Aftermath/Genesis
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Movie Reviews of Aftermath/Genesis
Movie Review: Fear of nihilism.
Summary: 3 Stars
Aftermath (Nacho Cerda, 1994)
Nacho Cerda's infamous short (half an hour) film Aftermath is a love-it-or-hate-it affair. Unlike most films of this stripe, it's not an easy split; you can't simply say that gorehounds and perverts will like it and everyone else won't. And that should clue you in that there's something beyond gore, necrophilia, and a really twisted (but damned funny) punchline going on under the surface here. This is where the split occurs; if you can grok what Cerda seems to be saying, and you've got a strong enough stomach to take it in the way Cerda dishes it out, you're probably going to like this. You may never watch it again, but you can appreciate it on some level.
Aftermath takes us behind the scenes at a medical examiner's office. I want to say here that it's not your normal medical examiner's office, but we don't know, do we? One way or the other, however, the guys who work here are just plain scary. In the first of the two extended sequences that make up this movie, there's nothing terribly amiss on the surface, but you can tell there's something wrong about the whole scene. No one speaks, the characters simply grunt to one another or to themselves. And yet there's a language here, one that we can eventually begin to puzzle out. And when we get to that point, our suspicions that our characters are not nice people really takes off. And then comes the second scene, which is the one that sends most people out into the streets holding placards and calling for Nacho Cerda's head on a platter.
I first saw the infamous second scene years ago, when a band I saw live used it as a filmic backdrop to their music. I was drunk at the time, and thus misremembered some things about it that kept me from seeing the whole thing until now. I remembered it being a great deal funnier (unintentionally) than it is (for those of you who've seen it, I recalled the ME actually holding the camera while he was, erm, having fun. You can see where the hilarity came into play). If you've got a really, really warped sense of humor, it is kind of amusing, in a "blackest of the black" sort of way; if you wondered why people called Very Bad Things a black comedy, because to you it seemed like slapstick, then you'll probably appreciate Cerda's nihilist form of humor here. The rest of you are watching it for the necrophilia. Now, don't get me wrong, I'm not saying there's anything at all erotic about this. Quite the contrary-- and that's what Cerda's getting at, I believe.
Then comes the final scene. Maybe it wasn't necessary-- Cerda definitely used a bigger mallet than necessary to drive his point home here-- but when it comes right down to it, if you want to view Aftermath as a black comedy, the final scene is most certainly necessary.
So what is it that Cerda's trying to say with his "evil" (for lack of a better term) medical examiners and these poor abused corpses? I don't think, as some folks have offered, that Cerda's point is that when we're dead, we become nothing more than meat. I think it's more about the loss of control-- once a person is dead, those around that person have the ability to visit any sort of horror upon the body that they like, and aside from the ethical questions (which our characters have obviously ignored), there's really nothing that the dead can do to stop them. (This is, it seems to me, what Cerda is really trying to hammer home in the final scene-- the real depths of the lack of control.)
Given all this, I do think it's a thought-provoking little piece, though gorehounds and the perverse will certainly find enough packed into this half-hour to sate their more prurient tastes. While there is no conceivable way to posit that Aftermath is fun for the whole family, it is worth seeing if you've got the stomach for it. ***
Movie Review: The realities of death come alive
Summary: 3 Stars
Having finally got hold of a copy of Aftermath I must admit I was surprised but not for the obvious reasons cited in connection with the Film. It was far more stylish, atmospheric and well-filmed than I'd originally expected. This is itself signals Cerda's desire to elevate this above the usual Teenage Gore-Hound depictions of death and far beyond the kind of so-badly-filmed-it-must-be-Art stuff purveyed by Jorg Butgereit. Personally I found the most gorey effects unconvincing, which rather undermined the impact. The Bodies of the dissected man and especially Marta, the girl defiled by the Pathologist,are obviously made out of Latex. The movement of the skin, obviously painted discolourations and the rubbery-regidity of the cadavers when being moved help to spoil the illusion. In the girl's case she looks like an expensive Inflatable Doll when seen in profile, and the crushed and eviscerated Dog during the title sequence is faintly ludicrous with it's excessive amount of Blood and Entrails etc. Pep Tosar's performance as the necrophiliac Pathologist is expressive, but spoiled by his noises and exclamations which make him sound like a comedy dirty old man watching a girl undress. I expected him to be wearing a dirt fawn Raincoat under his smocks.
Having said all of this the Film is still thought-provoking in it's treatment of how we will all be stripped on dignity after death and I'm sorry that it's reputation means that it attracts the kind of viewer who's only interested in the amount of gore it contains and may repeal those who would find it's meditation on the nature of death fascinating.
Movie Review: Garbage. Horrible effects. Dont believe the hype.
Summary: 1 Stars
I heard about this flick years ago but at the time it was an obscene cost to buy.
So finally I looked and found just 2 weeks ago. Wow what trash.
I dont know how anyone could be shocked or upset after watching.
The bodies were fake as hell. In no way looked real. Only one body that of a man with a Italian stash, but you will see no actual cutting was near this guy, just clever film cutting.
I was expecting awesome effects but this looks beyond trash. Maybe this was cool back in the 80's when the crap was filmed but this stands to be more of a joke than anything. Right down to the horrible dog at the start of this crap.
Even when he was humping the body, keep your hands to your sides and save the paper towles, if thats your kind of thing. Cuz it was so sexless and stupid. Her chest was open. It wasnt like he had sex with the woman. It was that of an open wound. Dumb.
Save your time.
Movie Review: Scary? Not even! Dumb and ridiculously sick.
Summary: 1 Stars
GENESIS: Goofy horror story of a statue of a sculptor's dead wife's statue bleeding and then the sculptor turning to stone, while she generates to flesh and bone. [...]I laughed at most of it; when I wasn't reading a book or surfing the NET. That's how bored I was. Honestly, after the first 5 minutes in the sculptor's shop, everything is predictable.
AFTERMATH: Starts off with blood and viscera from a slaughtered dog. Bodies being "worked on" in a morgue (i.e. autopsy) by guys who looked like they enjoy their work. One guy takes the brain out of a body and then deposits it into the chest cavity of said deceased (is that SOP?). He then works on a female body and starts doing "his thing" after cutting her up. Pretty sick. I could go on and on. If you have a weak stomach, you'll probably barf. But I watched the entire process eating "Hamburger Helper" and it didn't faze me.
Movie Review: Worst Horror Short 1 Stars
This has got to be the most depraved and horrible film I have ever seen. There is no value to this film at all. The plot is weak (if you can call it a plot), the effects are disturbing but still lame. I've got to say if you watch this film and enjoy it, there is something wrong with you in the head. I can understand wanting to see a gorey movie, but this film goes beyond gore. The entire story is about a guy mutilating a dead female body and having sex with it (it is very graphic). There you go! That's 30 minutes of your life! I want my 30 minutes back! I am boycotting this film based on it being one of the worst films ever made!