29 Needles Review from Unearthed Films!
I knew only two things about 29 Needles prior to experiencing the film. The first was that it was a confrontational piece of cinema that contained hardcore homosexual bondage, domination, sadism, and masochism. The second was that Stephen Biro, President of Unearthed Films, dubbed it as the most extreme movie he has ever seen. Quite fitting since this is a forthcoming release from Unearthed Films to their Too Extreme for Mainstream label (Deep Web XXX and Torment being previous releases).
29 Needles follows the character Francis Bacon (played by the late Brooke Berry), a troubled soul who spends his days/nights cruising private sex clubs to satiate his inner demons. The film opens to a flashback of a younger Francis (Hunter Smith) with an older, hairy gentleman standing over him, lying on the floor. They both ferociously masturbate. The man standing above young Francis, ejaculates over him. An overlay of a man spewing blood and chains can be seen during this sequence, which is the beginning of the many haunting demons plaguing Francis. A voiceover can then be heard, “I have always associated sex with pain.”
The film continues showing Francis in present day, taking his motorcycle to visit a purple-haired woman called Dorothea (Ryoko H.), who facilitates Francis’ masochistic fantasies. There he is sodomized by a woman wearing a strap-on phallus, but things go south when he reveals a blade for the festivities. Dorothea isn’t having it, so she demands Francis to immediately leave. He obliges.
Francis spends a lot of time drinking at bars. It seems like he is known to be a bit of a sexual deviant and he is constantly approached by men, one of which is a bloke called Yves (Joe Meduza). Yves regretfully takes Francis home. Upon performing oral sex on Francis, he demands to be bitten. When Yves hesitates, he is beaten and raped.
On another occasion Francis is approached at a bar by a man named Hans (Jamee Nicholson) and propositioned, “There’s a place that I know of, not very far from here. I think you would like it.” He continues, “I could take you there – we could play.” After some persuasion Francis is convinced to go to an invitation only sex club that Hans calls “less organized” than other sex clubs.
Once there he dabbles in a little foreplay. First, fellatio on a man adorned in somewhat of a gimp mask. After dipping his feet in the waters, Francis discusses his initial experience at the nameless sex club with Hans. Francis confides in Hans that he has a yearning for more. “I feel like I’m falling… and I can’t wait to see the bottom.” Will Francis find reprieve in this new underbelly or will he be pushed off the edge and reach the bottom?
29 Needles isn’t just a collection of extreme and graphic gay sex. It isn’t merely a catalyst to set off homophobic heterosexual men. The graphic homosexual acts are necessary for the advancement of this character study, and Francis’ downward spiral into salacious behaviour. Many of the scenes herein may be shocking, yes, but that’s the thematic nature of 29 Needles and not just to purely shock.
This film is a wild amalgamation of symbolism and visuals. It has plenty of outdoor scenes of Francis out in nature, in solitude, attempting to desperately clear his head from the demons that inhabit it. These serene scenes by bridges, or pole lines, or wooded areas perfectly illustrate Francis’ forlorn struggles. The solemn sequences juxtaposed with extreme acts of BDSM really showcases Francis’s empty existence, and his survival mechanisms. And boy is he tormented by demons and delusions culminating with him unable to discern reality from imagination. He gets visited by naked men and women adorned with what appears to be paper-mâché animal head masks, the main demon adorned in chains (played by Timothy O’Rork), as well as other more otherworldly creatures (that I shall not spoil dear reader).
Filmed in Baltimore, Maryland between 2006-2009, for a mere $2,500, 29 Needles took about a year to cast. The casting was mainly done on websites like Craigslist, with star Brooke Berry being found via MySpace. With this film, newcomer director Scott Goergens showcases his ability to blend surrealism and uncompromising extreme visuals into a cohesive character study (albeit a tormented one). The film even won ‘Best of the Festival’ at Columbus, Ohio’s Nightmares Film Festival, and rightly so. This film is nightmarish, no doubt.
29 Needles is a confrontational, visceral, and poetically prurient journey into psycho-sexual depravity. The film is packed with debauchery, including, but not limited to, sodomy, copious masturbation, urethra insertion, castration, and defecation of severed fingers – hey now! It even contains the titular scenes of scrotal needle insertion, inspired by the x-ray results of serial killer Albert Fish, which revealed 29 needles pressed into his pelvic region.
29 Needles is coming soon from Unearthed Films and contains a 39-minute making-of. It is now available for pre-order here so get yours now.
Directed by: Scott Philip Goergens | Written by: Scott Philip Goergens | Produced by: Scott Philip Goergens | Cinematography by: Scott Philip Goergens | Editing by: Scott Philip Goergens | Music by: P. Andrew Willis | Special Effects by: Willy Richardson, Greg Malone, Victor Acord, Scott Philip Goergens | Cast: Brooke Berry, Jamee Nicholson, Joe Meduza, Ryoko H., Timothy O’Rork, Barbi Satin, Cory Sellgren, Emily Sienicki, Hunter Smith, Kittie Valentine | Year: 2019 | Country: USA | Language: English | Colour: Colour | Runtime: 1h 39min
Studio: Arsenic Media
Distributor: Unearthed Films
