Film Review: THE DEN (2013)

Elizabeth Benton (Melanie Papalia) is researching the habits of web cam chat users when she comes across what she believes is an authentic killing of a young women by a masked killer.  When no one believes her she decides that she can’t sit by and do nothing but by becoming involved and not letting it go she comes under the presence of the killer.  This is the plot of the film The Den (2013) a film that users the technology of the web cam chat to tell its story of Internet stalking and murder. 

Elizabeth has been given a grant to remain online and using a website called The Den to conduct her research.  The problem is that when she opens herself to everything online it opens her up to all the evil that is out there.  Soon Elizabeth is being stalked herself and friends of hers start to disappear.  By the time the police actually believe her it may be too late.

Because the film unfolds over several days watching the film via web cam chat room gets really monotonous really fast and some of the things that the masked killer does seem impossible or unbelievable.  Papalia does a capable job of holding the film together since she’s the person you follow from beginning to end.  The film is directed by Zachary Donohue who also co-wrote with Lauren Thompson.  Despite having a slow beginning the film does pick up and actually does a really good job in the third act which is where Papalia gets to really show her stuff.

 The film has an interesting concept in the way of presenting a modern day “snuff” film for the digital age.  It’s not the best film of its kind but it’s a decent one that not a complete waste of time.

Film Review: FROM A PLACE OF DARKNESS (2008)

For a low budget independent film director Douglas A. Raine’s From a Place of Darkness (2008) is a pretty decent start for a veteran of such films as Men of Honor (2000), Holy Man (1998), The Postman (1997), and Broken Arrow (1996), where he was assistant director.  From a Place of Darkness is a smaller film than those that delves into the slow descent of a documentary filmmaker researching a snuff film filmmaker . 

Miles Kody (Travis Schuldt) is a documentary filmmaker whose latest subject is Vic (John Savage), a self-professed snuff movie filmmaker.  As Miles delves deeper into Vic’s mode of operation he slowly discovers that the location from which Vic has made these alleged films is haunted by his victims.   The more Miles discovers about Vic the deeper his obsession to know the truth and the more withdrawn he becomes to both family and friends.

Raine’s film is not perfect by any means but it is a slow burning character film that comes off as an indie film with something to say in the way of darkness and how it can eat into a person’s soul and make them do things that they wouldn’t normally do.  Savage does a lamentable job with the material but at times he comes off as a caricature.  This actually helps the film as sometimes it is does get bogged down by its own excesses.   

The cast for the film is filled out with very capable actors such as Conor Duffy, Valery Ortiz, Natalie Zea and a special appearance by Bronson Pinchot (who chews the scenery about as much as Savage does).  The film does pick up steam in the third act which is a bit odd considering how the first two thirds are.  The film decides to bring the paranormal aspects to the forefront which may turn off a few people expecting a more cerebral film but it does allow the film to have some immediacy which was lacking in the rest of the film.  Overall, the film is nothing spectacular but if you’re a John Savage fan then you’ll enjoy his performance as a snuff movie filmmaker.

Book Review: KILLING FOR CULTURE by David Kerekes & David Slater

There will be few people that will pick up the book Killing For Culture: An Illustrated History of Death Film From Mondo to Snuff with other than complete distaste and disgust because of its subject matter.  It is, in fact, a book dedicated to the death film and culture as depicted in mondo and snuff films.  The book is written by David Kerekes and David Slater and it leaves no stone unturned when describing the history and influence of mondo and snuff films on culture and the film industry as a whole.

Originally the mondo film was a collection of realistic and horrifying incidents caught on film and showcased for the enjoyment of an audience.  Snuff films were films that depicted the real torture and killing of innocent people for the enjoyment of an audience.  The rise of the mondo film can be seen in such classic hardcore films as The Last House on the Left (1972) and Peeping Tom (1960) when audiences began to experience violence in a different way.  These led filmmakers to believe that if fake violence could draw in an audience then so could real life violence and atrocities.  This gave rise to films such as Faces of Death (1978) and Mondo Cane (1972) and Mondo Bizarro (1966), all well as a plethora of others.  This book outlines the rise and fall of the mondo and snuff films starting with the influence of those early films to the oversaturation of these films in the marketplace up until the video boom (in which these films thrived when they could no longer command an audience at the underground and drive-in theaters).

The real treat of the book whether you are interested in these types of films or not is the fact that Kerekes & Slater do an amazing job presenting the films and facts in chronological order and how they affected the film industry and genre as a whole.  The book doesn’t dwell on the contents of each of the films but does give an overview of each of the films to help illustrate the market for such films especially during its downfall when most of the films comprised of recreated material instead of actual real footage.  There is nothing that is sacred in mondo film as not only violence but sex, racial discrimination, and other atrocities become cannon fodder.

This book is presented as a historical reference for the genre and doesn’t glorify any of the films or filmmakers mentioned because unlike the films themselves this book tries to present “just the facts.”  The chapters on snuff films are rather light considering that officially no authority has ever recovered an authentic snuff film, but just simulated snuff films.  This does not deter the fact that there is an audience out there for snuff films to begin with which just delves into the darker recesses of humanity.

This book is an intelligent read but the subject matter may only be for the film historian and analysts and not the casual movie goers.