Patrick Thompson
DvD
Mon, 12.10.07
12:09 pm

Have you ever left a film feeling shell-shocked? Have you ever felt so blown-away by a film you couldn’t speak. Its only happened to me twice, after Jonathan Caotes disturbing autobiographical collage Taranation and Chris Silverston's mind-blowing indie flick the Lost (which you must see) and a now a third time.
With Mind flesh.

Taking a look in the horror section of the DVD store lately? What have you seen on the shelves. Lots of Saw rip-offs, I'll wager. Loads of torture porn trash trying to ride on Eli Roth’s coat tails, maybe even a few remakes. Its at times like this when you wonder “is there anything original in horror?”.

Mind flesh is original. Whatever you think of it, and its bound to divide opinion its certainly different. Mind flesh is pure punch -in the gut cinema, it gets in to your head and stays firmly lodged there. Its scary at times but that’s what elevates above it the boo-machine theatrics of most modern horror is the disturbed unnerved feeling that it gives you or how it stays with you in your day to day life after. This like Teeth at horrorthon is True horror and doesn’t mean an excuse to rip-off flicks from the 70s.

The film follows Human Traffics Peter Bramhill as Chris Jackson a failed author who gave up his dream to become a taxi driver. He begin to see sighting of a dream woman (the goddess played excellently in a mostly silent performance by sexy French actress Carole Derrien last seen in gonzo Brit horror nature morte). We see that this obsession has torn apart his relationship and as truly begun to consume him. Bizarrely the goddess becomes real, Peters mind makes his fantasises reality. Peter must deal with his childhood trauma the source of his power before it destroys his friends.

This film is amazing both as a horror film and as a film. At times reminiscent of films like Hellraiser, Donnie Darko and Pans Labyrinth this is a film that truly must be seen. There is such disgusting, vivid imagery in this film that you wont believe, the sort of psycho-sexual imagery that must give Prattens psychiatrist a heart attack. What makes the film scary is not boo-machine theatrics but the constant fear of what the director is going to unleash upon your eyes next…and the shock when he does. This stuff is truly unbelievable , its not pretty but it truly pushes the boundaries of cinema in an almost bizarrely fascinating way. Like Cronenberg Pratten shows he has the balls to lead the viewers in to areas they may not be comfortable exploring.

The direction and style of this film is unique and excellent blending elements from art house cinema in to the film. At times, the film shows event in a non-linear narrative and Robert employs excellent visualisations to create the atmosphere of a dream ,of reality being disrupted or of the dream-like reality of a traumatic childhood memory. The cinematography is amazing, the film though shot on high definition video digitally looks beautiful and stylish, really professional and a nice change from the usual cheap looking Brit horror films.

The acting is excellent ,surprisingly for a British indie flick. Bramhill invests the main character with a world weary quality, suggesting a lot more going on beneath the surface. Carole Derrien is as I say amazing in a mostly silent performance plus she’s damn sexy (and threes some stuff in there for all you T and A fans!). Christopher Fairbanks , an actor who appeared in Aliens and Batman but will probably be best known for his part in the sitcom Auf Windiershen pet puts in a brief but memorable appearance.

Its trippy, haunting and ethereal qualities are brought to the fore by the excellent score by Arban Severin wife of Siouxse and the Banshees founder Steven Severin (who worked on the score for Prattens previous film London Voodo). At times (though very few) sounding like a Claudio Simonetti Goblin score, at others ambient electronica like Aphex Twin or Square pusher and others something completely different its lush and beautiful adding another texture to the film. Arban even adds her lovely vocals to the closing song!

What makes Mind flesh even more of an excellent and inspiring achievement is how it’s a low-budget film that came out of the British low-budget scene. Think of the last few low-budget British films you heard of, what where they? A lock stock rip-off? A council estate drama? If there is horror in the mix, its often micro budget, focused on splatter rather than tension or original filmmaking, generates low interest or often crap see the decent Cradle of Fear or the hoards of cam-corder totting wannabes out there at the moment. Mind flesh is truly an indie gem and a film that deserves some support and more than a little glorification.

Now I saw this film on a screener DVD (that amusingly had the words PADDIE PADDIE PADDIE show up on screen in transparent letters to prevent piracy. I’ve made it!) but I cant wait to check this out on the big screen. This isn’t a film that’s going to be clogging up the aisles in your local video store (or DVD nowadays) but you must see it.
Seek it out!

Keep it Gory
Patrick Thompson