1980s Foreign Horror Shorts Part Two

LE REVISSEMENT DE FRANK N. STEIN
(1982)
Dir - Georges Schwizgebel
Overall: GOOD

The debut from Swiss animator/filmmaker George Schwizgebel was Le revissement de Frank N. Stein, (The Ravishing of Frank N. Stein), an experimental combination of primitive animation and electronic music courtesy of Michael Horowitz and Rainer Boesch.  Essentially one continuous, nine minute shot, Schwizgebel sets in hypnotic motion an evolution of the emotional state of Frankenstein's creation, (which could stand in for the emotional evolution of any human being), beginning with an elementary interpretation of its surroundings and eventually morphing into a longing for love and acceptance.  Also because Frankenstein, things naturally do not work out.  Picking but one of the themes of Mary Shelley's original novel and then rotoscoping over actual footage from Universal's The Bride of Frankenstein, it is a simple yet interesting and trance-like look into one of the more moving aspects of the famous story.

THE PENDULUM, THE PIT AND HOPE
(1983)
Dir - Jan Švankmajer
Overall: GREAT

One of the many adaptations of Edgar Alan Poe's famed The Pit and the Pendulum, Czechoslovakian filmmaker Jan Švankmajer also merges it here with Auguste Villiers de L'lsle-Adam's A Torture By Hope for Kyvadlo, jáma a nadeje, (The Pendulum, the Pit and Hope).  Though many movies have been made based around Poe's source material, there may not be another more visceral than this.  Shot in grainy black and white, combining live action with stop-motion animation, and featuring POV camera work almost exclusively with no dialog or music, it presents a harrowing yet primitively stylized examination of mounting fear.  There are three set pieces in just under fifteen minute and each one portrays a combination of certain doom,yet as the title would suggest, also hope.  The set design is superb, particularly a mechanical fire and brimstone device that seems hellbent, (har, har), on sealing our protagonist's fate, a protagonist whose face is never shown to us and whose heavy breathing is the only sound we hear exiting their body.

GEOMETRIA
(1987)
Dir - Guillermo del Toro
Overall: GOOD

The tenth and to date last short film by Guillermo del Toro that has actually been released, Geometria, (Geometry), showcases the filmmaker's more comical side while simultaneously being as gruesome and macabre as ever.  Based somewhat off of the short story Naturally by Fredric Brown and borrowing the classic, often used Monkey's Paw logic to hilarious effect, two versions of the movie exist with the director's cut actually being the shorter one that features a different score by Christopher Drake who would go on to do numerous animated film's including the two del Toro produced in the Hellboy series.  In either edit, it is a solid pre-curser to del Toro's first full-length Cronos that would appear several years later, though again, much more on the funny side.  The color schemes are straight out of Italian horror, (particularly and intentionally the likes of Mario Bava), and though it is more than competently shot, the low-budget make-up effects and gore still help give it a delightful, amateurish charm.

DEATH AND THE MOTHER
(1988)
Dir - Ruth Lingford
Overall: GOOD

This very sombre and chilling wood-etching animated short was the debut from British animator Ruth Lingford.  It is a fairly close re-telling of the Hans Christian Andersen tale The Story of the Mother which was originally published in 1847, here titled Death and the Mother.  The film as well as the original source material itself can be looked at in a number of different lights.  An allegory for the sacrificial nature that any mother has to go through as well as the inevitability of death itself, (Death being personified both as a hidden, sudden presence as well as one that is wholly part of nature), it is an impressive feat for a mere ten minute, dialog-less movie to raise so many stimulating questions.  Lingford's primitive animation style contributes rather ideally, flowing in a continuous fashion and bringing in yet another layer of how life and eventually death both move in such a linear, inescapable paths.

KITCHEN SINK
(1989)
Dir - Alison Maclean
Overall: GOOD

Another black and white, part avant-garde short film with a number of themes to dissect, it is a fair comparison to see Kitchen Sink as sort of a feminist answer to David Lynch's seminal Eraserhead, be it one that is not so much concerned with the fears of being a parent but more the fears and desires of being in a relationship to begin with.  Though she was operating and living in New Zealand at the time, Canadian Alison Maclean, (who would go on to direct Natalie Imbruglia's "Torn" video which we all saw several thousand times on VH1 back in the late 90s), concocts a strange examination of female sexuality, boredom, loneliness and the way that men can be looked at as being horrifying, intriguing, and tantalizing from such a perspective.  The ending can further emphasize how these toxic qualities can be reoccurring as curiosity and human nature ultimately get the better out of our two, unnamed characters who are frightened, turned-on, afraid of, and nurturing to each other throughout the minuscule running time.

1980s Anime Horror Part Two

KYŌUFU DENSETSU KAIKI! FRANKENSTEIN
(1981)
Dir - Yugo Serikawa/Toyoo AshidaOverall:
Overall: MEH

This was the second Marvel comics monster adaptation from the Toei Animation studio, the first being Dracula: Sovereign of the Damned based off of The Tomb of Dracula.  Never given an official title in its American-dubbed form, this one has survived under both Monster of Frankenstein and Frankenstein Legend of Terror.  Similar in its production and featuring identical animation, it also shares some of the previous Dracula film's flaws which are sub-par voice acting, dated, inappropriate music, embarrassing dialog, silly narration, and a number of plot points that do not necessarily add up.  How Frankenstein's monster got his outfit and how he tracked his creator down over such a far distance so quickly are just two such details that are left vague to say the least.  It suffers more though by veering ever farther from its source material and the story is as bare bones as anything from Mary Shelley's initial novel source.  Dr. Frankenstein creates his monster, immediately regrets it, and then it runs amok and is hopelessly misunderstood.  It progresses at a miserable rate and ends on a note so unnecessarily depressing that it becomes inadvertently funny.  These aspects all contribute to the mundane nature of the entire thing, which never once picks up any steam to become that appealing.

LILY C.A.T.
(1987)
Dir - Hisayuki Toriumi
Overall: GOOD

Though it is really nothing more than yet another Alien clone, (and Alien itself having derived from a steady tradition of "astronauts going into deep space and getting their vessel infiltrated by a hostile, alien form" science fiction films), Lily C.A.T. works its cliches pretty good.  None of the anti-corporation, "this is a hard life and we don't matter" themes are anything new, plus and handful of tropes such as a logical, bad-ass captain who sacrifices himself unemotionally, a wanted criminal with a heart of gold, and a jarhead who is the first to get whacked are ones that we have seen in some variation in all of these types of movies.  Yet clocking in at only seventy-minutes, it gets in and gets out without lingering too long on such familiarity.  That said, it is rather dialog heavy with many of the characters unloading their lines without stopping for air.  Yet due to the moderate running time, it is refreshing to not pussy-foot around, (pun intended).  Also the voice acting is solid for a change, complimenting the script as it should.  Director Hisayuki Toriumi utilizes some excellent music, camera angles, and set pieces to creepy effect, styling it less like an anime and more like a live action horror movie.  Reinventing the wheel Lily C.A.T. is not, but it does a swell job for what it is.

DEMON CITY SHINJUKU
(1988)
Dir - Yoshiaki Kawajiri
Overall: MEH

Directed by Yoshiaki Kawajiri from Wicked City and Ninja Scroll fame, Demon City Shinjuku is yet another adaptation of one of horror novelist Hideyuki Kikuchi's works.  A similar premise of demons and humans at odds with each other is once again afoot and this time the results are overall a bit more silly and redundant.  For curious reasons, the accents are all over the place here.  Even though it takes place in Japan and most of the characters are animated in the usual nondescript, anime style, everything from bad Chicano, hillbilly, British, American, and Eastern European accents are on display in a desperate attempt to make everyone sound like they are from a completely different part of the world for whatever reason.  Considering the lack of nudity or comparatively more subdued gore, some of the dialog comes off unnecessarily crass, resulting in some possibly unintended laughs.  Pacing wise, it screeches to a halt more than a few times where characters literally just stare at each other for several moments in silence as if the animators forgot to actually animate.  The presentation is still excellently stylized though and the desolate title city overrun by monsters and criminals looks fantastic.  Kawajiri also manages to conduct a few memorable acts, at least when the aforementioned pacing issues are not getting in the way.

1980s Anime Horror Part One

DRACULA: SOVEREIGN OF THE DAMNED
(1980)
Dir - Akinori Nagaoka/Minoru Okazaki
Overall: GOOD

On paper, the concept of a condensed, ninety-minute film based off of the superb Marvel title of The Tomb of Dracula seems fool proof.  Animated by the Toei studio in Japan and eventually released in America under the title of Dracula: Sovereign of the Damned, (the original title being Yami no Teiō: Kyūketsuki Dorakyura, a.k.a. Emperor of Darkness: Vampire Dracula), the movie works for both fans of the comic and horror aficionados due to its technically impressive animation and a good amount of macabre set pieces.  This would include Lucifer-summoning black masses, a showdown in a remote Transylvanian graveyard against a horde of undead, and on the funny side, Dracula sitting in a diner in New York eating a hamburger.  As far as having a lasting legacy though, it becomes a bit unintentionally goofy in a lot of respects.  Cramming such a large amount of comic book issues into a single story, it seems hugely rushed and plot holes are inevitable.  The American dubbing is typically atrocious and worse yet, the dialog is as awful as some of the voice casting.  It is quite a problem when your title villain comes off more laughable than intimidating and the inclusion of hammy narration at various points ups the schlock value even further.  Oh and there is really dated disco music throughout.  In spite of all of its flaws though, it is undeniably a unique entry into the Dracula film cannon.

VAMPIRE HUNTER D
(1985)
Dir - Toyoo Ashida
Overall: GOOD

The first adaptation of Hideyuki Kikuchi's Vampire Hunter D series was the one in OVA form from anime designer/filmmaker Toyoo Ashida.  It is one of the works that helped shift anime further from its more family-oriented properties and instead exclusively targeted an adult or young adult audience while shamelessly channeling Gothic, European horror films from the 50s-70s.  Vampire Hunter D has become rather renowned and naturally spawned a sequel as well as a video game, magna, and comic book line in addition to the number of Kikuchi's pre-existing light novels.  It works in the anime framework where some of the dialog and situations become inadvertently comical due to the cultural interpretation by American voice actors for an American audience and the animation itself seems primitive in parts while being wholly stylized with anatomically incorrect body types and unrealistic gore.  These are hardly a hindrance though and the mythology and lore that heavily drenches the plot seems both familiar and exciting in equal measures.  It still plays out as a mostly sincere merging of tropes and does a well enough job of setting itself apart from hoards of similar vampire vehicles in other mediums.

WICKED CITY
(1987)
Dir - Yoshiaki Kawajiri
Overall: GOOD

This full-length sophomore effort from animator Yoshiaki Kawajiri was made after an initial short was produced which impressed the Japan Home Video corporation enough that they then greenlit the full adaptation of Hideyuki Kikuchi's novel of the same name.  Full of misogyny, boobs, and plot holes, (as well as demon-woman-spider-monsters who shoot webs out of their vaginas), Wicked City manages to be a pretty enjoyably inventive, erotic neo-noir despite some of its silliness.  Presenting mostly blue, co-existing realms where demons and humans go to great lengths in remaining at peace when they are not boning each other, the script may not be the most intellectually gripping, but it gets by on its imaginative visuals and moody tone.  The comic relief found in the adorably horny and seemingly irresponsible Giuseppe Mayar character notwithstanding, Kawajiri maintains a serious feel that makes the simple story a forgivable one, even when characters routinely stand still while their enemies very slowly unveil some kind of battle maneuver that will surely doom them.  In this case, making a striking and exciting world is the chief objective though and in that capacity, it is a solid success.

1980s Asian Horror Part Four

WE'RE GOING TO EAT YOU
(1980)
Dir - Tsui Hark
Overall: MEH

The sophomore effort from Chinese filmmaker Tsui Hark, We're Going to Eat You, (as the title rather easily demonstrates), is a horror comedy about cannibals because yes.  It was not a hit in its native Hong Kong and that is not too surprising upon viewing.  The structure is both tedious and inconsistent.  All of the characters are either bumbling, limp-willed jackasses or supernaturally dexterous kung-fu warriors depending on who is supposed to escape or get killed in a particular fight.  As far as those fights go, there are way too many of them.  It gets to the point where the dialog in between scenes of people constantly avoiding machete blows seems to fly by in an instant, leaving an unheralded amount of screen time to more and more boringly choreographed chase and fight scenes.  Worse yet, the movie is not very funny.  Repeated attempts at humor are made at the expense of a large, alarmingly ugly transvestite who wants to rape the two main guys.  Also, the film manages to throw in hi-jinks involving barely fleshed-out secondary characters, including one utterly random scene where a blind guy we do not know almost pees on someone.  Before the gags run out of steam and the premise overstays its welcome, it is mildly dumb and unworthy of one's scorn at least.

SUDDENLY AT MIDNIGHT
(1981)
Dir - Ko Young-nam
Overall: GOOD

This low-key, psychological horror outing from prolific director Ko Young-nam, (and scripted by the equally busy Sam-yuk Yoon), is somewhat of a throwback to the British supernatural films of the late 60s and early 70s with a knowing nod to Italian giallos as well.  Stylistically, this is a slow boil, perhaps too slow for some tastes as its rather repetitive nature and largely barren soundtrack rev up so gradually that the plausibility of some character's behavior comes into question.  On that note, Suddenly At Midnight, (Suddenly in the Dark, Suddenly in Dark Night), has a persistent theme of a housewife whose mental stability is either illogically disregarded or seen as a pestering annoyance for those that expect such women in modern society to behave complacently.  Though it arguably pushes this "it is all in your imagination" cliche a little too far, it is still expertly done.  As the best of these film's often do, the viewer is never 100% let in on the "reality" of the situation, even during the wonderfully tense and creepy finale.  This one is a study of a modern woman's anxiety overwhelming them in a disturbing way, how preoccupied husbands and friends can consistently be unsympathetic, and at the same time, it is a good ole spooky ghost story that has the utmost patience to deliver its chills.

A CHINESE GHOST STORY
(1987)
Dir - Ching Siu-tung
Overall: MEH

Following in the popular tradition of other such supernatural horror comedies from Hong Kong except utilizing a larger budget, A Chinese Ghost Story became one of the best-regarded movies of its kind.  A combination of several works from Qing dynasty author Pu Songling's Strange Stories from a Chinese Studio, the film spawned a few sequels, (including an animated one), and remake since no profitable horror franchise can ever be left alone.  While fun and over the top in several instances, it is still imperfect.  Only the third film from Ching Siu-tung, the pacing is actually too brisk, as set pieces cruise by so fast that hardly any of the mythology gets a chance to be explained.  Still, viewers who are already familiar with much of the cinematic folklore about evil, Chinese spirits via the likes of say Mr. Vampire will be able to follow along without any issues.  Unlike Category III exploitation movies from the era, gore and macabre visuals instead give way to a lighthearted fairy-tale framework, even though a giant demon tongue does attack some characters for one of its most memorable moments.  Ineffective and incessant musical cues also become off-putting and downright bizarre in one instance when Wu Ma's Taost swordsman spontaneously turns the movie into a musical for one scene and one scene only.

1980s Asian Horror Part Three

HUMAN LANTERNS
(1982)
Dir - Chung Sun
Overall: GOOD

Another Hong Kong horror/martial arts hybrid produced by the Shaw brothers, Human Lanterns packs in a plethora of physics-defining kung-fu battles and cocksure, laughing bad guys, neither of which is a bad thing.  If you are not the biggest martial arts movie fan, generally the highly choreographed, drawn-out fight scenes can easily bog down everything, which of course begs the question "Why watch such a movie in the first place?".  Yet here, all of the jumping, flipping, superhumanly acrobatic swordplay accompanied by ridiculous sound effects are pretty excellency paced, as is the entire film.  This is impressive since the audience is let in on the mystery fairly early and the structure could be seen as somewhat monotonous, but it still manages to rev up to a satisfactory conclusion.  Along the way, a cackling monkey man wearing a skull mask abducts several women in a creepy enough way and the premise, (as the title easily suggests), of making lanterns out of human skin effectively fits the "horror" tag quite nicely.  It is not reinventing any rules and one can giggle at some of its silly plot points fairly enough, but it gets the job done all the same.

EVIL DEAD TRAP
(1988)
Dir - Toshiharu Ikeda
Overall: MEH

A few things contribute to how astronomically boring the first in the Evil Dead Trap series is.  Director Toshiharu Ikeda seems to be making his Japanese answer to Italian giallos in some respects, particularly with the use of a reoccurring musical theme and a slasher framework where the masked killer's identity reveal is meant to be as cockamamie as possible.  He even manages to pull off a few creepy, be they illogical moments such as said killer flashing a Polaroid camera that one of his victims dropped to announce his presence.  There is also a scene that the Saw franchise stole, (either intentionally or not), which is obviously a shortcoming.  While it does not help how predictable the plot plays out and Masaki Tamura's cinematography is uneven with some scenes being atmospherically staged while others are too brightly lit, (which only highlights the actual low film quality), the film's pacing is enormously poor.  Lots and lots and lots of scenes seem to never end and it becomes increasingly comedic how Ikeda either seemed incapable of yelling "cut" in an orderly fashion or his editor was just hell-bent on getting the whole thing past the ninety-minute mark.  It would have ended up being a cliche-ridden slasher dud with an unnecessarily stupid ending anyway, but since it also flows like molasses, it is best left alone.

MEN BEHIND THE SUN
(1988)
Dir - T. F. Mou
Overall: WOOF

What can easily be described as torture porn disguised as a historical war film, Men Behind the Sun is questionably unnecessary by its very design.  If one feels so compelled to read pages upon pages of historical text, books, and documents that divulge all of the horrific details of Japan's Unit 731 and their atrocious war crimes committed until the end of the second world war, why watch a nearly two-hour exploitation movie that unflinchingly portrays a small handful of such atrocities?  This takes some of the educational merit away from the film as well as any artistic merit since it is so thoroughly unpleasant to sit through.  Besides the nauseating violence and human suffering shown, alleged autopsy footage and animal murder, (as well as child nudity), also helped make it enormously controversial and heavily censored in most countries.  It is positively more uncomfortable due to how the Japanese military is portrayed.  Going far beyond being simply desensitized to their duties, the fact that they seem generally pleased and enthusiastic about torturing and murdering so many people makes the entire movie sit very unwell with virtually any audience.  Not to say that the images and scenarios brought to the screen here are inaccurate or even glorified, but it still does not change that one would prefer watching almost anything else instead. 

1980s Asian Horror Part Two

SAMURAI REINCARNATION
(1981)
Dir - Kinji Fukasaku
Overall: GOOD

A bit meandering in the middle, Kinji Fukasaku's Samurai Reincarnation, (Makai Tenshō), is still rather wild and enjoyable.  Utilizing the 17th century Shimabara Rebellion where Christian peasants rose up against the Tokugawa military government as a historical backdrop and then throwing a whole bunch of supernatural hoopla on top of it, the film's primary focus on bloody revenge gives way to many a memorable set piece.  At first it seems like a small be it formidable army of resurrected nobles and warriors turned devils are going to take down the non-Christian regime which ushers in an interesting paradox where the Christians are the devils and ergo, the bad guys.  Yet once they all start going about their own business in challenging and manipulated whoever they see fit, the film gets a bit unfocused as the larger arc takes a backseat to a somewhat confused series of side plots.  Along the way though, it still manages to be darkly engrossing in a deliberately excessive manner while also being downright spooky in enough instances.  The opening and ending scenes with a massive display of slaughtered Christians and then an entire capital engrossed in flames are visually striking, successfully bookending all of the sword fights, blasphemy, and mayhem in between.

MR. VAMPIRE
(1985)
Dir - Ricky Lau
Overall: GOOD

The first in the Mr. Vampire series and one that furthered the popularity for the jiangshi genre, (resulting in several sequels, copy cat films, a similarly themed television show also staring Lam Ching-ying, a stage play, toys, and even a Nintendo game), holds up as one of the better horror comedies probably of the entire decade.  First time director Ricky Lau and a list of screenwriting collaborators both official and otherwise make excellent and funny use of the jumping vampire zombie ghost tropes and it is easy to see the appeal for both horror fans or otherwise.  The pacing is brisk, the comedy is quite goofy yet intelligently done in a slapsticky way, the supernatural mythology is continually inventive, it does not shy completely away from a few gross-out, low brow moments, and the fight scenes are few enough in number to not bog the movie down as other such martial arts films routinely did.  Casting wise, Ching-ying was already a star in his native Hong Kong and would go on to have a career in such films both in and outside of this franchise, collaborating further with producer Sammo Hung in more punching, jumping, kicking projects.  His very deadpan performance compliments all of the ridiculous that is going on around him and he is hard not to root for as a wonderful action hero with a cornucopia of occult knowledge at his beck and call.

THE SEVENTH CURSE
(1986)
Dir - Lam Ngai Kai
Overall: GOOD

It is not too clear from watching just how knowingly silly The Seventh Curse is supposed to be.  Probably a significant amount silly.  Based on the Dr. Yuen series of pulp novels by Ni Kuang and also featuring Chow Yun-fat as the main protagonists from Yuen's other Wisely Series of novels, this is essentially a Hong Kong Indiana Jones movie except revolving around black, tribal magic.  The characters travel to foreign, mysterious lands, there is a race against time, an annoying female reporter who moronically keeps getting into danger, an evil, cackling sorcerer, mystical artifacts and rituals, a brilliant and suave occult expert, and hilarious toy skeletons and unconvincing puppet monsters.  Coming from the director of Riki Oh: The Story of Ricky, it is also understandably heavy on the gore and gruesomeness, with children getting pulverized into a pool of blood, maggots exploding from the inside of bodies, and creatures ripping each others limbs and organs out.  With all of these details in tow, it would be nearly impossible for the movie not to be entertaining and it is indeed wacky enough to please any admirer of over the top action movies or fans of pre-CGI practical effects that leaned heavy on the goofy side.  Both of which the 1980s where rather prominent in producing.

1980s Asian Horror Part One

ENCOUNTERS OF THE SPOOKY KIND
(1980)
Dir - Sammo Hung
Overall: GOOD

Martial arts movies are inherently silly, so when you have one that is designed to be a comedy, a great deal of fun can be had laughing with the finished product.  Encounters of the Spooky Kind, (Gui da gui, Spooky Encounters, Close Encounters of the Spooky Kind), is the only horror comedy from martial arts filmmaker/choreographer Sammo Hung and one that helped spawn a number of similar, genre mishmashes throughout the 80s.  This one gets increasingly off the rails as rivaling brother wizards seem to make up magical rituals on the fly as a chubby goofball played by Hung himself, (who here knows how to hold his own in a kung-fu bash as much as everyone else), keeps getting into ridiculously choreographed battles while zombies, ghosts, vampires, and whatever else routinely joins the party.  It is stupid plot wise, but not any more absurd than others like it.  Depending on one's penchant for such movies, the infinite fight scenes may bore you more than they are supposed to, but the horror set pieces are thankfully wonderful and unapologetically lighthearted in a ghoulish way.  While it is often more culturally odd than funny, a few jokes do hit the mark like a "Y.M.C.A" reference and the ending where a husband and wife reunite with genuinely hilarious results.

SEX BEYOND THE GRAVE

(1984)

Dir - Chun Keung Chiu/Tai-Heng Li

Overall: MEH

The Shaw Brothers sleazy and ridiculous take on Poltergeist is the fetchingly titled Sex Beyond the Grave, (Fung lau yuen gwai), which has many of the usual stylistic motifs from the studio.  While there is still a good amount of unintentional humor to be found stemming from wacky supernatural activity that has no rhyme or reason attached to it, the tone is more consistent than one would expect from something combining ghosts, rape and revenge, and eroticism.  These elements are juggled in a frantically paced manner, (another common trait in such movies where the editor seems hellbent on trimming as much fat as possible by rapidly cutting between scenes), and it makes for a goofy watch even with harrowing narrative elements taking place.  A woman has her husband and child brutally killed right in front of her and is then back-to-back raped by both the murder and a greedy yet already exponentially wealthy slime-ball, plus a child is abducted by vengeful spirits which prompts a gambling addict and former friend to take advantage of the situation by staging a ransom drop off.  Wholesome stuff for something that is also borrowing bullet points left and right from Tobe Hooper and Stephen Spielberg's family-friendly haunted house blockbuster.  When the movie is not being too miserable or goofy to take seriously though, directors Chun Keung Chie and Tai-Heng Li create some effective atmosphere and macabre visuals.

DEATH POWDER
(1986)
Dir - Shigeru Izumiya
Overall: WOOF

Actor/poet/folk singer Shigeru Izumiya has only made two films and the longest of them at a mere sixty-two minutes also serves as the first Japanese cyberpunk movie.  Cyberpunk has its own niche to be sure, but watching Death Powder, (Desu Paudā), is a miserable and frustrating waste of time in any regard.  Nonsensical to a major fault, it forgoes even setting up who its characters are or what they are doing before spending more than half of its short running time slowly and, (very, very), boringly throwing a bunch of unrelated nonsense on screen without a shred of context.  Compelling visuals and an off-kilter tone can enhance any form of avant-garde cinema, but the piss-pour, low-budget video aesthetic here coupled with how random and unexplained every set piece is offers up only frustration.  Attempting to make heads or tails from what can possibly be going on is fruitless, so all that leaves you with is trying to enjoy such baffling and incoherent drivel.  Maybe the Z-grade technical aspects and disregard for rationality enhances the experience for some, but others may like their hour back.