By: JWBM
This film is less like your typical cinematic story arc and more like an experience to rattle your senses. Instead of walking away enlightened, you'll end up limping into a corner for a pause or time out from life itself. Stripped away are the usual avenues in a movie to get behind or follow. This has a one-track direction that starts out with an uneasy feeling that eventually escalates into shakes all over and permanently imprinted imagery behind the eyelids of every blink.
Some of us have jobs where we are micromanaged by a supervisor in the same room, or even other co-workers or customers with senses acute to anything out of the ordinary that may be reported. You've probably heard of every possible infraction where the person was caught red handed, or is whistling down the road ever so quietly to their next line of work. Then there are others that have a certain amount of leeway and trust when it comes to their job, whether they work alone or only check in under certain circumstances. I'd wager the temptation or probability of getting away with something comes with a higher average. But that's what separates one person with a steadfast moral framework, and someone else with less scruples provided with just the right opportunity. What's the worst act you can think of? If you guessed cheating the company, you may be jaded but still normal. If you guessed necrophilia, you might have a morbid imagination reserved for the likes of our main star in "Aftermath" who—you guessed it—works in a mortuary practically unsupervised. If you're wondering how something like this got to this point, this is the documentation of just that.
This isn't a film to see twice, at least on your own. It doesn't represent anything or make any statements—minuscule or grand—it mainly attempts to catch you off guard with a sense of shock using credible, life-like effects. One of those, "Wait till this uptight party gets a load of this!" My first experience with "Aftermath" was with a bootleg VHS tape that was dubbed over enough times to look like a real home video. The DVD version is much sharper by comparison and shows that it has a decent enough budget for what they set out to do. Unlike other times when certain films get a cleaned up makeover, you'll rarely second guess the gore effects, or how genuine the sets look like here. It's strange seeing this in widescreen with classical music and a sense of careful, artistic direction while depraved acts are taking place in the background. The idea of not having dialogue was brilliant as it forces your senses to focus on the moment by moment without a break to look away. As unorthodox as it is, it still comes with a purpose, a measured pacing, and a grand finale that'll be hard to top as far as shock value goes.
Overall, this works for what it is. It's not a horror film that's going to beat out, say, "Psycho," or even take its place, it's essentially a sub-genre of taking the medium and seeing the amount of distance over the line it made it. Similar to "Flower of Flesh and Blood," or "Men Behind the Sun," you'll probably do more talking about them, than actual time watching them.
Rating: 7/10
Director: Nacho Cerdà (The Awakening)
Info: IMDB link
Trailer: Youtube link
No comments:
Post a Comment