Director: Poison Rouge
Year: 2018
Country: Italy
Alternate Titles: N/A
Genre: Exploitation
Plot:
Haunted by memories of his father, a lone man returns to his family home and tries to put his traumatic past behind him the only way he knows how in an unsettling display of ritualistic carnage that may or may not be driven by a sadistic demon lurking in the outskirts of the house.
Review:
Basically, this is one of the most unflinching and brutal films ever made. There's very little point in that aspect beyond the utterly phenomenal gore effects here, which is where this one truly shines. With this one detailing the systematic and near ritualistic carving of his body while being driven to madness doing so, the effects showcased here are some of the most unnerving and realistic ever depicted on screen as the scars and blood-flow featured here become truly nauseating in their effectiveness. From slicing open their hand and forehead to the peeling of various wounds open, taking a power drill to their leg and removing their toenails as well as the outright disturbing sequence of jamming a drill-bit into an orifice that really doesn't seem believable that a person would survive such a dismembering. This becomes such a common feature throughout this as the realistic nature of the piece manages to afford this one completely engrossing and realistic material, managing to make for a graphic yet still believable experience.
There are several issues with this, however. The main point of the effort is the fact that this isn't entirely driven much beyond a need to showcase the admittedly effective, realistic and repugnant gore effects, leaving this devoid of any story whatsoever. The connection between his past haunting him and his desire to carve into himself isn't made clear at all, and with the completely ambiguous nature of the goddess lurking within the confines of the story the film essentially runs like a special effects showcase without any other kind of purpose. The painstaking ritualistic manner in which he goes about undertaking everything before he starts is completely missing, and there's a sense of confusion of what each of the different processes means in the long run, causing that empty overall feeling. As well, the fact of him continually stopping to take a cigarette after every dismemberment makes this feel a little too start-stop with it's pacing, highlighting the fact that the blood-flow and continuous cutting and wounds here should've killed him far earlier that it does. Still, these are all that really hold this one back.
Overview: ****/5
If you're looking at this one solely as a special effects showcase, then it doesn't disappoint as there's some outright crazy and insane setpieces that truly look realistic in every sense. If you're looking at this for any other reason, you're completely missing the point here so that leaves this one completely and solely for the hard-edged fans or lovers of extreme, confrontational cinema while everyone else should avoid this at all costs.
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