White Gardenia Shorts and Bondage Clips Review!
I recently asked my friend, Daniel Valient, aka the central member of the constantly shifting collective, White Gardenia, if he had made or happened to be making any new bits and pieces. Having reviewed his previous short, Blood is Sweeter than Honey and his work with Domiziano Cristopharo and Poison Rouge, No Please Not in my Mouth I knew what I wanted to see and expected nothing short of the next level blood and sexual antics. His chosen specialist subject has always been self-mutilation, as performed by himself and a young lady by his side.
Daniel was happy to send me a few bits and bobs including a couple of full on bondage and humiliation clips which reside on a XXX porn site. Nice one, gives a bit of diversity to his CV. White Gardenia films amateur, but serious quickies, not for money, but for thrills and to share his love with whoever happens to be passing by at the time on the web.
What has to be understood about his chosen art is the fact he takes inspirations loosely from the surrealists of yesteryear and in the case of his bondage clips, from the pages of the detective and men’s bondage magazines circa the 1950s. Daniel is like a new version of Richie Edwards who lurks about in the darker corners of the internet. I decided to compile five of these new gems of pain to share with Severed Cinema.
Our two tour guides through these regions are Daniel himself and a young lady called, Allison S. Let’s begin with Bondage Clip 1. “You will always refer to me as, Master.” demands White Gardenia in his mask and white briefs as his naturally cute Sub sits tied to a chair, naked. “Yes, Master.” she agrees.
He has a pack of bubble-gum. “You’re gonna enjoy this,” he says, “Open your fuckin’ mouth!” She dutifully obeys and he proceeds to feed her gum after gum. I began to recall Brett Leonard’s 2005 flick, Feed, for some reason. She slowly looks more and more ill whilst also having to thank him. After about four minutes, she spits it out which doesn’t please our skinny Gypsy Dog Dom at all.
Bondage Clip 2 is subtitled below as Analogue/Videotape Bondage, thus I figured what was to come. “So, I guess you’ve learned a few things today.” he tells her as she sits looking fed up in the bathroom. “Yes, Master.” she’s learnt that he’s the Master and she’s the Slave. Yep, you guessed it, he ties her up after breaking a video cassette to pieces (offensive! Tapes are sacred to me!), then slaps her breasts a couple of times for a laugh.
The camera blurs from time to time, but that’s cool because it sort of adds a very dislocated view on everything. Do I want to be critical here? I expected more. To be honest, the two clips are very tame compared to other amateur ones I’ve chanced upon in the past. It’s like that trust you need just isn’t totally there between the two of them and neither wants to step too far into the abyss. Maybe the series of films will build if Daniel continues on.
Chapter three in our excursions down the paths of White Gardenia, serves as a sort of interlude. Our much abused Girl Performs Oral Sex on a Plug in Air Freshener. Her Master appears at her side, filming her, as reflected in the bathroom mirror, and then he has a bit of fun. The style, the gritty moving camera, is so much like watching Women’s Flesh: My Red Guts (see review of Women’s Flesh: My Red Guts here) probably likely due to the choice of location as well.
Next up I decided to change the pace a little bit and view a standard self-mutilation short, as Daniel stands poised and ready. Beginning with a couple of hammer blows below the shoulder, topless, he then launches into a series of swift and deep stabbing slits with scissors. Like a Death Match courtesy of Combat Zone Wrestling or Game Changer Wrestling, the blood really flows fast. He blooming well ruins his nice clean underpants, I can tell you! This then transpires to be the most effective one so far. His good lady friend comes up, sups and slurps mouthfuls of his blood, then stands before her own reflection letting the crimson drips down herself. This is a fantastic and alarming vision.
Afterwards she looks annoyed as she gets dressed and the camera lingers around catching her nudity becoming slowly covered. I must admit, I can see the continuation from Blood is Sweeter than Honey, but it’s nowhere near the fluid atmosphere and imagination of that one. Nevertheless, no one can deny what Daniel does for his chosen art and his peace of mind.
So, the finale then: A Perfume Made from Blood and Tears could be called in demo mode because it’s currently being re-worked. Meanwhile, we can enjoy this rough cut. Thumbs up from Daniel and Allison as they both sit staring past the camera, and the show begins. Cue experimental dark techno industrial madness via Oval as Allison removes her top. The focus of attention this time round for now, is her breasts plus a razor cut to her arm. Daniel happily suckles on her bloody nipples, then her cheek after she pierces a needle through it until he reverses roles and sticks a knife into his hand.
This last short video has the feel of a sequel to the previously reviewed, Blood is Sweeter than Honey, and a nice touch is the fact that static ripples across now and then, plus the screen blacks out once in a while. Again, that surreal quality is in charge and brings a random visual diversity to proceedings. I chuckled at one point in the last video because whilst Daniel is gutting his hand like a fish (I had horror Hip Hop fella, Necro in my head – “Stabbing ‘n’ stabbing…” etcetera) he looks at Allison, who has an almost rolling her eyes expression as she stares away, so unimpressed.
This isn’t for everyone. Some will be repelled, others might be bored by it all. There’s a niche audience for this art form and only a few understand the why to what happens. Me? I’m an observer, I don’t judge or question. I’m the guy who sits staring with creepy weird reptile eyes. I’ve seen so much in my years I find enjoyment in near enough anything I chance upon or am sent. People like Daniel and his gang are the reasons I love reviewing for Severed Cinema. Cannot wait for the next delivery courtesy of White Gardenia.
Directed by: Daniel Valient, Allison S, Cher | Written by: Daniel Valient, Allison S. | Produced by: Daniel Valient | Edited by: Daniel Valient | Music by: White Gardenia, Oval, Markus Popp | Cast: Daniel Valient, Allison S. | Year: 2018/2019 | Language: English | Runtime: Bondage Clip 1 [8min] | Bondage Clip 2 [4mins] | Girl Performs Oral Sex on Plug in Air Freshener [2min] | Untitled Short [4min] | A Perfume Made from Blood and Tears [5min]
