WHERE THE DEAD GO TO DIE: Animate and Devastate

Where the Dead Go to Die (2012) 
Director: Jimmy ScreamerClauz 
Writer: Jimmy ScreamerClauz 
Cast: Ruby Larocca, Joey Smack, Linnea Quigley, Trent Haaga, Devanny Pinn 
Website: http://www.deadlyproductionsrecords.com/wtd.html

Animated films possess the ability to push boundaries like no other artform; the limitations exist only in the imaginations of the creators. From Émile Cohl's ghostly chalk-line images in 1908’s Phantasmagoria, to the grotesque works of stop-motion animator Robert Morgan (Bobby Yeah!, The Cat with Hands), horrific animated films exist to provoke and startle in a medium that transcends notions of being made "just for kids". Adults will find plenty of provocative material to mine in the realms of stop-motion, hand-drawn, or in the case of this review's subject, shaky computer generated animation.

Animation may have been the only viable forum for Jimmy ScreamerClauz (The Bunnyman) to tackle the miserable themes he’s chosen to examine in his crudely animated, but deeply disturbing feature Where the Dead Go to Die. Curiously, the aesthetic of WTDGTD is akin to the primitive block 3D style of 90's video game “cinema” scenes, an artistic choice that may, at the outset, incite more laughter than screams. It's unclear if this is a deliberate choice by ScreamerClauz, or if he's still familiarizing himself with digital tools; this facet of the film will undoubtedly receive the toughest criticism. It can be argued, however, that the occasionally inane look was an effective way of rendering the massively depressing material more palatable, and succeeds in providing an unnervingly surreal quality to the film. It’s only partially a joke to say that the crude format may be the only way this kind of material – elements of child prostitution, bestiality, and unfettered bloodshed – can legally exist at all.

ScreamerClauz’s film is fashioned from three interconnected stories (Tainted Milk, Liquid Memories, The Masks That Monsters Wear) set in a ramshackle neighborhood on the outskirts of town. It’s a place that exists everywhere, one where addiction, poverty, and abuse prevail, and moments of lucidity are fleeting for those trapped in the clutches of despair. Dark evil not only pervades, it radiates, infecting those on the fringe. As one character explains, it’s a place that serves to “balance” the world of light and dark, life and death. Darkness and death are, indeed, omnipresent, and the monsters dwelling here are very real.

Child characters are the focal point of the film, the structure woven from their horrible stories, and intertwined by visits from a demonic dog named Labby. Tommy is a young boy driven to committing vile acts against his parents, persuaded by Labby that his pregnant mother is carrying Satan’s child. Ralph, a boy born with a horrible deformity, harbors an adolescent crush somewhere between lust and obsession that makes him susceptible to Labby’s sadistic whims. Sophie, the only victim not given a choice by Labby, lives a life of cruel exploitation, prostituted by her twisted father in a child porn operation. Each child's suffering connects them in a heartbreaking union of inescapable misery, one that transcends space and time. ScreamerClauz’s storytelling here, consequently, manages to massacre a familiar slice of comforting Americana – a boy (or girl) and his (her) dog.

ScreamerClauz overcomes the obstacles one might attribute to the “primitive” technological tools by going full tilt with the imagery; no one can accuse him of not going far enough in the graphic depictions of carnage. Torture, rape, and other atrocities litter an overwhelmingly sadistic environment replete with vicious and visceral imagery. It’s twisted, gory, subversive stuff, yet profound in its ability to seep beneath the skin of the viewer despite technical flaws that should dilute the content. Better yet, it isn’t completely nihilistic; there are fleeting moments of sublime joy shared temporarily between the characters. For example, Ralph spends time with his crush Sophie in a beautiful garden, a moment shattered by Sophie’s realization that she must get home before her father "misses" her.

It’s difficult to recommend a film comprised of such wretched, painful material, especially considering the unsophisticated aesthetic employed by ScreamerClauz. It would, however, be a mistake to dismiss Where the Dead Go to Die on those grounds. It’s a film that at its core is one of the most purely horrific films released in some time. By pushing the limits on what is acceptable in film and animation, it opens up new and relevant avenues of discussion for confrontational cinema. It’s certainly not for everyone. It may not be for anyone. Yet it’s a film that absolutely shouldn’t be ignored by those open to the challenges of ScreamClauz’s literal and figurative demons.

Where the Dead Go to Die Trailer

BUFF Recap - Opening Night, Night 2 (I Declare War, The Manson Family, A Band Called Death, Guilty of Romance)

A Band Called Death

Though it's already spring, the start of my year truly begins with the Boston Underground Film Festival. Each year since I've lived in the Boston area, at least two or three BUFF selections invariably make my year-end top ten list. Some have gone beyond as all time favorites including last year's offering John Dies at the End or Amer from a few years back.

Opening Night: I Declare War (2013), The Manson Family (2003)

I Declare War

Opening night of BUFF featured Jason Lapeyre and Robert Wilson's I Declare War, a deconstruction of the war film using a cast composed entirely of children. It's a commentary on the horror of war, as well as an affecting coming-of-age story. The film is sure to provoke controversy as the characters' fantasy play using sticks as weapons crosses over into a harrowing imaginative landscape where real guns rule the woods. Read my Full Review over at Paracinema Magazine's Website.

Following up was the re-release of James Van Bebber's shocking  The Manson Family, marking its 10th anniversary. The Manson Family is part fictional narrative, part documentary, and a savage imagining told through the eyes of Manson's most recognized cult members. Van Bebber's dizzying grindhouse-era aesthetic is one for which Rob Zombie reaches, but never quite grasps. This film - particularly the third act - will haunt you.  


Night 2: A Band Called Death (2012), Guilty of Romance (2011)

Guilty of Romance

Sadly, I missed out on Blue Dream. I was, however, able to find myself among an enthusiastic crowd for the stellar documentary A Band Called Death. Mark Christopher Covino and Jeff Howlett trace the history of unknown proto-punk band Death, formed by three brothers in Detroit in 1971. Inspired by the music of Alice Cooper and The Who, this passionate trio was lost to obscurity (including the death of one brother) until record collectors discovered them three decades later which prompted a re-release of their album once relegated to an attic shelf.

Sion Sono concludes his "Trilogy of Hate" with Guilty of Romance, a provocative examination of Japanese culture and the roles of women within a constrictive society. As usual, Sono's film is brazen and beautiful, but requires the viewer crack the codes of his lyrical delivery of challenging themes. You can read my Full Review over at Diabolique Magazine's website.

Recaps of the remainder of BUFF's programming on the way including Cheap Thrills, See You Next Tuesday, White Reindeer, Saturday Morning Cartoons, Jug Face, and BIG ASS SPIDER!

Help Genre Icon Karen Black Battle Cancer

Here's an opportunity to give back to a genre icon who has graced screens both large and small. Karen Black, the incredibly talented star of Day of the Locust, Trilogy of Terror, and Easy Rider, is currently battling a very serious form of cancer. She and her family are raising money to help with expenses associated with cancer treatment. Please consider donating to her campaign to help restore the strong, captivating presence we all adore.

Harmony Korine's SPRING BREAKERS: Party 'til You Die

Spring Breakers (2013)
Director: Harmony Korine
Writer: Harmony Korine
Cast: Ashley Benson, James Franco, Selena Gomez, Vanessa Hudgens, Rachel Korine, Gucci Mane
Website: Spring Breakers Official Website

In Harmony Korine's Spring Breakers, shaman-like OG Alien (James Franco) utters the mantra "spring break forever" in an ethereal tone that echoes throughout the film. His words are the lynchpin between two colliding yet converging worlds. The participants in those worlds are each living a fantasy life with a fast approaching expiration date; the difference is that one group has the ability to escape that world whenever they chose, while the other is trapped by circumstance.

College friends Faith (Gomez), Candy (Hudgens), Brit (Benson), and Cotty (Korine), a group of pretty blondes (and one brunette), are a few dollars short to make it down south to St. Petersburg, Florida for Spring Break. The obvious solution is rob a local restaurant for the loot, one performed with aplomb by the ennui-stricken girls. Each is looking for a life changing experience among the partying crowds of the beaches and clubs, and find a world ready to embrace their pent up emotions and lust for ACTION. When they land in jail after a drug raid, Alien bails them out and takes the enthusiastic crew on a violent voyage into his world of hustling, guns, and drugs.

A superficial look at Korine's multi-layered film would have you believe this is just a Girls Gone Wild video taken to the utmost extremes. That couldn't be more inaccurate. Sure, the film is filled from beginning to end with tanned naked bodies, rampant drug use, and violence, but peeling those layers reveals an affecting examination of intersecting cultural, economic, and existential themes. The film is actually a rather complicated piece of filmmaking once those conversation threads are breached.

College kids descend like a plague upon communities like St. Petersburg, stripping the towns to the bone. Conversely, these communities are dependent upon a tourism trade that requires them to look the other way as privileged young adults yearning for "freedom" or "release" do so under a veil of perceived consequence-free debauchery. On the outskirts lie the people born and raised in those communities whose only chance of survival is in benefiting from the destruction. Like the four horsemen of the apocalypse, our four young protagonists - deemed "special" by Alien - penetrate the fringes where people like Alien and his rival Archie (Gucci Mane) battle for control of the illicit profits and the infinite perpetuation of gangster culture. This subculture is now in danger of succumbing to the same fate that befell the city around it.

Disney star Gomez as the wholesome Faith is the only character given any sort of depth, and for a reason. Her character is the only one with plans for genuine soul-searching. She, however, heads home quickly when things get too uncomfortable. The rest of the characters live in a state of arrested development, opting instead to take Alien literally on his offer to live like it's Spring Break forever. Already having it all, they now want Alien's lifestyle - a house full of guns and money - because nothing else could possibly be fulfilling. As he puts it, "this is the American dream".

The interchangeability of the remaining female characters plays into Korine's challenges to pop culture and its rotating cast of used child stars, co-opted culture (hip-hop in particular), and other forms of throw-away exploitation. His casting of child-stars Gomez and Hudgens, as well as running tributes to Brittney Spears serves to drive his point that innocence is not only lost, but it's been taken out back behind a shed, shot in the head, and buried in an unmarked grave while the next "big thing" is trumpeted just above the freshly buried corpse.

Part of what makes Spring Breakers fascinating is the sumptuous visuals provided by Benoit Debie (Irreversible) who contrasts the frenetic party scenes with periods of wondrous beauty. This can be shots of the setting sun on a beach, or just the image of the four girls playfully contorting their bodies in silhouette against the walls of narrow hallways and breezeways. These are the moments when the characters feel most human with a world truly open to possibility. These moments are also fleeting...

The scenes of violence employed by Korine may seem over-the-top, but it's a clever way to subvert expectations. These girls  commit crimes without remorse or fear, believing that they do, indeed, rule the world. They do so brazenly, right in the faces of their victims, believing every second that they are invincible. In this extreme and satirical way, Korine is contrasting their behavior with that of politicians, corporations, entertainers, and the like that anonymously do the same. These are the children of those so-called leaders who will grow up to replace them in their pursuit of money, money, money. Think of Spring Break as depicted here an internship for the larger crimes surely to characterize their career trajectory.

Spring Breakers Trailer