No matter what I do, I can’t get this movie out of my mind. It seeps into every available cerebral space you have and its images are lodged deep into your psyche. It’s a head trip, conceived by only the most depraved individual possible. It’s overtly gross, horrific, or gory, but the visual assault and trippy score create an incredible immersion into the world of the Arboria Institute. It’s a shame that the story and characters are sacrificed to the alter visual choices.
Yeah, my initial review of the acid trip on steroids film Beyond The Black Rainbow was a bit half and half. On one half the visual and musical score are some of the best things about seeing this movie. A combination of directorial styles were thrown together in this film by first time director Panos Cosmatos. The images and scenes in this movie are striking, from the composition of scenes to frightening inhabitants of the institute. The music also creates the right mood for this film, bringing us deeper into the film with a John Carpenter like score. It is haunting and effective.
Sadly, the other half of the review is for the lack of story and development. While being eye fucked by this movie, I lost track of what it was all about. The story is set up for us but once inside the institute and shit starts getting freaky, it’s all but forgotten. I had to look up the synopsis of this film to understand what it was all about.
On one hand, you got a feast for the eyes, one that is just terrifyingly arresting in that you won’t be able to look away. Then you have a story that doesn’t exist and is more about just indulging in the whims of a visual director. Since it is coming out on blu-ray tomorrow, I might just rent it or buy it and if you are interested in checking out an extremely unique film, I couldn’t recommend it more.
Below is an excerpt of my original review and a link to the full article.
It’s as if Alejandro Jodorowsky, David Lynch, David Cronenberg, John Carpenter and Stanley Kubrick got together, had an orgy, and the end result is this glorious mess of a film. Now that visual of some of the most eccentric and masterful directors of our time might not be the thing you want to think about, but it would be mild compared to what director Panos Cosmatos brought to life in Beyond the Black Rainbow.
Read the full review here
