REVIEW: THE ROPE MAIDEN (Guy Pearce, 2013)

"The Rope Maiden" starts off with the beginning from "Guinea Pig - Flowers of Flesh and Blood": a young woman is walking down the street minding her own business, when suddenly a masked man attacks and kidnaps her. The kidnapper drops his camera and Guy picks it up. Guy turns out to be a demented psychopath and starts to shoot tutorials on how to kill women in a cellar. There is no doubt that his rope maiden will not survive the shoot….

”The Rope Maiden” is a short-film made by Guy Pearce, who could be known to fans of extreme underground gore films and Japanese fetish porn under his pseudonym “SculptingFragments”. In an extensive process (which was documented on Facebook), the charming young Brit created a short which combines two of his favorite genres: fake snuff and black comedy. The result is really something

After the obligatory kidnapping sequence (which is very similar to the one in the second Guinea Pig film), the course commences. Guy introduces us to the do’s and don’t’s of making snuff films. Which victims are the best? What kind of rope should one choose? Which weight should the victim have? Guy answers all these questions, before getting rough with his helpless victim.

“The Rope Maiden” has turned out to be a merry and well-made fake snuff movie, which contributes some fresh ideas to the genre without forgetting its role models. Guy is great in the role of murderer and narrator. The whole tutorial thing was executed very well and, to my surprise, the humourous tone created by Guy works perfectly. Especially the Japanese commercials in the vein of “Vampire Girl vs. Frankenstein Girl” are a complete success!

Despite the humour, “The Rope Maiden” is, basically, a pretty violent film, featuring some quite nasty scenes. The butchering of the attractive,young Japanese girl (yes, Guy actually found a real, live Japanese girl) is the main part of the story and very entertaining. Many  things remind the viewer of the Japanese fake snuff classic “Niku Daruma”, which most certainly is not a coincidence. Skin gets cut open, entrails are ripped out and so on and so forth. The final gag, which will not be spoiled here, of course, is also pretty astonishing and a worthy end. The effects are also quite nifty and can be compared to some of the Japanese genre classics, the film is influenced by. Same goes for the catchy Death Metal track played in the background.

Conclusion: “The Rope Maiden” is a well-made fake snuff short, which is incredibly funny but still pretty sick. The effects are well-crafted, the actors do a good job and fans of hard fake snuff films (preferably the ones from Japan) should be just as delighted as appreciators of black humour. All you underground freaks should really keep your eyes open for this one!

Presentation Video 

FB page 

REVIEW: BIZARRE UPROAR - PERVERSE BIZARRE HUMILIATION (Noise, 2013)

Even after almost 20 years of existence, Bizarre Uproar is more alive and active than ever before. Shortly after the release of the “Putrid Live Activities” 4-tape box, the artist’s own label “Filth and Violence” treats its noise-fanatic followers to a limited tape version of “Perverse Bizarre Humiliation”, BU’s newest studio album, soon to be released on CD via Freak Animal Records. In its early stages, the project of “Filth and Violence” founder and owner Pasi Markkula played pretty straightforward harsh noise with its own identity. After years of ultra-violent scrapmetal abuse, Bizarre Uproar started to sort of re-invent itself. With landmark works like “Purification”, “Musta Rotta EP”, “Viha & Kiima” and the last full-length “Rape Africa”, the project gained an unmistakable style, marvelously aided by the artworks (i.e. themes) and Pasi’s distinctive vocals. Bizarre Uproar is not only one of the most prolific projects hailing from the “noise El Dorado” Finland, it is also one of the most extreme and perverse ones.

Extreme and perverse are terms, which many may have used to describe the videoclip to the track “Kusi Paska Veri“, taken from “Perverse Bizarre Humiliation“ (editor’s note: this video can’t be directly linked due to its pornographic nature. It is very easy to find on the label’s homepage, though). It shows Pasi wearing a latex mask lying on the floor masturbating. After a few moments, a woman appears, squats over him and defecates onto his chest. She picks parts of her waste up and slowly feeds it to Pasi. In seemingly endless scenes we see him gobbling up the excrement and licking his lips, obviously in a state of total bliss. The inlay cover, which is professionally printed by the way (very unusual for the label), shows a black and white collage of his shit-smeared face and also the track list seems to focus on the self-shot scat video, which was released shortly before the album came out. 

 

INTERVIEW: TOM HEIDENBERG (Necrophile Passion)

 

"Necrophile Passion" is currently one of the most awaited fims in the field of extreme art. The stylish, ambitious production revolving around desecration of corpses, mental illness and despair is a complete success and one of the most interesting independent productions of the last years. Director Tom Heidenberg is an enigma: he refuses to publish photos of himself or share any personal information with the public. Despite the mysterious aura that surrounds him, I was able to arrange an interview with him. For five hours, Heidenberg answered my questions and proved to me that he is a multi-layered, ambitious artist, who really has a lot to say.

Read the unabridged interview here: