Eric & Shaye Review from Wessel Mania!
Larry Wessel’s Eric & Shaye is a love letter to Eric Fournier and Shaye Saint John. This documentary about Shaye Saint John’s viral Triggers videos — that were uploaded to YouTube — mainly follows the personal life of mastermind Eric Fournier. Herein we explore who Eric Fournier was, and where his video starlet, Shaye Saint John originated. What began as a Kickstarter campaign, has now become a reality.
My first introduction to Shaye Saint John and Triggers was in 2014, from fellow Severed Cinema writer Jay Creepy, with his review of Shaye Saint John: The Triggers Compilation (review here). Believe it or not, I had never heard of this character until then. I didn’t know what massive boulder I was hiding under! As it stands, I don’t know whether to thank Jay Creepy for bringing Shaye Saint John and Eric Fournier’s Triggers into my life, or to be pissed at him for searing this twisted, mental, whacked-out terrifying imagery into my brain! Triggers — simply put — is fucked up!
The story of Shaye Saint John goes as this: she was once a model, but after being struck by a train, the horrific accident left her disfigured, causing her to lose her arms and legs. Rather than use proper prosthetics, Shaye chose to use mannequin arms and legs. In her videos she also adorns a mask to cover her further disfigurements, which Eric Fornier touts, “It’s really bad.” The Shaye Saint John Triggers videos can still be seen today, on the YouTube Channel (here), which has a view count in the millions. The only way I can describe her videos is a frantic fantasy world full of surrealism, ADHD riddled clips of absolute awe, absurdity and horror.
Eric & Shaye goes back to explore Eric Fournier’s life whilst making the Triggers videos, interviewing past “roommates,” friends, foes (The Goddess Bunny) and fans alike. Severed Cinema’s own Jay Creepy also makes a brave appearance, guiding us through the mind-melting Shaye Saint John Official Website ShayeSaintjohn.net. Our boy clicks through the maddening chaos of the website, so you don’t have to — Severed Cinema represent! In addition to Mr. Creepy, there’s also some footage from everyone’s favorite YouTube reviewer, Tanner Toobach, from Unboxed Watched and Reviewed, which were both pleasant additions.
Eric Fournier was truly an absurdist auteur, who unfortunately passed away too soon — on February 26th, 2010, at the age of 42 — from alcoholism related internal bleeding. As this documentary explores his life and passed relationships, one can’t help wonder if this peculiar virtuoso, hadn’t inspired this whole world of absurdist comedy from the likes of Adult Swim’s Too Many Cooks, or even the Eric Andre Show. Had Fournier been alive today, would the Shaye Saint John Show be on Adult Swim? One will never know…
Larry Wessel should be commended for traveling back on this path of insanity with Eric & Shaye, documenting the life of Eric Fournier and Shaye Saint John. The man and his dedication to the surreal will forever live on in this documentary. Wessel even does a bizarre CGI animated tribute to the absurdity of Fournier’s creations, with Shaye Saint John fellating Pinocchio!
When the credits rolled on Eric & Shaye, I couldn’t help but wonder, who the fuck actually is this Shaye Saint John? Why was this not explored? Then I realised, something — why tarnish the mythos that is Shaye Saint John? Does it even matter who she is? You all can probably guess anyway. The most important thing to be left with after watching this is, the terrifying image of a squeaky-voiced cripple with mannequin parts cannot be unseen, nor forgotten. You can grab this documentary from Larry Wessel at EricandShaye.com, and in the meantime, go warp your mind and ruin you day with the Shaye Saint John YouTube Channel — you’ll never be the same again.
KA: Eric and Shaye
Directed by: Larry Wessel | Written by: Larry Wessel | Produced by: Larry Wessel | Cinematography by: Larry Wessel | Editing by: Larry Wessel | Animation by: Larry Wessel | Music by: George Phillips, Ken Gage, Phillip Teister, Chris Nagorka | Cast: Shaye Saint John, Eric Fournier, Jim Faust, Jonathan Mazza, Carl Crew, Darwin Flores, Jon Tweer, I am Klaus, Eli Elliott, Doug Waugh, David Gardener, Mick Roche, Jay Creepy, Tanner Toobach | Year: 2016 | Country: USA | Language: English | Color: Color | Runtime: 1h 45min
Studio: Wessel Mania
Official Website: EricandShaye.com
