Dismembered (AKA: House of the Rotting Flesh: Act 2) Review from Terrorvisions!
You know what? I think I’ve mentioned in previous reviews how much I love to sometimes go into a new film totally off guard and knowing absolutely nothing about it. I get sent it, I download it, I set up my OpenOffice (the free word download because I save all my money to buy DVDs, hahaha) and away I go.
This time ‘round it’s a grand and new short flick, Dismembered, by Rob Ceus with Inge Vanleene co-creating, and the first thing which hit me upon watching the beginning credits is how gloriously old school it feels — the music, the set-up, the grubby nasty feel…. oh my God I think I’m going to like this one, I mean really like it. When the blood rushes in your horror fan veins and you just know! Unfortunately, that feeling didn’t last very long…..
FBI agent Swett arrives at a house to inform the male occupant, Gerald, that his wife and kid have died in a car accident. Everything goes blurred for the poor receiver of this news. He flashes back to when she sat crying distraught, we assume just before she buggered off.
Seven months have passed, and a book bound in human skin, etcetera, is purchased from a garage sale along with a Baphomet goat ring. More months sail by. He’s a psychiatrist who’s now changed his haircut (away from the creepy obvious wig at the start) and he’s talking to a skin head patient who imagines maggots on his arms in true Hellbound: Hellraiser 2 style. Gerald has obviously been studying this client for a while. For once he has prescribed some medication which has the opposite effect as far as creating truly random hallucinations of people with missing limbs. He decides this bloke will be chosen for what needs to be done.
As far as that goes, Gerald ends up inviting him in for a further consultation in his office which is fully covered in plastic sheeting similar to how Dexter used to set up. You see, Gerald has learnt something from the book, a way to get back something he lost, but it takes a sacrifice done a certain gruelling way…
I found something really off putting with the whole thing — the cartoon like characters, how some look, how many act. They were distracting and a bit annoying. The old lady which staggers along the street and scares Louis the patient, certain haircuts, expressions, it all began to muddy what could be a nice fun little chiller if played a bit more seriously.
I was reminded of the time I reviewed, Lonely Hearts (read review here) where I truly and honestly wanted to like this, but I couldn’t connect and that just isn’t like me. Yeah, it’s the presentation of the cast, forced, over-the-top somehow. It is hard to describe. Could a more sombre theme but with a little knowing wink here and there have been too much to ask?
I cannot fault Kurt De Meuters performance as Gerald. He was distant, cold and knowing, exactly how it should be played. And his expressions and mannerisms never fall into the cartoon world (apart from the fucking wig that is!!!)
The effects are generally awesome, the dismembering grand finale is prolonged and handled well, filmed in good close-ups and distances at the right times to show what you need to see. Had it abandoned the comical appearances, I like the serious approach it takes with mental illness (stereotypical but serious nonetheless) and here and there it had elements of The Obsessed (read review here) but I sense this might just be a coincidence.
I wish Dismembered had the intensity of the last half of it throughout its running time, then I would have enjoyed it so much more because those minutes do leave a lasting impression as the credits roll due to a build of atmosphere and torrents of gore.
It looks like it’s maybe part of a bigger film anyhow, called House of the Rotting Flesh, if we look at its AKA title (House of the Rotting Flesh: Act 2), and the fact that the film is coming soon. If that’s so and it’s in-between two or more similar concepts then perhaps it’ll come over better. By itself, I just don’t know. I see the work that’s gone into it (oh man, I just don’t do criticism very well because I rarely have anything negative to say about any flick I review!!) and the idea as a whole reeks of old school nostalgia so that’s a huge severed thumb up from me, but due to that first half, I just can’t hold it high above.
Give Dismembered a shot. It’s worth a viewing just for the act of dismemberment itself, and maybe you’ll smile at the cartoon people unlike me.
AKA: House of the Rotting Flesh: Act 2
Directed by: Rob Ceus, Inge Vanleene | Written by: Rob Ceus, Inge Vanleene | Produced by: Rob Ceus, Inge Vanleene, Niels Van De Sype | Cinematography by: Jon Bek | Editing by: Inge Vanleene | Music by: Stephan Ortlepp | Special Effects by: Rob Ceus, Inge Vanleene, James Bell (penis prop) | Cast: Kurt De Meuter, Brame Wolters, Steven Daemers, Eva van Duren, Lieve Deneckere | Year: 2019 | Country: Belgium | Language: English | Color: Color | Runtime: 24min
Distributor: Terrorvisions
