Review: La Petite Mort 2: Nasty Tapes

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

La Petite Mort 2: Nasty Tapes (aka La Petite Mort II)
Directed by Marcel Walz;
Matador Film; Bogatzki-movie.com Movie Production;
Unearthed Films; MVD Visual
90 minutes, 2014 / 2023
www.facebook.com/la.petite.mort.2/
www.unearthedvideo.com
https://mvdb2b.com/s/LaPetiteMort2NastyTapes/UN-1149

This is the second chapter of this German transgressive cinema directed by goremaster Marcel Walz (who as since moved and started filming in Los Angeles). In the first installment, the yucky stuff was handled by Olaf Ittenbach, who is absent this time. Still, I have no doubt that will not slow down the ultraviolence. Again, the film is in German with English subtitles. But honestly, I get the feeling, the libretto is not going to matter as much as the visual. The gore effects this time are handled by The Gruesome Twosome, and Megan and Ryan (d. 2019) Nicholson. A cult SFX wizard, Ryan also directed the likes of the Gutterball franchise, Hanger (2009), and Star Vehicle (2010). 

In the first piece, LaPetite Mort, released in 2009 (though taking place in 1998), we are introduced to the Masion La Petite Mort in Frankfurt, where travelers are tortured for the deep web viewing pleasure, as well as an opportunity for rich people to fill their violent fantasies (a la the Hostel franchise), but online. Honestly, I would not be surprised if this actually happens, but as I have never been on the dark web and have no intentions of doing so, I will never know, nor do I want to see that.

Yvonne Wolke, Annika Strauss

The new owner of La Petite Mort is sexually amorphous Monsieur Matheo Maxime (Mika Metz; d. 2017), with his two hench – er – women, brunette Dominque (Annika Strauss), who returns from the first film, and blonde Monique (Yvonne Wölke). Both could have been in the video for the Divinyls’ song “Pleasure and Pain.” They are aided by others, such as the Sexy Nurses (Gabriela Wirbel and Nicole Neukirch), the well-named Eva Brown (Bea La Bea), and Matheo’s wife, Jade (Micaela Schäfer).

In the first film, we are introduced to some tourists who end up at the Jail Bar, and how they end up in Masion La Petite Morte, as well as the follow-up. Here, there is no context, just torture broken up into segments that have title cards such as “Sushi Time” with info on the victim, and how much someone is paying to have them eviscerated. As Ralph Kramden may say, “Pins and needles, needles and pins…” Victims are of both sexes, so there is that. There are also “between” segments with testimonials from happy customers who either paid for the chance to kill, or do the body work themselves. And all of it on camera.

Micalea Schafer, Mika Metz

Much of it is from the perspective of the Web cameras, so it is nearly found footage style, but there is also some “backstage” drama with Matheo and the women who work for him. Even this internal tension is caught on video, as the characters occasionally look directly at the camera and comment.

A sort of by-product of this style is that the person watching this is not just a viewer, but is a participant of the feed.

Gabriela Wirbel, Nicole Neukirch

Stylistically, it is actually shot beautifully, focusing on the faces (or parts thereof) in close-ups of most of the characters, in a darkish, reddish tone. Also, for some reason, there is some clips of Carnival of Souls (1962) and Night of the Living Dead (1968) shown on a monitor (the former also of facial close-ups).

Each set piece has a slightly different feel, such as one called “Gasrechnung” (“Gas Bill”) which has a definite World War II feel, with Eva Brown giving herself a Hitler moustache in blood. Most of this segment is in black and white as in a Leni Riefenstahl-style propaganda film. Interestingly, there is an added censor image over certain parts of the uniforms, which show Nazi iconography. German film: detailed torture permitted, but no symbols of the “fatherland.”

Like Tod Browning in films like Freaks (1932), some odd humans are thrown into the mix, such as The Twins (Barbara and Patrizia Zuchowski). There are also some cool cameos throughout from cult genre filmmakers and/or actors, such as Dustin Mills, Haley Madison, Uwe Bowl, Mike Mendez, Adam Ahlbrandt, and Ryan Nicholson (d. 2019).

Despite splashes (drips?) of laughter in a couple of moments, everyone seems to be unhappy, be it through body dysmorphia, boredom while inflicting pain out of repetition, and of course, the subjects of the sharp objects. This is a pretty joyless film, with minimal humor, though there are some dark moments of it scattered throughout.

The first extra on the Blu-ray is the “Making of La Petite Mort 2” (13 min), which is essentially extended scenes showing more detail of some of the tortures. Then there is an “Alternate Scene” (4 min) that is the “Gas Bill” part, without the edited-out images of the Iron Cross, the “SS” Schutzstaffel logo, and of course the swastika armband (wonder if they ever play Lech Kowalski’s 1980 documentary D.O.A. over there).

The ”Behind the Scenes Gallery” (3 min) is lots of nice shots of the make-up and the cast, and I quite enjoyed it. As for the “Advert” (30 sec), I have no idea what I was looking at. Last, there are a few company trailers, as well as two from this film, and the first La Petite Mort.

As I stated in my review of the first film, “The problem with stories like this, and this is my opinion, is the plot revolves around the action, rather than the action being a result of the story…sometimes it goes beyond what even I can tolerate. If this is your idea of fun, well, please, have at it.”

I realize that this film is a few years old now, but I have to say, the whole premise of strangers being tortured for the pleasure of the rich and/or on the Net for clicks/cash, is becoming a bit cliché, and is merely an excuse for some graphic body horror. Sure, I like a bit of ultraviolence, but my tastes run more to the cartoonish violence, even when explicit, than just someone being tied up and put through the wringer. Also, I like more of a narrative than a string of events. How can one feel anything about any character if there is nothing to bolster the why, other than greed.

 MDB listing HERE

Review: L.A. AIDS Jabber

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

L.A. AIDS Jabber (aka Jabber)
Directed by Drew Godderis
Visual Vengeance; Wild Eye Releasing; MVD Entertainment
78 minutes, 1994 / 2022
www.wildeyereleasing.com
www.MVDEntertainment.com/
This relatively new imprint of Wild Eye Releasing, called Visual Vengeance, is an interesting idea. They deal with lowest of low budget archival films, usually shot on VHS or some other older medium, without correction. The stories are goofy, but usually not as much as the acting. And for all of that, I say ‘Woot Woot!!” It is great that these films are getting to see the light of day again. There are so many VV films that I have never heard of before, though I have read the name of this one before in indie horror mags. I am looking forward to seeing it.

Jason Majik

The cheesy synth score by John Martin Turner during the opening credits tells you exactly where you are in the indie horror food chain. The main character, who is also the antagonist, is 19-year-old Jeff Roberts (Jason Majik). He definitely has some borderline mental issues, especially with anger. And now he has been diagnosed with AIDS; wouldn’t he have HIV first, especially since he believes he contracted it from a particular prostitute six months previous? Saywhat?

His anger is having an effect on his world, including getting fired by his boss (Fred Nugent); his physician, Dr. White (Craig Harris) and a social worker (Victoria Crane) are worried about him, that he will hurt himself or someone else, including his girlfriend (Mitzy Tony), but they will not call the police. Saywhat?

Meanwhile, Jeff is making a list to take revenge upon, including the prostitute, by, yes, injecting them with his blood. But wait, if the prostitute (Susan Para) already has AIDS to his belief, what would be the purpose of injecting her with his blood? Saywhat?

Marcy Lynn, Tony Donangelo

Unstable Jeff starts going around stabbing people on his list, as well as random pedestrians. The cops (Marcy Lynn, Tony Donangelo, and then Justin Mack) almost catch him but he escapes. I bring this up because in an alley chase scene you can clearly see the shadow of the cameraperson, which made me smile. I love low-budget films just for reasons like that.

When Jabby calls a feisty female television reporter, Judith Campbell (Joy Yurada), to threaten her, she has a co-worker include the police on the call to try and nab him. Yet when the cops come a-callin’ to her house to see if she wants protection, she questions how they know about it. Saywhat?

But, to be honest, I am impressed by the sub-stories, like the cops who are trying to get him, and the reporter who is in danger from needle-boy. The film actually has more depth than I was expecting, despite some of the logical fallacies, such as the ones I mentioned above. There are others as well, just not as glaring.

Despite being taken from master SD tape, the film is grainy as all get out, especially the outside night shots (the time capsule imagery of seedy L.A. is enjoyable), and towards the end there is video noise that made me both grateful that it is uncommon with current digital technology, and ironically a little bit nostalgic. The acting runs from pretty flat to over-emoting, but that is to be expected.

The film ends exactly like one might think it would be concerning our AIDS gent (well, I did, anyway), but there is still a nice O. Henry-ish twist at the end that had me laughing and a bit confused.

Majik, Joy Yurada

Now, the bonus features of this Blu-ray are extensive, all done within the past two years. It starts with the “Director’s Introduction to Movie” (1 min), a nothing burger of thanks to the cast and distributor. The real meat starts with the full-length commentary with Godderis, Wild Eye Releasing’s Rob Hauschild, and low-budget director Mark Polonia (e.g., Camp Blood First Slaughter; Shark Encounters of the Third Kind;Virus Shark). Sometimes there is a bit of just describing what is happening on the screen, but that is only a small part of it. Most of it is pretty interesting as there is descriptions of what was going on with the scenes, talking about L.A. at that time, and explains some of the Saywhat? moments, like the disappearance of a particular character. It is a good schooling for indie, low-budget filming. Amusingly, no one mentions the shadow in the alleyway.

And if that wasn’t enough, next up is “Lethal Injection: The Making of L.A. AIDS Jabber,” with the director (10 min). While I found the full commentary interesting, this covers mostly new ground, and is just long enough to keep the interest going. It makes sense the next interview is “Bleeding The Pack: An Interview with Lead Actor Jason Majik” (29 min). It’s a bit rambling, but he discusses how he was chosen for the role, what it was like shooting the film, and he fills in some gaps which even Godderis is vague. He also talks about the post-filming in his life, including seeing it for the first time while tripping. While it’s kind of unfocused, and maybe because of it, it kept my interest.

The next featurette is “L.A. AIDS Jabber - 2021 Locations Visit.” (16 min). I always find these before and after location scenes fascinating. It is led by Godderis, and things are almost indistinguishable from 30 years ago. Following is an “Interview with Blood Diner Director Jackie Kong” (9 min). As an actor, Godderis co-started in Blood Diner, which became legend. Honestly, I did not watch it. Nor did I watch an interview with Godderis’ son who appeared briefly in the film when he was 3-years-old, called “Growing Up On Set: Justin Godderis” (9 min). However, I was curious about the next, “Actress Joy Yurada Interview” (7 min). She played the reporter. Some of it is a bit rambling, but it was fun when she pulled out a binder with the film’s notes and her lines.

The next talking head is the “Through the Lens: An Interview with Cameraman Rick Bradach” (6 min). It’s okay, but not very engaging to me. “Interview with Actor Gene Webber” (4 min) follows. He was a secondary police character, and doesn’t really bring much to the table. The last two digital extras are a photo gallery consisting of behind-the-scenes shots of the first day of shooting, and the new version of the trailer.

On the physical side, there are liner notes in a booklet titled “Rage in the Blood” by Tony Strauss of Weng's Chop magazine, a collectible folded mini-poster, stick your own VHS stickers, and a reversible BR sleeve featuring the original VHS art

This is Drew Godderis’ only directorial endeavor, though he’s acted in a number of well-known B horror films. When it came out, Godderis personally distributed the film on VHS. I am aware it has been decades since this was released, but I wonder if he will ever direct more, please.

IMDB 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.

 

Reviews: Four Gore Films of Davide Pesca

Reviews: Four Gore Films of Davide Pesca

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

Note that these four films are listed chronologically, rather than in the order in which I watched them. Also, the screener versions that I saw were low rez and grainy, but I am sure if you rent the film, it will be in a much higher resolution. The trailers for all four films are after the reviews.

 

Suffering Bible
Directed by Davide Pesca
Demented Gore Productions
65 minutes, 2018
www.digitmovies.com/

Although this is not a long film, it was the first full feature Pesca directed, and ironically, the last of the four films I watched. The Bible is a very apropos topic for a film centered on gore and body horror, as the book is filled with genocide, incest, child rape, slavery, infanticide, and multiple killings of animals (along with talking serpents and donkeys).

Pesca has a certain style that he employs on all these films, which are short stories stitched together to form a theme. The camera is often handheld (jerky, but not seasick worthy like, say, 2008’s Cloverfield. There is also minimal talking, usually dubbed but occasionally with subtitles, and use of multiple monochrome filters (black and white, blue, etc.), though sometimes he uses an ultra-chromatic filter for colorful effects. But the main focus of all his films is the gore factor, which is ripe and rife, often involving body organs. Pesca does all the SFX himself, and generally it looks really amazing, considering the budget, which is low-Lira…oops, I mean Euros. As for the stories, they are there for the gore, rather than the other way around, and may make you say, che cosa?

There are five stories – or Acts – here, with the bookends (and between each story) being a naked man and a nude woman, individually, with bandages on their heads crawl through a forest on their stomachs. By the end, it’s obvious which Biblical story to which this refers.

As for the stories themselves, the it starts with “Act 1: My Only God.” In this tale, two ex-friends are, well, reunited, for lack of a better term. Truthfully, I am not sure what story this references in the Bible. “Act II: San Toma,” as in St. Judas Thomas. A self-flagellating man (monk?) – an event that was common during the Middle Ages (see Monty Pythonand the Holy Grail (1975) – hallucinates Jeebus appearing on a cross, and he does what a Doubting Thomas would do, but more so. We learn eating the “body of Christ” (not on a cracker) is not always a positive thing.

“Act III: In the Name of the Father” is next. A woman who is sensually attracted to an old book (it looks like a dictionary, but it could possibly be a stand-in for a Bible) and a cross with the image of Jeebus on it, does some damage to herself in self-erotic ecstasy. My question here is, I realize Jeebus supposedly wants us unbelievers to burn for eternity, but does “he” really want his followers to suffer at their own hands this much, as well? Seems more Darwinian. But, I digress…

Next up is “Act IV: The Pact.” As might be expected, a depressed woman makes a deal with a mysterious and devilish woman for riches and beauty, which cannot end well and, considering the context of the film this is in, one might add bloody. The piper must be paid. This is my favorite segment in the film. For the final piece, “Act V: Redemption of the Lost Souls,” we meet three people, an OD’d junkie, a tuberculosis victim, and an old man who was homeless, as they meet their judgments. Were they good or were they bad, and what was their fate? Again, context. There was a brief coda to this one with a gift that I did not quite understand.

There are no real stories here, just vignettes into bloody religiosity, which is a comment on the state of spirituality throughout the last 2000 years, where suffering is equated with religion, to supposedly understand the suffering “the Lord” went through the days before Good Friday for “your sins.” Pesca plays on that rather than narration, and is effective in that mode.

Ironically, most of the people in this film (and the others) about the Bible are tattooed, which the Leviticus poo-poos on as much as homosexuality. Again, I digress…

 

Dead Butterfly: The Prophecy of Suffering Bible (aka Suffering Bible 2)
Directed by Davide Pesca
Demented Gore Productions
56 minutes, 2019
www.digitmovies.com/

This film is a collection of individual scenes related only by their connection to extreme and distorted versions of Catholicism and religiosity. There is very little dialogue, but what there is, is in Italian with very clear captions (i.e., easy to discern; not white on white).

The start is a woman (the beautiful Barbara Sirotti) who receives a gift (a theme which would be revisited in another form in “Dust to Dust” from Grand Guignol Madness: Show Your Fear; see review below) of a liquid in a vial and virtual reality glasses presenting a Christ-like figure that proves to show the opposite of what is happening in the physical world (“Heaven’s Doors”). Then a religious woman puts a chained (and I believed drugged) man through the tortures and then some of Jesus’ last days before befalling her own fate (“The Saint’s Friday”). Another man burying something in the woods befalls a bloody end by a possible ghost with a screwdriver (“The Secret”). After a jewel robbery (including a butterfly necklace) the older woman victim does a bit of voodoo on the younger woman who stole her possessions (“Do Not Steal”). In the last tale, a woman is tortured and beaten by cool looking techno-demons in hell (I believe) for her Earthly crimes, such as adultery and taking the Lord’s name in vain after a desperate act (“The Judgment”; see, this is why I am an atheist),

The gore is explicit and plentiful, as is the top body parts of much of the female cast. While not as sophisticated as Pesca’s later works, as far as the graphics (both SFX and digital FX), it is easy to see the talent in the way the film is constructed. He is also setting up his auteur workings through the type of gore he employs, and the use of vignettes, or original short stories combined with a wraparound that is inserted as bookends, and between each tale that is in black and white, as a man puts sharp objects (hooks, pins, etc.) through his skin on different parts of his body in self-harming religious fervor (“The Angel”); I could not watch these parts, in all honesty.

 

Grand Guignol Madness: Show Your Fear
Directed by Davide Pesca
Demented Gore Productions; Digitmovies Alternative Entertainment; Home Movies
67 minutes, 2020
www.digitmovies.com/

Right from the start, the film lets us know where it is thematically heading with the title card that reads (in Italian): “The sound of the lament caused by suffering is almost identical to the groan caused by pleasure.” Shades of Hellraiser (1987)!

The film is an anthology; a collection of Pesca’s shorts made especially for this release. The framework is that a woman is kidnapped, and forced, through electrodes, to experience the terrible things that happen to the people we see in the shorts, while bound to a chair in a laboratory (“Broken Mind”).

Each story is mostly silent with musical backgrounds, though what little Italian dialogue is spoken does not deter from the stories. They involve the likes of a gift to an online nude model gone wrong (“Dust to Dust”), a nature-loving photographer deciding to go all Dexter on some litterers and polluters (“Save the Planet”), a strip-off contest going horribly wrong (“The Competition”), an obsessive body builder misusing steroids (“Muscles”), a lonely woman who is out to capture a man’s heart (“The Heartbreaker”), and a model in underwear who is posing for a photographer has a negative reaction to the many exposures to the flash of the camera (“Shot my Soul”).

Each vignette has its own style and look, usually through a mostly monochrome or hyper- chromatic filter. The major themes seem to be revenge, stripping, tattoos and fingers in wounds, with an occasional side order of someone holding someone else’s organs.

The effects range from a bit cheesy to very effective, and there is a lot of it as it is the point in the whole exercise, hence the title, which is based on a theater in Paris that ran from 1897 to 1962 that specialized in realistic shows of graphic horror. The title is effective, and it is an interesting watch for a gorehound.

 

Night of Doom
Directed by Davide Pesca
Demented Gore Productions
61 minutes, 2021
www.digitmovies.com/

For this story, Doom is the name of a powdered drug that seems to be similar to Bath Salts in that it causes violent psychosis. According to a newscast, the crime rate is up 40 percent and the drug is rampant in Italy, where this is filmed (it is dubbed into English; note that the trailer below is in its original Italian). While the topic of addiction to Doom is not mentioned, it is (for me) assumed by the desire for it.

That being said, this is as much as about the drug as it is focused on sado-masochism, and snuff entertainment. While not an anthology film, there are a series of vignettes that overlap, and some return, making this somewhat narrative, but also being a bit esoteric in how it is presented.

There are lots of primary colors used for lighting, specifically blue and red, and the camera work is quite imaginative, sometimes with nearly psychedelic green screen backgrounds.

The largest part of the story focuses on a televangelist who, in the name of the Lord, is into B&D, S&M, erotic asphyxiation, and yes, of course, Doom. A bit of it is for himself, but most is for his loved one that he leaves bound and gagged while he is away from home.

The drug is the spine of the film, but the meat and bones is a commentary about religion (heavily leaning towards Catholic; though would Mother Mary have had painted nails?) and S&M, and how sometimes they philosophically satisfy the same needs; though not blatantly stated, it is presented as such in a more subtle means. And that is the only subtly in this film’s actions.

One thing I will mention as far as men and women, they are similarly treated badly, and equally being the perpetrators of the violence (except there is a much better chance that the women will be dressed sexually, if at all).

Amid all the violence, there is a touch of humor here and there, such as the presentation of Miss Bathory Body Lotion that is presented as nearly an inserted commercial. That’s a bloody good joke (pun intended).

I especially like that the person ending up being the main character is not who you might expect, but certainly this actor is the best of the batch. This is definitely low budget (you even get to see the boom mic in one shot), and Pesca managed to do a lot with a little.

This film could fall into the artistic Transgressive subgenre, and I have seen a lot of body horror, but I have to say, thematically, I was more interested in the drug end than the S&M, which is something I have never found appealing. The film is well-made and creative in camera work, visual effects, and SFX – especially on this budget – but even though I enjoy gore effects, which are done well here, the torture stuff was a bit much for me at times. Ahh, I’m getting old.

 

Documentary review: Gorenography

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

Gorenography
Directed by Tony Newton
Tony Newton Productions
161 minutes, 2021
www.facebook.com/TonyNewtonFilm/

Gore, at its core, is body horror, and one of its subgenres is torture porn, hence the title of this nearly three-hour documentary, a combination of the “gore” and “pornography” wording. While much of my enjoyment is in the monsters / supernatural realm, I certain do enjoy a fun gorefest.

Gore can flow on different levels, from the silly and cartoon, to the realistic, to the real. I’ll take the first two, as I do not want to see real. Had enough of that in the likes of Cannibal Holocaust (1980), even if it was animals and not human snuff films. I remember laughing at the ending of Snuff (1975) and laughing at how unrealistic it was; however, I would not watch the Faces of Death series. When I saw Fulci’s City of the Living Dead (1983) in the theater, I laughed at the gore; the next day, at work, someone cut their finger open, and I could not look at it. So you know where I stand.

There are a few levels of gore films: you have the upper level of ones like Miike’s Audition (1999), and then you have the middle level which is rougher, like some of the Unearthed Cinema run by Stephen Biro (who, surprisingly to me, does not appear in this documentary) with the new American Guinea Pig series. Then you have what this focuses on, the extremely independent, transgressive, low-budget insanity, which is more where my general interest lies, quite honestly. If you pick up a camera and make films with your friends in the basement, there is a certain level of cool in that.

In the opening of this film, horror historian / writer / director / actor Tony Newton explains its premise: “This is a twisted crazy film here… If you like blood, if you like gore, if you like shock, if you like horror, you’re going to love this film. If you don’t like extreme horror, if you don’t like nudity…you pretty want to turn away now. This film is very extreme. We’ve got some sick films to show you, some shorts films, tons of trailers, tons of trash, and a lot of interviews with a lot of cool filmmakers.”

He is right, there is a lot going on in this, and quite honestly, what I am going to do to explain it, is to just show you the cleaned-up notes I took during the watching of it. And please note, there is way more than I mention. The film isn’t totally coherent in its format, because it goes beyond the usual talking heads broken up with some clips. This has a completely indie tone, which is more appropriate. I certainly enjoyed the obscurity level that brings it more to light. It’s not the usual suspects of directors from his previous documentaries, but more of an international feel and more obscure.

Thanks to COVID, a lot of the material is pretty up-to-date, including films release in 2021. Leave it to a worldwide pandemic to bring a documentary about deathly horror. Many of these films are so extreme and underground, they are not even listed on IMDB (the ones mentioned below without release dates). The ones in Italics are full features, quote marks indicate shorts. Also, films without dates are not IMDB listed.

And now for the notes:

Random trailers include The Driller Killer (1979), Tony Newton’s own Snuff Video (aka Snuff Underground X). Sometimes the listing of influences of the directors sound like the ‘thanks to” speeches at The Oscars.

Jonathan Doe, director and host of the “Cinemas Underbelly” [sic] channel, talks about how he got into horror. Released Carving the Cadaver 1-3, which shows actual human autopsies and also vomit fetish films such as Barf Bunnies; be warned, the trailers and some short clips are shown. Not for me; his film clips are the only ones I fast-forwarded over.

Wilhelm Müller

Wilhelm Müller, body piercer and body horror director from Austria; fake trailer for The Doctor and real one for In Nomine Satanae (which is close to Dakota Ray’s style). Clips are also shown from his films Exzessiv and Neighbor No. 9.

Zach Shildwacter (wearing a t-shirt of 1970s amputee porn star Long Jeanne Silver; no, I did not need to look it up), director Powerbomb (2020); the complete short “Solid Gold” is presented, which includes many Republican symbolisms, such as someone wearing a Trump mask and drag, and hitting a victim with a (I’m going to presume upside down) Bible.

René Weisner, director and producer of Mondo Siam (2020). Mainly talks about his films (with very short clips shown). Includes trailers of Mondo Siam and ABC’s of Superheroes (2015; reviewed HERE). 

Tony Newton

Tony Newton. trailers for VHS Lives: A Schlocumentary (2017), and Troma released and participated anthologies Grindsploitation 666 (2018) and Grindsploitation 9 (2021). Actually, there is a few Troma references in this entire film.

Davide Pesca, director, including Gore Grind (2020).

Mercedes the Muse

Moses and fetish model Mercedes the Muse, writers / directors, and founders of the sex and cinema “cult” the Underground Front: trailers of Troma-released Rose and Viktor: No Mercy (2017; directed by Moses) and Evul Twinz (2020; directed by Mercedes the Muse). Mercedes is the only female filmmaker who shows off nudity during the interviews. Moses tends to wear a Star Wars stormtrooper mask but still comes off as nerdy (I do too, so not an insult).

Lucky Cerruti: director and runs an underground distribution company called Dead Vision Productions. Long take on how he got into filmmaking. We are shown the opening clip – i.e., the prologue – to his film, Freak (2020); I would like to see this one.

Rob Ceus is from Belgium; Director and producer. His company is Terrorvisions Productions. Multiple clips included are from shorts like “ Bride Zombie” (2015; not to be confused with the yet released Zombie Bride) and Zombies from Sector 9 (2020).

Matti Soikkeli, a Finnish filmmaker who wears a skull mask to hide the lower half of his face and whose voice is digitally manipulated. We also see some clips of his films (probably taken from the trailers, considering the consistency of the music behind them, as with many of the short clips in the documentary), such as Born to Lose, Live to Die.

Michael "Mickey" Espinoza (d. May 2021) is also in a mask, full one this time, with an electronically altered, deep voice. Clips include ”The Games We Play” and others, such as “Pink Porcelain,” which looks like it was shot on a cellphone by the vertical frame.

Nathan Hine of Hardgore Core Productions. Writer, director and actor for a number of trailers we see, including the short teaser trailer for “The Last Days of Livermore” (2016) and The Sideling Hill (2019).

Super Tromette Double Dementia

Super Tromette Double Dementia: More like Double-D Dementia, with tons of cleavage, belly, legs and tatts. She plays a bimbo here in character, slinking back and forth in her trademark leather bikini like one of those hula dancers that sit on dashboards, while rubbing herself; but I’m willing to bet she is actually pretty damn smart in reality. I mean, she directed and edited the music video for “Cretins Sell Dope,” which we get to see, and is based on the Return to Nuke ‘Em High series. The band is Vanik and she’s the lead singer.

Harmony Filth keeps with the Troma theme, and presents a trailer for a short from the UK in which she appears, “Slutty the Clown” (2021). Speaking of which:

Joe Cash is the director of “Slutty the Clown” and shows a trailer for his “She Dogs of the SS” (2021), which gives away too much of the story, unless the trailer is actually the whole film.

End of notes.

For a three-hour sitting, this certainly kept my attention, waiting to see who was next, and so enjoying the interviews, clips, shorts, and trailers. The ending has a bit of a surprise that I wont reveal, but made me smile.

It is really worth checking out if you are into some of the extreme ends of horror, but like it cheap, down, and dirty. Tony is right in his introduction, this will not be for everyone, but you know your own tastes by this point, and if you like splatter, this will eat at your brains and give you a great list of new films to seek for your collection.

Trailer TBD

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.”