Review: Prince of the Crimson Void

Text © Richard Gary / Indie Horror Films, 2022
Images from the Internet, unless indicated

Prince of the Crimson Void
Directed by Dakota Ray
R.A. Productions
58 minutes, 2022
https://dakotarayfilmmaker.wordpress.com/

In his ninth film (I think I have reviewed all of them), Denver's auteur filmmaker / writer / absinthe guzzler Dakota Ray happily strikes again with his newest opus. And, as always, he and his instantly recognizably idiosyncratic, gravelly deep voice and a monochrome filter (this time red) presents another tale of depravity.

As usual, Ray plays the lead character, in this case Fabian, who is a serial killer, drug user, and absinthe drinker (the film uses real absinthe, since Ray is a connoisseur of the beverage). His world is full of death and delusion, of evil and self-glorification.

As in Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer (1986), Fabian has a companion-and-competitor in the form of Kimball (Darien Fawkes). But as in Henry, do not trust a serial killer. In the opening narration monologue, Fabian states he plans to kill Kimball (aka the Necro Wizard), who is as murderous as he, and absorb not only Kimball’s soul but the souls of all his victims. So, this story is going into the supernatural deeper than Ray’s previous films. In many of the earlier ones, Satan has played a role in either influence or presence, but this delves deeper into the metaphysics.

Dakota Ray

Fabian and Kimball are the only two living humans in the film (though there are plenty of corpses in various conditions), and nearly all their dialogue is done in the form of narration. Written by Ray, these inner conversations run from the vile and expletive, to the nearly philosophical…and expletive. There are, as is typical in Ray’s releases, title cards scattered throughout to denote chapters of a sort, with names like “Descending into the Blackened Catacombs of the Necro Wizard.”

There are also lots of shots of close-ups, be it faces, eyes, or mouths, especially as they imbibe in their vices. We also see lots of full moons and clouds, and thunderstorms to represent the mood of the moment. It has nearly a gothic feel to it, especially considering the mood.

After Kimball’s demise, when Fabian delves deeper into the world of Absinthe, oxycodone, and white powder, he feels the power of Kimball inside of him, making him believe he is “god.” This film, as with many of Ray’s, has a central character that has visions of self-grandiosity, and it is this that actually makes him weaker (“need”) and more unhinged. Think about those people who took LSD and thought they could fly, as their last acts. Psychologically, that is where Fabian resides, especially post-Kimball.

Darien Fawkes

But like “The Tell-Tale Heart” (1843) by Edgar Allen Poe, Kimbell’s spirit is haunting Fabian; whether it is real or in his imagination is up for grabs, but considering the number of substances (and lack of food) that are absorbed – to the point of nosebleeds – it can easily go either way.

The SFX – all practical as far as I can tell – look excellent. They were done by Ray and S. Donatello, and it is one of the highlights of an already interesting film. That it is just under an hour is actually perfect, rather than trying to bloat it out with filler, and besides, it was filmed during June through October 2022, which means Covid was still a factor, so the small cast makes sense.

I like that there is a narrative line to the story (some of the early works are a bit sketchy in this area), which is the backbone, but not the appendages, which are all the add-ons, such as the sky shots, the asides (e.g., a body in a basement), and the overwhelming, pure atmospheric mood. If you want to get a taste of Ray’s releases, some of them are available on YouTube, but I must say Ray keeps improving over time, so this latest release is one of his better, for those reasons alone.

IMBD listing HERE

Review: Dante’s Shadow of Sin

Text © Richard Gary / Indie Horror Films, 2021
Images from the Internet

Dante’s Shadow of Sin
Directed by Dakota Ray
R.A. Productions
75 minutes, 2021
https://dakotarayfilmmaker.wordpress.com/
www.facebook.com/Dantes-Shadow-of-Sin-A-Film-By-Dakota-Ray-113284927789069

And if you go chasing rabbits
And you know you’re going to fall…
When logic and proportion
Have fallen sloppy dead
“White Rabbit,” Jefferson Airplane

I ask you: in the time of Covid, what’s a man supposed to do? Easy, just down a glass of absinthe, get a new and sharper lens for your camera, and direct your eighth film of nihilistic behavior, as has done Denver-based director/writer/cinematographer/editor Dakota Ray.

Usually I would hold off on this kind of comment until near the end of a review, but let me point out right from the start that even with Ray’s characteristic use of monochrome-colored filters, in this case one that is a rich, dark blue hue, the new lens really is incredible at showing details, which can only help spotlight the sheer insanity; the film highlights this clarity as you can practically count every hair on a close-up of a severed head.

As is his wont and right, the title character is played by the director and his insanely deep voice, who in the first line, explains the nihilism that clouds his very soul: “My name is Dante, and I serve no man but myself.” He is remorseless, unhinged from reality, and a complete narcissist (perhaps he can become president like the last joker!). We meet him staring at himself in a mirror. Yeah, this guy is not someone you are going to want to mess with in any circumstances.

Filmed in Ray’s house, in part, it was fun seeing the VHS stack with the likes of The Thing, An American Werewolf in London, and I believe Dark Shadows. There is a lot of fine editing by Ray, which improves with every film, between characters, objects (many look like they were bought at a Halloween store, and rightfully so), Satanic symbols, and insects in various states of health. These, their use as subliminal commentary on the action, all become characters in their own right in a way, rather than just be filler (more on that later). The soundtrack during the credits is emblazoned with “blackened doom” (the band’s wording) metal by the Italian trio Naga.

Two years after committing a horrific murder, Dante is contacted by an acquaintance, Mahoganny (gravel-voiced Fred Epstein, a heavy-emoting Ray regular) who has inherited the Boleskin House (referencing the Boleskine House in Scotland, owned by renowned Satanist Aleister Crowley and Jimmy Page, the once great guitarist of the Yardbirds and Led Zeppelin). Mahoganny suggests they get together and go to the house. My question to Mahoganny is, “do you know where you’re going to, do you like the things that life is showin’ you?” (sorry…). In this case, the name Mahoganny is more symbolic for the hardness and darkness of his heart rather than skin color.

After picking up Mahoganny, whose beard and hair is long in classic (and ironic) Jeebus mode, they both head to the house to debauch. How debauched? Let’s just say I had to turn my head when Mahoganny dipped a slice of pizza into salad dressing (I am assuming Ranch). What’s next? Pineapple!?! Also, I wonder about a focused bit without explanation of Dante taking an antacid pill of Calcium Carbonate (designated by the serial number G171); perhaps it is in reference to Mohaganny’s fixation on laxatives? But I digress…

Throughout the film, we hear the thoughts of the two central characters more than words are spoken, which makes sense since so much of the planning of these two are secretive, so we become cognizant of just what the hell is going on. We also hear the drug-induced disembodied voices of objects such as dolls, a white rabbit and a goat head who represent the Satanic elements. Two other mute players are Mahoganny’s senile and silent 92-year-old grandmother (Maddison M.), and his bound and gagged, drug induced “slave” (Sholeh Behesht) in the bathtub. This also makes me wonder about using the name “Mahoganny” as a slaver…

Dante, though not redeemable, kills for a purpose, even if it is self-gratification. With Mahoganny, however, slow and painful control and sadism is more his speed. These two both know that the time in the vacation house will not end well, and each has a motive to be the only one out, but the build-up to the confrontation is a large part of what is going on through the story, listening to their thoughts about destruction in different forms, but with the same end result.

Although there are four characters in this, truth be told it is a two-person story, loco mano e mas loco mano. With hexes, drugs, alcohol and just sheer deviance of a multitude of natures, these guys have a deep hatred that Ray manages to convey quite strongly. Where did they go wrong as friends or acquaintances? Immaterial, because at this time, it a steadily intensifying to-the-death duel, both mentally and physically. The lightening in the sky is a foretelling of the bad actions to come.

It is also interesting to me that both of these dudes are into Satanism and curses, but they are individuals, not part of a Satanic cult, which is where it seems most films dealing with this topic tend to lay down. Again, while the leads are both similar in their desires for death and destruction, they are very distinct in their personalities and the means to achieve their comparable end-goals. Though, honestly, I am not sure how they manage to get their goals accomplished with the sheer amount of imbibing – including mushrooms – that gets consumed. Mind you, I’m a straight-edged punk rock nerd, so it is a different world than where I come from.

The film is broken into a number of chapters via long title cards, such as “Dante’s Switchblade Romance: Caressing her ghost and other demons from the past.” This is also common among Ray’s films. However, story-wise, this is the most cohesive of the eight, being rather threadbare in its plot. Rather than mixing a number of different stories into one, here he focuses on the two main characters, and yes, you could say that it still two tales into one, but its focus is more exact, with less opaque moments.

As much as I have enjoyed all of Ray’s releases, I think this one could be a turning point as far as a pathway. As much as I like the past ones, I look forward to the swing in this direction.

 

Review: Sebastian’s Unholy Flesh

Text © Richard Gary / Indie Horror Films, 2020
Images from the Internet

Sebastian’s Unholy Flesh
Directed by Dakota Ray
R.A. Productions
72 minutes, 2020
https://m.facebook.com/dakotarayfilmmaker/

In his seventh film, director/writer/editor Dakota Ray takes a leap forward and brings all that makes his signature stylings with him. He has a vision that is full of satanic overtones, indulging in absinthe, the darker side of Denver’s urban landscape, serial killing, and a purple haze… okay, a purple filter.

Without giving away much as this is in the first 30 seconds of the film, a cosmic shift has led to the death of Satan, and Sebastian (Dakota Ray), an evil extradimensional demonic being who has taken human form, means to fill the Dark Lord's place by getting his hands on a certain book that belonged to Beelzebub. With this he will gain Satan's powers and be able to destroy the world. And the quest for our end begins.

As with all quest sagas, there must be two sides, even if it is not good vs. evil, as in this case it is certainly evil (Sebastian as anti-protagonist) and a higher level of evil. Here, the latter is represented by two entities. The first, being human, is the White Spider (Fred Epstein), a serial killer that watches snuff films to get off, and who invokes the second demonic entity named Nezaah (Nick Benning) – the first born son of Satan – who is also after said tome, I am assuming for similar reasons. Nezaah uses the White Spider (WS) as his go-between to be rid of our boy Sebastian by cutting him into nine symbolic pieces. Will Nezaah and WS succeed in their malevolent deed and need for control?

With the exception of Nezaah, nearly all the dialogue is the internal thinking of the characters. This has always been a cornerstone of Ray’s filmmaking and it works for his oeuvre. When Nezaah actually orates, however, his words are simultaneously captioned on the screen in big letters, not as a scrawl on the bottom, for those who hate captioning; if you don’t want to read, you can still hear what he is saying pretty clearly through his growling vocals.

The big question of course is who will win this malignant battle to the death of, well, them and everything? Either way, it’s not looking good for the universe because both are out for a taste of destruction on our behalf. This is a nihilistic view, and yet, it feels like it matters in this dystopian pre-apocalypse. Is this perhaps a metaphor for the Trump regime’s plan to plummet us all to an early grave, be it through a pandemic or global change, or even geo-political shenanigans?

Speaking of pandemics, this was, of course, filmed during the height of the Summer of COVID, and it’s interesting to watch how Ray uses the cast in individual set pieces and splices them together to form a semi-coherent narrative (more on that later). The cast is actually quite small but work around each other in interesting ways to maintain cinematic social distancing.

There is very little subtly in this film when it comes to the acting. Sebastian is kind of cool and self-assured, with Ray’s trademark vocal growl almost snarling with smirking and hubristic glee. As for Epstein and Benning, they gear it up to, well, beyond 11 in their emoting, but we’re dealing with extreme characters, so it’s not so off-putting or even unexpected.

 

Ray has always relied heavily on the visual and tints to evoke moods, using urban landscapes, road kill, insects, and satanic and Christian imagery for atmosphere and ambience, or to push the story along; Satan is oft a secondary character in many of his releases, but since Satan is no more, he is absent (in the “flesh”) here. Using a purple tint throughout gives it an edgy, experimental feel that mostly works in making the imagery an almost dreamlike quality. The heavy fisted music also works exceedingly well for promoting the demonic and oppressive tone.

What is different in this film, however, is that imagery has moved up in importance and become parallel with the narrative, both of them in a dark, purple dance with each other. Ray has made it clear that he has become infatuated with the mildly psychedelic and green drink of absinthe, which may (I am assuming) be a strong influence on this heavier reliance on the visual.

Recently, I read someone positing that Ray’s works fit into the “transgressive” subgenre. That struck me as being quite accurate, especially with this release. I can easily see his work alongside of the likes of Richard Kern, Nick Zedd, and Beth and Scott B.; perhaps even a bit of Stan Brakhage in the sheer rawness of it all. Another reason this pairing may match is because transgressive cinema tends to be a bit poetic and esoteric, and arguably a bit poetically opaque at times, as this one tends to be due to it’s story arch and imagery, with each filmmaker having their own forte and style.

As a drinking game, take a sip of absinthe every time Nezaah says the word “Obtain.”

 

Review: The Dark Days of Demetrius

Text © Richard Gary / Indie Horror Films, 2019

Images from the Internet

The Dark Days of Demetrius

Directed by Dakota Ray

R.A. Productions

60 minutes, 2019

www.facebook.com/dakotaraysthedarkdaysofdemetrius/

Despite the title sounding like a 1960s Sword and Sorcery genre release from Italy (you know, like Demetrius and the Gladiators or something like that), rather this is the sixth film by Dakota Ray. His specialty is life at the lowest strata of crime in the street. And rather than being Italiano, he focuses in on his fictional city of Sunnydale, which is actually a stand-in for his home turf of Denver.

Dakota Ray

This Demetrius (Dakota Ray) is also known as the Live Stream Killer (aka LSK), as we learn from the narration in the first 10 seconds of the film past the prologue and credits. He kills random people and live streams it to millions of his fans who revel in the death and destruction in his wake.

Anyone who is familiar with Ray’s work knows it is immediately identifiable as his, as Ray has his own style of filmmaking, which is unique, something you don’t often see these days. While he manages to keep his “auteur” title, this film is actually way different (and similar) as his others.

First of all, his editing is tighter, and more importantly, his storytelling has grown. In previous releases, most of which have been reviewed on this blog, it usually involves a number of short stories all woven together into a tapestry of human horror, involving murder, drugs and Satan. Here, Ray takes a single story that runs throughout its length, though it is still broken up into chapters.

Fred Epstein

His iconic look of using colored filters remains, but mostly he uses a dark blue one here (and occasionally red), almost giving the film an India Ink manga feel, full of close-ups mixed into the action, and a voice-over to let you know what Demetrius is thinking. You rarely hear him speak, but you hear his thoughts in Ray’s unique, deep rumble of a voice.

Some odd things remain the same, such as occasionally focusing on bugs and roadkill, and Ray’s tendency to wear shorts. There is also a lot of traveling shots in a car through the city, especially underpasses and bridges, and the characters we meet tend to be creepy at best, and scary human monsters at their nastiest. Ray bring out the worst traits of people, and that’s kind of what makes his stories so interesting.

Demetrius, like many serial killers, is a self-professed sado-masochistic narcissist. He revels in the power of self, through the killings and his website, often looking at his own reflection through a mirror or his cell phone camera lens. These kinds of murderers are “hungry” for attention, and Demetrius is no different, as his crimes become more violent, and his need for notice grows. He starts to contact the victim’s families to taunt them, and even gets the press involved.

Lilith Frost

Here’s where the story twists into a Man Bites Dog (1992) situation in the “Media Manipulation: The Devil’s Work” chapter that occurs when a news reporter, Clive (Fred Epstein) becomes involved and begins to lose what’s left of his objectivity (not that there really is such a thing as everything is subjective). Clive’s background (again heard more through narration than vocalization) is a sharp commentary on today’s news, rightly stating that people are more interested in sensationalism than professional newscasting, and Clive is not beyond trying to save what’s left of his reputation by leading with blood and guts. This used to be called yellow journalism, but now it’s just common news commentary. But Clive’s a bit of a nutcase narcissist himself, and is actually closer aligned to Demetrius’s mindset.

The two other characters are yet another serial killer that gets involved with Clive and his website, Baphomet (S. Donatello, aka Sebastian Oake, who is also a producer of the film), who wears a goat-head mask, and Bunny (Lilith Frost), a victim of Demetrius. Frost gives a very brave performance as not only is she nude, she is bound spread-eagled with everything open and exposed.

S. Donatello

As one dips into the reality of situations, there are a couple of questionable actions  such as someone peeing on a body. No one would do this, because it would easily give the police a DNA sample. In theory it makes a point of motivation of a character, but the detective story watcher/reader in me saw this as a red flag; on a distraction scale of one to ten in the story though, it’s probably a three.

There are some funny moments here, and I’m not sure if they are intentional or not, such as Clive writing about the intersection of “6th and Vagina,” which amuses me for two reasons: the first is obvious, and the second is that it doesn’t say what 6th (Avenue? Street? Way? Boulevard?).

A couple of more things is that the SFX are practical (as opposed to digital) and pretty good, and most of the music is by death metal band Emperor ov Larvae [sic].

You just know there is a comeuppance coming for some characters, but which ones is not assured until the end, which is a strong point for the film.

Breaking down the plot from three intertwining stories into a single one benefits Ray’s release, and lets the focus on the four main characters interact in a way that is more narrative, yet retains the free-flowing form that one associates with a Ray release. This is definitely among my faves of his films to date.

Review: American Antichrist

Text © Richard Gary / Indie Horror Films, 2018

Images from the Internet

 

American Antichrist

Written, cinematography, directed and edited by Dakota Ray

RA Productions

50 minutes, 2018

https://dakotarayfilmmaker.wordpress.com/

www.facebook.com/American-Antichrist-350101585480631/

 

It’s always interesting to get a view into the creepy, nihilistic underworld vision of Dakota Ray. None of his characters are likeable; they are all human monsters in their own way, and it presents a Denver perspective of street trash that most people will (hopefully) never truly encounter in this intimate detail. But again, that’s also what makes Ray’s work also so compelling.

 

Dakota Ray

In this, his most moody piece to date, we meet a delusional serial killer named “Smoke” (Ray) who thinks he’s god; however, through an accidental drug overdose, dies and is buried. But as the narration by him states, “Evil never dies, it just grows stronger.” Needless to say he returns from the dead (after three days, I’m assuming) as The Antichrist, of the film’s title. There is a lot of mixing of good/evil – God/Devil, which I find interesting.

 

It’s always easy to tell a Ray film because he has developed his own style, which is rare these days. He uses monochrome filters in primary colors, title cards to separate segments that overlap in the stories anyway, non-populist religious symbolisms, highway underpass walkways, and blasts of death metal. But with each passing film, he has honed his camera’s eye to be a bit more artistic without losing the grip of presenting human suffering, either by their own hands or to others. His editing is worth noting as well; for what I am assuming is a single-camera shoot, he manages to use the footage to show motion and even more important, agitation, aggression, and transgression.

 

Another auteurism of Ray’s that I have come to appreciate is that there is more audio commentary to show the inner thoughts of the characters than actual dialog, which shows an even darker side of the skel mentality. Mostly it’s Smoke at the beginning, but then we get introduced to other characters, each one like someone we pass on the street every day, yet their inner thoughts are exposed to us, and we hear what we cannot see: the dark side of human nature, and that’s part of what makes Ray’s films so fascinating, story-wise.

 

There is very little when it comes to back stories; we just meet these people as they are, and it’s scary for me because if you’re as straight as I am (a no smoking, no drugs, no hard booze nerd), it’s an exposure to a world that, well, as I’ve said in an earlier review of a Ray film, I’d rather be a fly on the wall, as it were, than actually present in the company of any of these characters.

 

Meg Lacie Brown

As usual, it’s not a huge cast, but the characters are quite defined, and each shares their own thoughts with the viewer. There’s Crystal, a desperate drug addict who is willing to do nearly anything (Meg Lacie Brown), a drug dealer/addict named Chris who is into rough sex and snuff films (Nick Benning), Sid (Damien Rimmon) who makes said films, and Benjamin (a for once clean-shaven L.B., aka Larry Bay, one of my fave Ray regulars), a hooded religiousnik who stands on corners preaching against sins and is getting messages from…God? Satan? He takes his crusade to a whole ‘nother level.

 

One of the odd things about this film is that characters rarely interact with each other, with the exception of Crystal. Most seem to be in their own world of decay and despair, not to mention delusion. There were two that I was hoping would cross paths as they are both so opposite, yet alike in their fashion. Perhaps a sequel? I would be up for that.

 

As for the cast, it is filled with non-professional actors who are friends of the director, and rather than being stilted and wooden, in most cases Ray manages to get them to be more natural, sort of playing to themselves – though I honestly hope that the characters don’t represent the personalities of the actors in real life; that would be… sad? scary? As a person who hung out at CBGBs and Max’s Kansas City in the second half of the ‘70s, I’ve seen some strong addictive personalities, and while I admire the musicianship of some, the lifestyle is one of desperation, looking for that next hit of…anything.

 

Nick Benning

Ray has stated (on IMDB) that he considers himself an artist more than a filmmaker, and I can understand why. With each film, he gets stronger. What I would like to see is more of the background story to some of Ray’s characters to understand further motivation of how and why, for example, Smoke became a serial killer other than being drug induced, even if it’s as thoughts narrations overlaid on the soundtrack.

 

If you’re tired of seeing the same old kinds of films, and want to stick your toes into something that’s avant-garde enough to be artistic and open ended, but not so opaque that you get lost in the miasma of arty masturbation, it may be time to try one of Ray’s films.

 

And Ray, thanks for the shout out in the “Thank you” section at the end!