Crimes of the Future (1970)

As I psyche myself up for the opening of Cronenberg’s latest, Crimes of the Future, which shares a name with this early effort, I was able to track it down on YouTube and watched it (as well as a few of his other shorts). I found this one to be the most interesting of his early works.

A dermatologist named Antoine Rouge mysteriously vanishes after a disease emerges that’s caused by cosmetic products. A man named Tripod searches for Antoine, who was his mentor. He spends his days at a clinic, with an assortment of odd characters. The disease causes those who suffer from it to bleed some white, foamy substance, and has killed off the entire population of sexually mature women.

The movie has no dialogue and is narrated by the main character Tripod. In lieu of a cohesive plot, it presents mostly ideas and themes, much of them having to do with the body horror that would be present throughout the rest of Cronenberg’s filmography, including The Fly, Shivers, Rabid, eXistenZ, Videodrome, The Brood. You can clearly see his touch all over this, with some weird, creepy and disturbing imagery and suggestions, including victims of the disease foaming that weird substance, foot fetish, strange body parts kept in jars, and the finale which involves a young girl.

He packs enough ideas into this for several films, and at barely over 1 hour, it kept my interest despite its unconventional nature. It was cool to see the workings of Cronenberg’s brain, seeing how it lead to his later work. Cronenberg, along with David Lynch, is my favorite film director. I’ve enjoyed his movies throughout my life, including his less abstract later offerings, such as History of Violence and Maps To The Stars. My personal favorite was Crash, which I found so uncomfortable to watch that it left such an impression on me. This weekend is the opening of his latest, also titled Crimes of the Future, and it promises to be a return to the body horror themes of his earlier works. With reports that some audience members at the screening at Cannes walked out in shock, I’m looking forward to seeing what’s in store. This short is an interesting watch, and the best of his early work.

Comments

S.H. MonsterArts King Kong '21

The next May pre-order to arrive is S.H. MonsterArts King Kong from the Godzilla vs. Kong film. I was psyched to get a highly articulated Kong from Tamashii Nations, and the great ape is finally here. Kong is a little shorter than Godzilla (just like in the film). The details of the sculpt are all well done. Tamashii Nations did a good job capturing his look well, from his hair covered body to a few scars on his chest. His faces, including his eyes and teeth on the open mouth head, as well as his axe, are all well painted. The only issue is that they seemed to have gone with a glossy finish, so he seems too shiny, especially on his face and chest. A duller matte shade would've suited him better. At least it would've kept him from looking like he over-moisturized. As for his articulation, he's quite flexible. His head is on a ball joint, ball jointed neck as well, ball jointed shoulders and thighs, upper arm cut, single jointed elbows and knees that go in further than 90 deg...

Julie Darling (1983) / Them aka Hellmaster (1992)

From the YouTube channel 42nd Street Films Grindhouse, I watched this twisted thriller about a young girl with an unnatural and creepy fixation with her father, and her attempts to get rid of anyone who threatens to take away his attention. Julie has a strained relationship with her mother, causing fights and arguments with her. She seems to be disturbingly attached to her father Harold (Anthony Franciosa), who also seems to have a strained relationship with his wife, but appears clueless about his daughter’s creepy fixation with him. One day while he’s away, the mother is attacked and killed by a delivery guy. Julie, armed with a gun, watches the entire thing from upstairs, doing nothing to come to her aid. With the mother now dead and out of the picture, Julie is happy to have her father all to herself. Her newfound joy is shattered when Harold, who’s been having an affair with a woman named Susan, decides to marry this woman, inviting her and her young son to live with he and Julie....

S.H. Figuarts Ultimate Ageis/Ultraman Zero Armor option parts set

Earlier in the week I received my S.H. Figuarts Ultimate Ageis/Ultraman Zero Armor option parts set. I was busy with work and doing other reviews, but I finally got around to checking these out. They turned out to be pretty cool option parts. Ultimate Aegis is a set of armor created by Ultraman Noa . My initial thought was that they may be a bit of a hassle to attach to the Ultras. They ended up being fairly easily to swap out and put on them. The only issue I had was with the large piece (Final Ultimate Zero) that Ultraman Zero holds. I was having trouble getting his arm peg into the fist (it’s attached to the piece). Then I realized that I had on his forearm with his bracelet, so I swapped out the regular forearm without the bracelet and it went in easily. For the ultimate Zero Sword, each hand piece comes with its own fists, a red (for X) and blue (for Zero). The top of the fist has a peg that attaches to the piece, and then you ...

Musings of an Inkd Geek

Search This Blog