Text © Richard Gary / Indie Horror Films,
2016
Images from the Internet
Fine Housekeep
Written, directed, shot and
edited by Trevor Bather
Trashmonger Video
57 minutes,
2015
Full
movie free HERE
If
you will indulge me the flash of ego, I’m a smart guy. I have a Master’s degree
from a credible university, a long reach in cinema history, and know how to put
together a metaphor. And yet, when it comes to a certain level of esoterica and abstraction, I
get a bit lost.
As
an undergrad, I had a professor who was into expressionist and surrealistic
films by the likes of Stan Brakhage, and would show us their works such as Dog Star Man (1961-64). Without being able to read
the films due to lack of narrative storylines, I was completely lost. It’s
another reason I’ve avoided James Joyce’s novels Ulysses
(1922) and Finnegans Wake (1939). This
situation was handled beautifully in a 1963 animated short, The Critic (1963; starring Mel Brooks, and which won an Oscar for Animated Short, by the way). I know I’m
digressing, but there is a bit of that here, as well, though I am hardly
comparing this film to them.
 |
| The Wife |
A
man with wild eyes credited as The Husband (Ben Kepley) is sitting in his
living room. Meanwhile, The Wife (Tyler Antoine), whose face throughout the
film is covered in cream (looks like the shaving kind) and has cucumber wedges
over her eyes, lolls around on a couch. They are both in a stream of
consciousness state (drug induced, perhaps?), daydreaming about themselves in various
situations. For example, he imagines himself as Jesus, in robes and carrying a
wooden cross medallion (like the size Eastern Orthodox priests wear); she pictures herself dancing
with a deranged looking football player?/fan? (Andrew Freud), who is often
smacking and pursing his lips. We also follow his fantasy, at some point.
About
half way through, there is a nicely done gory scene that is reminiscent of the
Black Dahlia murder in 1947 (I’m willing to bet it was an influence), which is
actually key to a way to look at this film. Rather than just being
surrealistic, it would perhaps be better categorized (if that’s possible) into
Transgressive Cinema, a movement come to fruition in the 1980s with the likes
of Richard Kern and Nick Zedd. I kept expecting Lydia Lunch to show up at any
moment. While the original group used S8mm film, this one is Shot-on-Video (SOV).
However, it is the shaky camera, lack of dialog and the repetitive industrial electronic
music that help indicate the genre.
Then
there’s the Bazooka Joe redheaded serial killer… I call him that because of his
tendency of covering the lower half his face with his turtleneck sweater.
In
the end, the fault lies not in the stars but in myself. What I mean by that is, much
like Black Metal or Electronica, I have very little point of reference. Simply
put, I honestly don’t know if this film is brilliant or twaddle. Even with its
listed $100 budget, you can tell a hell of a lot of work went into the editing
of this baby (did I mention the amount of abuse a baby dolly with a gold-painted head
is given in the second act? Uff da!).
Honestly,
I wish I could give you a profound and deep analysis of what the cream on the
face meant, or what the (lawn) grass “Jesus” had on his lap was for that made him so
happy, or even the apparent affection between the football guy and the killer.
Not a clue.
I’ve
long-time learned that a reviewer or critic (whichever you want to use as a reference) is more a gatekeeper than a gate. What that means is that one could read
a review and then go watch it anyway. Never let someone’s opinion (or in my
case ignorance) stop or compel you from seeing a work. Decide for yourself. It’s
easy in this case, because the film is free on YouTube (see the link above, or the
trailer, below).
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