Review: The Sound of Summer

Text © Richard Gary / Indie Horror Films, 2023
Images from the Internet

The Sound of Summer
Directed by Guy (aka Guy Pierce, Guy Fragments)
Sculpting Fragments; Unearthed Films; MVD Visual
75 minutes, 2022
www.unearthedvideo.com
https://mvdb2b.com/s/TheSoundOfSummer/UN-1150

In James Clavell’s 1975 opus, Shōgun, he posits, “The Japanese have six faces and three hearts.” Society is incredibly different in the present than in feudal times when the novel took place, and life has become more in sync with the West. But when viewing art cinema, even in the Asia extreme cinema category, this quote can become more than just a philosophy.

A lonely young woman (cute Kaori Hoshino) – whom I will refer to as Her, as no names are given for the characters – works in as a barista in a coffee shop during a sweltering summer in Japan (with English subtitles, though there is minimal dialogue). It is 102F/39C and it seems no one has air conditioning. It reminds me of that episode of “The Twilight Zone” called “The Midnight Sun” (1961), where the Earth is moving closer to the flaming orb. One can almost feel the heat radiating off the monitor.

Kaori Hoshino

Because it is summer, the large flying insects called cicadas (there is a variation of the species in the American Southeast) are in large numbers and if you do not know, they make a loud rubbing noise, usually through the night. That sound is the source of the film’s title. Unnervingly, this is keeping our heroine awake, along with the heat. Lack of sleep and high temperatures can have a negative effect on one’s mental health.

Into the coffee shop comes a sweaty middle-aged man with a mask, a net, and a couple of cases filled with cicadas. He begins coming in often, each time dressed identically, and with the same containers full of captured critters.

Shinya Hankawa

As the summer wears on and the heat is unrelenting, Her breaks out in itchy rashes and scratches herself bloody, and begins slipping from reality, believing that the “Cicada Man” (Shinya Hankawa) as he is called by her and her coworker (Kiyomi Kametani) is visiting her at night, and infecting her with cicada eggs.

Being released by Unearthed Films, it should come as no surprise this leads into body horror, as she scratches and starts to remove skin, with lots of blood and gore for those who are drawn to that. The practical effects are done by Susumu Nakatani, who does an amazing job at bringing out the squeamish body manipulations.

And what makes this arthouse fare? Well, part of it is the very, very slow burn that starts the story, and with the high temperatures, the term “burn” feels appropriate. Once the Cicada Man visits Her at night, or perhaps in her dreams, is when the red sauce begins to show and flow. All this is underscored (literally) by the soundtrack by synth composer Microchip Terror.

The story and look of this are quite plain and basic, without arty shots or dialogue, despite the wild and swirling camerawork in the third act, but it still retains a certain pace that elevates it to a higher plain. There is also a question of psychology feeding into this style: is Her infected with cicada eggs, or is it all in her mind, twisted by the continuous heat?

Keita Kusaka

In almost The Fly (1986)-like fashion, she picks at her body bit by bit, pulling out what she believes are hatchling cicadas. The doctor (Keita Kusaka) accuses her of delusions of parasitosis, where one is convinced that they are infested by parasites. Considering her physical condition, I do not understand why the doc does not have her committed, or at the very least to the Emergency Room. But that would be the end of the story, so it soldiers on.

The big reveal of the Cicada Man is intense, again reminiscent of The Fly, but the question remains of how much of it is reality, and to what level is it imagined. Either way, it looks amazing.

The extras on the Blu-ray start with the “Behind the Scenes” (45 min) that is a mixture of “how it was shot” and mucking around by the filmmakers and cast, but my favorite parts were the application of the SFX make-up. On “Tokyo Talkshow” (34 min) is the director Guy, cult genre director Shozin Fukui, and the two directors of the film LOUD, after the on-stream premiere of both The Sound of Summer and LOUD. Last is the Japanese Premiere (42 min), which introduces three members of the principle cast and director to the audience. I have found many times these kinds of pre- or post-screening interviews tend to have terrible audio. Here, however, it is nice and crisp, and there are easy-to-read subtitles, as they are mostly in Japanese. There is also a trailer for this and another Guy short.

The director, Guy, is actually a native of Britain who has been living in Japan for several years and is fluent in the language. In this being his first full-length feature, he brings the sensibilities of both to the project, giving it a slightly different touch than from either. Oh, I would still label this under “Asian Extreme” (yeah, there are people who do not like that term, though it is accurate), but the plain and simple structure is totally Western influenced. It helps that he was aided by his co-conspirator of the film, Dave Jackson who directed Cat Sick Blues (2016). 

Honestly, I do not necessarily have a fear of insects per se (though I am not fond of them on my body or floating around my head), this was a bit extreme on the effects of the insects, not of the creatures themselves. While a fun ride, once it kicks into gear, consider yourself forewarned if you suffer from entomophobia, sometimes known as insectophobia.

MDB listing HERE

Review: Bloody Muscle Body Builder in Hell

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

Bloody Muscle Body Builder in Hell
Directed by Shinichi Fukazawa
Dragodon Pictures; Visual Vengeance; Wild Eye Releasing; MVD Entertainment
62 minutes, 1995 / 2012 / 2022
www.wildeyereleasing.com
www.MVDEntertainment.com/
Originally filmed in Japan (with English subtitles) in 1995, this was not released until 2012. Presently, it has finally been put out in a clearer print (from the master material) on Blu-ray. And it retains its original amazing name. The first time I heard it, I knew I had to see it from that alone. This is the director’s only film (other than one unconnected acting gig), including lead actor, writer, editor, etc. It smacks of a vanity project which means it can be cheesy fun or an ego trip. I am looking forward to finding out.

After a prologue that features a bloody murder regarding the protagonist’s father, who died young, we are introduced to Naoto (the director). He’s the titular bodybuilder. Meeting up with his ex-girl friend, Mika, they decide to check out his dad’s home, where there is a secret buried under the floor. Joining them is psychic Mizuguchi, as Mika is fascinated by ghosts and wants to photograph them. Naturally, Naoto does not believe in the ethereal entities.

Once the trio get into the house, all hell starts a poppin’ as they are locked in against an evil and vengeful ghost. I have seen this compared to The Evil Dead (1981), and I can kind of see why: they are isolated in a relatively small space of many rooms, but each at Manhattan single room apartment sizes. The malevolent spirit wants to inhabit fresh bodies, and even though there are only three of them, manages to do some damage. There is a great amount of gore and also a large amount of humor, whether that is intentional or not, I am not sure.

Is the body builder (the “Ash Williams” of the story) strong enough to endure the “wonton” onslaught? (Note: a year from now, that joke will probably be confusing.) He’s got the wise-cracks near the end, the scared look at the beginning (though not to Ash level…he’s a body builder), which builds some confidence in one’s own strength.

The film is just an hour long, but the last 40 minutes is pretty non-stop, filled with guts, gore, and some stop motion photography here and there. It is totally and beautifully gruesome. Sure, the visuals are grainy as hell, being shot on VHS and all.

One thing that confuses me, and this is true of many stuck-in-the-house films, if the windows are locked, why not throw a chair through it? And if the front door is locked, damn, they have both an ax and shotgun, so why not blast the lock? Nope, just grunge against the window frame and try to kick in (out?) the door. This is the equivalent nonsense of running upstairs rather than out the door that is quite prevalent, and is a pet peeve of many a horror fan.

There are lots of bonus material is included with the Blu-ray of course, being from Visual Vengeance, both digital and physical. For example, there are two commentary tracks, one being with directors and fans Adam Green (Hatchet, Frozen) and Joe Lynch (Shudder’s Creepshow), the other with Japanese film historian James Harper. There is also a new interview with the director, Fukazawa. Then there is a Special Effects featurette, Outtakes, Behind the Scenes and Archival image galleries, the original Japanese Archival Trailers, and some Visual Vengeance trailers, as well.

On the physical side, there is a first pressing limited edition slipcase, a folded poster, a four-page liner notes booklet by Matt Desiderio of the Internet’s “Horror Boobs,” a vintage-style laminated Video Store Rental Card, a reversible sleeve with the original Japanese home video art, and a sheet of stickers from olde tyme video stores. That’s a lot.

The SFX, all of which is practical, works really well, even when it looks ridiculous at times. It is quite lovingly over the top, such as a knife in the back of the head popping out an eye, and then pulled back in when the knife is pulled out. True there is a limited amount of cast of 5, but there manages to be nearly non-stop action once it truly begins. It does not rely on a whole bunch of exposition, like most films today, but you get to know the relationships – at least what the viewer needs to know in reference to this film – and how they interact and move the plot forward.

For an only-time director using earlier and less easily manageable technology, Fukazawa manages miracles here. With some exceptions, the film is shot well, especially considering the miniscule space in which they were filming, and the editing is incredibly effective.

Whether or not it is “The Japanese Evil Dead” or not, it is a whole lot of fun.

IMDB listing HERE

Review: Evil Dead Trap

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

Evil Dead Trap (aka Shiryô no wana)
Directed by Toshiharu Ikeda
Joy Pack Film; Unearthed Classics; MVD Entertainment
102 minutes, 1988 / 2021
www.Unearthedfilms.com/carronamovie/
www.mvdb2b.com

Japanese extreme cinema has thematically come a long way since this was originally released in 1988. There are still some tropes that are often repeated, such as women abused while wearing schoolgirl uniforms usually by middle aged men, adult stars, and especially torture porn. A good example of this is the infamous gore-spectacle Guinea Pig series, starting by predating this film by half a decade. In fact, a couple of the then-top Japanese adult actors were used in the filming of this movie (much as Marilyn Chambers appeared in 1977’s Rabid and Harry Reems in 1980's Demented).

It is pretty obvious where they lifted the title of this film back in the day, but it is arguable whether there is anything supernatural going on here. An insomnia-plagued late-night talk show host, Nami (Miyuki Ono), receives a VHS snuff tape in the mail, that we get to see in loving, grainy detail. Does she call the cops? Of course not, but rather goes out to investigate. You know how in 1980s films you can spot all the stupid decisions and actions that characters make (e.g., going upstairs instead of out the door)? This one sticks out like a knife in the eye. Oh, yeah, the snuff film…

Miyuki Ono

Nami takes off with the future body count: three other women who are her production team, and a goofy, sexist male assistant director, who calls his superiors “girls.” Gotta love the ‘80s. A slight sidebar here: it may sound like I am talking this movie down, but I am not; part of the fun of this period’s genre films is the sometimes sheer ridiculousness of some of the cultural and cinematic motifs, but it is said by me in a full-smile way. This hindsight really is part of the joy of these gruesome releases. If I have a real problem with something, I will certainly let you know, so in the meanwhile, please know the basis of the snark.

The video tape leads our intrepid-but-not-so-wise group to an abandoned military base (filmed at Camp Drake, a deserted since the 1970s US Army/Air Force quarters, in Saitama, Japan) from 1956 says a sign, which is not on the map (of course). And what’s our group to do once they get there? Why lift and separate into two groups of two, with Nami off on her own. They seem to repeatedly rejoin and cleave into individuals roaming around the expansive space, down long corridors or into booby-trapped rooms.

Yuji Honma

The base setting is actually superb, if you are fascinated by abandoned buildings as I am. It is incredibly atmospheric and creepy as hell with dusky rooms, boarded windows, old furniture and equipment. You can just feel the destitution practically reeking off the screen, and the anticipation for the violence to come. And come it does. A perfect setting for a torture abattoir. Dark shades mixed with flashes of color make it a labyrinth of decay and death.

While the kills are violent, I would not categorize it as torture porn. Most of the butchery is pretty quick (albeit explicit) and not lingering.

While all hell breaks loose in malevolent ways, there are also some interesting characters floating around the base that show up at unexpected times. such as a relatively stoic man, Daisuke (Yuji Honma), who is in search of his younger brother, a man who is being systematically tormented and ordered to kill to be free, and the mysterious masked and hooded parka-wearing killer himself.

This all sets up for a third act of mano e majer, or I guess, otoko tai on’na. Throughout the film, Nami shows an interest – if not attraction – to the mindset of the mentality that would cause such a wave of nasty behavior. This helps set up the final extended showdown that is both psychological and physical, and by far the most interesting part, even though it is pretty obvious early on who is the killer and certain aspects of his behavior. That is not to say this is the only segment that will keep the viewer riveted, but the build-up is worth the nail-biting wait.

Booby-traps abound, and one might wonder if this was possibly an inspiration for the Saw franchise, especially the first one, but as with most proto-films, the ideas are there, just not as detailed in their execution, though bloody enough. And by the end, you could easily sing, “I’ve seen fire and I’ve seen rain.”

Of course, I won’t give away the ending, but while I had a close approximation of where the story was going, it certainly took a left turn that could have been influenced by the likes of David Cronenberg or Frank Hennenlotter that I did not expect, I am happy to say.

I cannot emphasize how beautiful this film is shot by cinematographer Masaki Tamura and edited by Akimasa Kawashima. The visuals are stunning, with artistic (yet not heavy handed) elan, close-ups, and the occasional (and sped up) blue-filtered monochrome. It seems a bit ahead of its time, and is jaw-droppingly framed. The gore is plentiful, of course, and looks amazing, unsurprisingly, handled by Shin’ichi Wakasa (who has also done special effects for Godzilla and Mothra films since the 1990s). This is overlaid by a repetitive and eventually annoying electronic soundtrack that reminds me of the Italian giallo films of the period.

Extras on the 4K Blu-ray include three full-length commentaries. The first is by director Toshiharu Ikeda (d. 2010) and SPFX Manager Shinichi Wakasa (badly dubbed into English) from the mid-2000s, which is somewhat sparsely discussed, mostly innocuous anecdotes about the filming, rather than deep meanings. I jumped around a bit on this one after about 30 minutes. Next is by filmmaker Kurando Mitsutake, director of films like Gun Woman (2014). It is contemporary and in English, and much more in-depth and interesting than the previous one.  The last is with James Mudge (English), of the Website easternkicks.com. Mudge not only tells anecdotes about the film, but also places it in the context of Asian Cinema – especially Japanese – writ large.

There is also a contemporary featurette, “Trappings of the Dead: Reflecting on a Japanese Cult Classics” (19 min.; English), focusing on cinema academic and author Calum Waddell. He shows both the influences of other films that led to this one, and how Evil Dead Trap has influenced others that followed, dropping dozens of names and others such as some of the ones I mentioned above, and the likes of Dario Argento and Oliver Stone. Also, he puts the film in context of Japan’s relatively modern history, from its role in World War II and the post-atomic period. Then there is the Storyboards, Behind the Scene Stills, Promotional Artwork, and a few Unearthed Trailers, including for this film.

In 1992, there was a sequel of sorts to this release, Evil Dead Trap 2 (aka Shiryô no wana 2: Hideki) that perhaps will be a future Unearthed Films release. I would definitely watch it, though it was directed by Izô Hashimoto, rather than Ikeda.

 

Review: Takashi Miike's The Happiness of the Katakuris

Text © Richard Gary / Indie Horror Films, 2015
Images from the Internet

 

The Happiness of the Katakuris (aka Katakuri-ke no kofuku)

Directed by Takashi Miike
Shochiku / Arrow Video / MVD Visual
113 minutes, 2001 / 2015
www.mvdvisual.com

Japanese director Takashi Miike (pronounced Mee-KAY) is no stranger to extreme cinema, having started with direct-to-video (you read right) films that mainly focused on violent underworld and cop-and-robbers themes, such as the Dead or Alive series. In the West, he is more known as the person who created such icky-fests are Ichi The Killer (2001), the creepy “Box” segment of 3…Extremes (2004), and most notably the graphic and horrific Audition (1999).

So, of course, The Happiness of the Katakuris is a…musical? Oh, but not just any musical, that is certain. A mixture of the love of family, death-death-and-more-death, horror, crime, comedy, dancing, and a snappy soundtrack; yes, we’re off to a Miike off-kilter special treat.



"We're a happy family / We're a happy family /
We're a happy family / Me, mom and daddy"

We are introduced to the six-member Katakuri family through the very young daughter, Yurie (Tamaki Miyazaki, in her only film credit), who is full of hope and contentment. Her mom, Shizue (the cute Naomi Nishida) is a single mother after a brief marriage (it is explained that she “falls in and out of love too easily”), Shizue’s brother, Masayuki (Shinji Takeda) is an ex-con recently out of prison but has a good heart, their parents who are laid-off shoe salesman Al Bund… I mean Masao (Kenji Sawada) and lovingly doting wife Terue (Keiko Matsuzaka), and Yurie’s great grandfather, Ojisan Jinpei (the then-80-year-old Tetsuro Tanba), who was a World War II soldier and still has an amazingly good pitching arm. There’s also a cute little mutt, Poochi. The whole clan moved out to the countryside to try and make a go at a Bed and Breakfast called the White Lovers’ Guesthouse, but are waiting for patrons to finally show up. The problems begin when they do eventually come. And go.

 

Through no fault of the Katakuri tribe, the customers rarely seem to last a night without meeting their maker by different means. Since the family doesn’t want to ruin their reputation before they have the chance to be successful, they must figure out what to do with the growing pile of bodies.

To add to the problems, Shizue has fallen for a con man in a Western Naval uniform named Richado, or Richard in the translation (Kiyoshiro Imawano), who claims to be the illegitimate son of the Queen of England’s half-sister. Through all this craziness, there is even crazinerness (yeah, I know it’s not a real word, lighten up) singing and dancing.

This film is a bit of a legend in Japan, less so outside, because its cast at the time is off the hook as far as character actors known in the Islands country. For example, at the time, Imawano was the largest native rock star who occasionally acted. It would be like when David Bowie did Labyrinth (1986). Sawada, on the other hand, is one of the original rock’n’rollers in Japan, and on some level is known as the “Elvis of Japan” (except he can act). The rest of the cast, including the second and tertiary level, are easily identified character actors (Miike refers to Nishida, for example, as the “Meg Ryan of Japan”). Many have become known through Miike’s previous prolific and prestigious work, but most have come into their own through various work.



Original Sound of Music-like Poster

Even though there are references here to The Sound of Music, including the design and font used on the poster, this is certainly not a Julie Andrews lightweight megalith, but is very dark and humorous at the same time. For example, in Miike fashion, some the characters include a sumo wrestler and his obviously underage uniformed schoolgirl girlfriend, an TV announcer who has a bug climb into his nose, violence, zombies of a sort, and as I said, a nice body count. And did I mention the Claymation yet?

 

At the odd moment throughout the film, such as the enjoyable yet WTF opening sequence, suddenly everything and everyone turns to pixilated Claymation for part of the scene. You just never see it coming, but it’s hard not to enjoy it. It’s handled quite imaginatively, and it’s always easy to tell which characters are which, even though they are in clay.

There are certainly some Asian tones to the film that some Westerners may get, but not to the level of those in the East. For example, one of the musical numbers is very stylized in a music video way, set to a karaoke mode so the audience can sing along (if you can read Japanese, of course). As I experienced last year in China, karaoke is a big thing, and rather than being in a bar with everyone in the audience observing, one would rent a small room for private parties of a dozen or so people, drink and sing along to music videos on a screen, with the words highlighted underneath rather than just having the lyrics alone. It’s a socially fascinating thing to experience for a Westerner, but kind of common for the middle classes.

Another aspect that Western audiences may not get used to right away, even if they notice, is that there are some long, static shots rather than quick editing. Sergei Eisenstein may be correct that editing = action, as MTV videos promoted decades later, but Miike looks at it differently, and succeeds in still getting the action on high without cutting around quickly. That doesn’t mean there aren’t some effective jump-inducing scares here and there.

This was shot in Kyoto, and the film is actually a remake of another dark (sans music and dancing) Korean film, The Quiet Family (Choyonghan kajok) from 1998, but Miike definitely changes up the story enough to make it his own. It’s an exciting, sometimes experiential yet mostly a cohesive and comprehensive release.

While I won’t delve into it here, as usual Miike’s ending is a bit evasive, and I have my own theory of what happened that isn’t necessarily the filmmaker’s (and is just as fantastical as his), but I guess that’s my problem, right? Normally a “smiley” emoticon would go here.

Tons of extras abound on the DVD. There are a couple of trailers for this film, a 5:30 short on the Claymation process, an interesting 30 minute Making of documentary that includes interviews with the cast, a 24-minute analytical look at Miike’s career filled with clips made in 2015 called “Pimps, Dogs and Agitators” by academic critic Tom Mes, and a separate series mostly archival interviews – and one from 2015 – with most of the main cast members ranging less than 10 minutes each, though the latest one with Miike is 38 minutes (for honesty’s sake, it’s the only extra I didn’t watch all the way through).

Mes also does one of two commentary tracks giving the viewer a detailed-filled and precise look at this film. Most of his references are lost on me as I have only seen a few of Miike’s multitude of output, and Mes is kind of monotone, but it still kept my interest throughout. The second track is Miike and actor/film critic (and first guest of the B&B) Tokitoshi Shiota discussing the film. There are two versions available of this last track, one is in Japanese with English subtitles, and one is translated into English. Normally I would go for the original, but since I wanted to still follow the story through subtitles, I went for the translation one. There was a bit too much kibitzing, but there was still enough information about the making of the film for me to not give up and have fun with it.

Beyond all the events that happen to this family, the core of the film is actually quite sweet, a treatise about what is happiness. This is a bit of classic film in Japan, and it’s easy to see why. You certainly will not be bored, especially since it isn’t a typical and formulaic story or production.

Review: Sanguivorous (Kyuketsu)

Text © Richard Gary / Indie Horror Films, 2013
Images from the Internet

 

Sanguivorous (aka Kyuketsu)

Directed, edited and music by Naoki Yoshimoto                       
Tidepoint Pictures
Rain Trail Pictures
Stavros Films                                
56 minutes,2009 / 2013
www.MVDvisual.com

Literally translated, the title of the film is to feed off the blood of the living, usually referring to parasites and certain bats; here, it is merely shortened to “sucking blood.” That works, too.

It is not surprising to me they shortened the definition, because the film runs just over 56 minutes. It’s on that borderline that makes it more of a featurette, which works well on the festival circuit rather than a cineplex. But this will probably never play as a first liner except at conventions, fests and possibly art theaters.

Sangafanga, as I’ve been calling it, is a Japanese vampire film that is over-burdened with an art aesthetic that is both beautiful and cumbersome. Much like films such as Where the Dead Go to Die (2012, reviewed HERE) or Profane (2012; reviewed HERE), the director, Naoki Yoshimoto, has a more ambitious vision that he wants to put to digital celluloid, as it were.

Ayumi Kakizawa

Mixing black & white, color, muted color, and digital film effects, Yoshimoto brings us into a world that is usually dark, both in tone and vision (or, if you will, figuratively and literally), as we are introduced to the only four characters. First there is a young woman played by Ayumi Kakizawa, who is haunted by weird visions, strange feelings, and general anxiety. Her thin-cut side-burned (hipster?) boyfriend, embodied by Mutsuko Yoshinaga, reads a text that borrows from the Bram Stoker idea that a ship with a coffin containing a many-hundred year-old vampire came ashore onto Japan centuries before, and the heirs of its contents still have the vampire blood floating around waiting until it is aroused (the film’s term, i.e., lose your virginity and…). Joining in is an older couple (her parents?), played by Masaya Adachi, who has the prerequisite Asian long, white fingernails, and the striking, muscular and bald Ko Murobushi, who looks like he was imagined from a manga comic (Ko is a leading avant-garde butoh dancer in his “day” job).

The story is kind of murky for a number of reasons. First, there is barely any dialog, other than exposition, so most of the storytelling relies on visuals and sounds. The main reason, however, is its artistic bent. Mostly filmed in black and white, it is often digitally treated to look like the Nosferatu period (1922), or scratchy, or with just a hint of color. Occasionally there may be one object in vibrant color, such as a red kimono, and more rare, a shot entirely in vivid color, such as a field of yellow flowers.

Ko Murobushi

Even with the blending of visuals, arty editing, unusual angles, extraneous close-ups of objects, and all the other modern methods to make it look older, there is definitely a beauty to the film. The way characters move, and how they are presented speak as much as the sparse dialog. Sure, you really do need some patience in this post-MTV/Transformers world, because this mostly moves at a snail’s pace, while still managing to fill the senses with unusual imagery.

While there is some blood, and some wicked looking teeth, I would hardly call this a gory film by any stretch of the imagination. Most of the shock value comes from the use of sound, be it a sudden loud noise, a piece of dissonant music, or just silence. Yoshimoto, who plays the piano on some of this, ties it all together to make it work, even if it is unconventional.

Speaking of Yoshimoto, there is a 10-minute or so making of short where the relatively young director talks about how the film came to be, mixed with some short interviews with Kakizawa and Murobushi. His solid grasp of English makes it coherent and helps to explain a bit of what is going on in the film.

The other extra is an additional short film called Nowhere, which is also around10 minutes. It definitely has a similar auteur feel to Sangafanga, in which a man stumbles into a deserted factory and screams a few times, before walking out an meeting someone on the road. Again, there is no dialog other than the repeated yelling, and we a presented with a switching of color and B&W. I believe it is about a post-apocalyptic world, but I am not sure. It did win a prize for digital short at a festival, and that is hardly surprising.

To recap: the film is esoteric (perhaps not as much as, say, Dog Star Man (1962, by the way overrated Stan Brakhage) and intentionally obscure, but it is also a beautiful piece of art with horror as it heart. I’m leavin’ it all up to yo-oo-oo, as the song says.