Cataclysm
06-26-2008, 02:59 AM
Time for some Russian horror surrealism...
http://i31.tinypic.com/zkpedd.jpg
"Nails" is a stunningly graphic tale of the descent into madness of a lost and haunted soul. The debut film of director Andrey Iskanov ("Visions of Suffering", "Philosophy of a Knife") this Russian horror gem takes you on a halting journey of paranoid depravity.
Set among the grey concrete apartment buildings of a rundown and soulless town in Eastern Siberia, a mentally tortured assassin for the Russian government becomes disenchanted with life as a killer. He retires to his seedy apartment and, hearing voices in his head, he decides to experiment with "trepanation". By drilling holes in his skull, he hopes to be able to see beyond the veil of everyday reality, a reality he can no longer endure.
With each nail he drives into his skull, he gets ever closer to the demons on the other side. What awaits him is pure insanity and has awful consequences for himself and those around him.
http://i29.tinypic.com/2cijxoy.png
http://i27.tinypic.com/2qciezl.png
http://i28.tinypic.com/2d7u26u.png
http://i27.tinypic.com/1196kco.png
http://i25.tinypic.com/mcu4nl.png
http://i28.tinypic.com/30ue8ie.png
http://i28.tinypic.com/23wn1w1.png
http://i32.tinypic.com/534nxs.png
Available on DVD and no doubt you'll be able to find it some where online although for a change I don't think its available on CG.
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Although not my first Russian film (that belongs to the kickass Viy) this was a movie I was dying to see just from the concept of a movie about a man hammering nails into his own skull sounded fantastic. I had no idea what I was instore for was beyond a horror movie but more along the lines of a surrealistic nightmare.
The movie starts off in black and white showing how mundane and basically lifeless the main characters world is. Although he hears nothing but god awful sounds and noises in his head and after reading an article about a mean who put nails and screws into his own skull he attempts the same to relieve himself of the pressure and pain. After the first nail the movie becomes very vibrate with colors, and we watch as the character is almost seeing his world for the first time.
The movie can be looked at as almost a metaphor for drug addiction (atleast thats how I saw it) the further he moves along through the movie he is driven to constantly drive more nails into his brain and when that is not enough he moves onto drilling. Which really opens his eyes and allows him to see the "souless" ones, demons of sorts.
We get to watch a character basically deal with addiction thinking the nails help him to get rid of the noise he hears and the pain in his head, with that we also get to watch him slowly descend into madness as his eyes are opened with each step he takes to go to the next level.
Andrey Iskanov uses every tool at his disposal to create this nightmarish world, using various colors and amount of light. The movie also has a very unique sound to it, as its not just typical ambient noise and a soundtrack everything is given a unique sound, even when he is trying to find something to eat. The food is given a very squishy and disgusting sound to match the look of it. Often times the movie takes on the the old look of LSD/psychedelic movies from the 60's as it almost looks like we are experiencing a drug trip.
All in all a great movie and a recommended one. The effects may not be up to par with certain peoples expectations but they are good for a movie that was made for less than $1000.
http://i31.tinypic.com/zkpedd.jpg
"Nails" is a stunningly graphic tale of the descent into madness of a lost and haunted soul. The debut film of director Andrey Iskanov ("Visions of Suffering", "Philosophy of a Knife") this Russian horror gem takes you on a halting journey of paranoid depravity.
Set among the grey concrete apartment buildings of a rundown and soulless town in Eastern Siberia, a mentally tortured assassin for the Russian government becomes disenchanted with life as a killer. He retires to his seedy apartment and, hearing voices in his head, he decides to experiment with "trepanation". By drilling holes in his skull, he hopes to be able to see beyond the veil of everyday reality, a reality he can no longer endure.
With each nail he drives into his skull, he gets ever closer to the demons on the other side. What awaits him is pure insanity and has awful consequences for himself and those around him.
http://i29.tinypic.com/2cijxoy.png
http://i27.tinypic.com/2qciezl.png
http://i28.tinypic.com/2d7u26u.png
http://i27.tinypic.com/1196kco.png
http://i25.tinypic.com/mcu4nl.png
http://i28.tinypic.com/30ue8ie.png
http://i28.tinypic.com/23wn1w1.png
http://i32.tinypic.com/534nxs.png
Available on DVD and no doubt you'll be able to find it some where online although for a change I don't think its available on CG.
---------------------------------------------
Although not my first Russian film (that belongs to the kickass Viy) this was a movie I was dying to see just from the concept of a movie about a man hammering nails into his own skull sounded fantastic. I had no idea what I was instore for was beyond a horror movie but more along the lines of a surrealistic nightmare.
The movie starts off in black and white showing how mundane and basically lifeless the main characters world is. Although he hears nothing but god awful sounds and noises in his head and after reading an article about a mean who put nails and screws into his own skull he attempts the same to relieve himself of the pressure and pain. After the first nail the movie becomes very vibrate with colors, and we watch as the character is almost seeing his world for the first time.
The movie can be looked at as almost a metaphor for drug addiction (atleast thats how I saw it) the further he moves along through the movie he is driven to constantly drive more nails into his brain and when that is not enough he moves onto drilling. Which really opens his eyes and allows him to see the "souless" ones, demons of sorts.
We get to watch a character basically deal with addiction thinking the nails help him to get rid of the noise he hears and the pain in his head, with that we also get to watch him slowly descend into madness as his eyes are opened with each step he takes to go to the next level.
Andrey Iskanov uses every tool at his disposal to create this nightmarish world, using various colors and amount of light. The movie also has a very unique sound to it, as its not just typical ambient noise and a soundtrack everything is given a unique sound, even when he is trying to find something to eat. The food is given a very squishy and disgusting sound to match the look of it. Often times the movie takes on the the old look of LSD/psychedelic movies from the 60's as it almost looks like we are experiencing a drug trip.
All in all a great movie and a recommended one. The effects may not be up to par with certain peoples expectations but they are good for a movie that was made for less than $1000.