produces some life-changing results.