Text © Richard Gary / Indie Horror
Films, 2015
Images from the Internet
Seraphim Films
www.mvdvisual.com
Based on Oscar Wilde’s infamous 1891 French play, this version could almost be grouped into the Nick Zedd / Richard Kern / Lydia Lunch / Beth B (et.al) school of the Cinema of Transgression that would be taking off a few years after this was filmed.
Also based on a classic tale, this time we are given a version of Faust, who sold his soul to the devil in exchange for power and beauty in the form of Gretchen (Lyn Darnell), but of course, life is fleeting and eternity isn’t, so the devil always wins.
Images from the Internet
Clive Barker Origins:
Salome; The Forbidden
Directed by Clive BarkerSeraphim Films
www.mvdvisual.com
Here
is what I can tell you of what I know about Clive Barker: (1) he’s British; (2)
yes, he does look a bit like the love child of Seth Meyers and Paul McCartney,
especially when he was younger; (3) he is gay and a champion for gay rights;
and (4) in my opinion, he is a far superior horror writer than Stephen King,
just not as prolific.
There
is always a debate about the two, but simply put, King is more populist, and
Barker is more intellectual. You don’t really have to think during a King book,
as massive as it is and full of pop culture buzzwords (e.g., The Ramones come
up on occasion), identifiable characters and small words. Barker’s books are
intricate worlds filled with arcane and wondrous details. Both are enjoyable,
but as writing skill and use of imagery goes, Barker wins hands (on word
processor) down.
That
being said, there are probably more who know Barker by his film directing,
especially the gore-fest Hellraiser
(1987, based on his own Novella “The Hellbound Heart”), where he brings into being
the now cultural iconographic Lament Configuration box and the Cenobites from
hell, especially Pinhead, so perfectly brought to life by Doug Bradley.
Before
Hellraiser, Barker also directed two
short, experimental films, which have again been collected together, along with
an undated 16-minute short of interviews with Clive Barker, Doug Bradley and
screenwriter/novelist Peter Atkins. My guess is it’s from 1998, the first time
these two shorts were released together for home consumption.
Salome
18
minutes, 1973 / 2015Based on Oscar Wilde’s infamous 1891 French play, this version could almost be grouped into the Nick Zedd / Richard Kern / Lydia Lunch / Beth B (et.al) school of the Cinema of Transgression that would be taking off a few years after this was filmed.
Shot
in black and white in what I’m guessing is 16mm (but could be 8mm), the images are
murky, grainy, shakily hand-held, and sometimes using extremely high contrasts.
Oh, and did I mention the speeds occasionally slow down, such as during the
title character’s Dance of the Seven Veils?
Generally,
the Biblical story goes that Salome (Anne Taylor) is influenced by her mother
to seduce King Herod (an unrecognizable Doug Bradley in strange make-up) into
cutting off the head of John the Baptist (a very pretty young man who is not
identified), as there are no credits in the film; I am going by the info on
IMDB.
There
is full frontals of both genders, which was extremely rare at the time (the
first nude male I ever saw onscreen was Don Johnson in The Harrad Experiment, which came out the same year as Salome). Shown over some plinking music,
the film is essentially silent whereas there is no dialogue, but there are Foley
additions to the soundtrack. While kept at a level of surreal, if you know the
Biblical story, it isn’t too hard to figure out the essential story.
This
is a film of patience, meaning if the viewer has some, there is some
interesting work here. The acting is stage level, meaning a bit overblown
(purposefully, I’m guessing, as they are essentially making a silent film, and
that was the trend back in the pre-sound days, and further along), but it gives
a better idea of what is happening, considering the visuals and the editing. On
the other hand, I couldn’t make heads or tails out of much of the visuals of Transformers (2007), either.
I
would consider this a successful film, but don’t think it’s necessarily for
mass consumption.
The Forbidden
35 minutes, 1978 / 2015Also based on a classic tale, this time we are given a version of Faust, who sold his soul to the devil in exchange for power and beauty in the form of Gretchen (Lyn Darnell), but of course, life is fleeting and eternity isn’t, so the devil always wins.
We
meet the bearded Faust (Peter Atkins) as he conjures up some runes to raise Mephistopheles
(Clive Barker), who first appears to be some kind of Asian version of a demon with
exaggerated mask and kimono-type outfit.
Filmed
half a decade after Salome, again, there is no dialogue, but there is music and
sound effects. This time, however, most of the film is shown in the negative.
As annoying as that may sound, it actually looks good, especially when you
think that the black ink on white paper was most likely white ink on black
paper. A lot of thought must have gone into the look of it.
Through
most of the second act, Barker is not only nude, but sporting a “Mr. Happy”
(which I don’t think I remember seeing in a straight film until either 2003’s The Brown Bunny or 2006’s Shortbus). He dances and it waggles while
he performs a spell for Faust.
Possibly
influenced by the works of Kenneth Anger (confirmed by the interviews in the
extra section), the film has a dark side that the actors seem to revel in,
which is no surprise, as Atkins, Barker and Bradley all belonged to the British
avant-garde theater group, the Dog Company; their connection was made then and
stayed around well into the Hellraiser years.
There’s
a bit of an extended gruesome scene in the third act where our protagonist’s
skin is sliced and peeled off by women with scalpels (separation of body and
soul, perhaps, or maybe this is his torture for eternity in hell), which isn’t
quite as wow as the fishhooks ripping
Andrew Robinson apart in Hellraiser,
but definitely a nascent idea that came to fruition later. Again, as this is
shot is negative, so the blood must be a white fluid because it comes out as
black, and similarly, everyone must have been in dark make-up because they all
appear as white; or maybe they all had really good tans? Oh, wait, it’s
England. Never mind.
Like
Hellraiser, which deals with the
complete giving of yourself for solving the Lament Configuration, both these
films are based on making bargains and getting punished for it: Salome is about sex in exchange for John
the Baptist’s head, and The Forbidden
about a deal with the devil.
Philosophically,
can one actually go wrong on an experimental film? The same question can be
raised (pun intended) about abstract paintings. There are going to be those who
will be either bored or disgusted (or both) by these films. Others – you Stan
Brakkage fan stand up – who will analyze it frame by frame and see the beauty
of it. For me, yeah, I liked Hellraiser
better and found it more accessible, but I also respect what Barker and crew
were trying to do, and give them a nod. Not for everyone, certainly, especially
those who expect a body count or a linear storyline, but for those who study
cinema, it’s an interesting opening pawn move for Barker at the beginning of
his career.
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