MALICE IN WONDERLAND (1982)

MALICE IN WONDERLAND (1982) (UR) Dir. Vince Collins
4 mins.

 

This short animation juxtaposes the themes and characters of the Lewis Carroll classic with psychedelia and sexuality. Alice enters into her own labial gates and transforms into various yonic and phallic creatures. Using simple, crude and yet hypnotizing animation loops, Vince Collins essentially encapsulates the Gnostic angst towards the human body.

 

Certain Gnostic groups, such as the Skoptsi and the Cathars, believed the body to be the prison of the soul. Enlightenment was therefore to transcend the mortal shell, and this goal was obtained through various extremes, be it sexual abstinence, castration, flagellation, or even, in the case of some Gnostic sects, promiscuity.

 

 

Alice is shown physically morphing much like the alien in John Carpenter's The Thing. The different illustrations highlight the fluidity of gender, the frailty of flesh, and the implicit sexual innuendos in commonplace phenomena, be it drinking from a bottle, smoking a hookah, or opening a door.

 

Sometimes the images are surreal and beautiful, other times they are jarring, nightmarish and unrelenting. They reflect the full and complicated spectrum of human sexual relation, both internal and external. It can be gorgeous, sensual, fun, indifferent, gross, violent, or traumatic.

 

Many Gnostics believed that the creator-god, or Demiurge, was evil and had created an imperfect world; hence the proclivity of suffering and disorder within it. Alice herself seems to question the intentions of the Demiurge itself when, at the end of the animation, she asks, "Who has had such a curious dream?"

10/10

LITTLE OTIK (2000)

LITTLE OTIK (2000) (UR) Dir. Jan Svankmeyer
aka GREEDY GUTS
132 mins.

Little Otik is a story from the Czech Republic about a barren couple who adopt a strange tree root as a surrogate child. Their delusional love for it seems to give it life. As Otik grows, he begins devouring the people in the apartments around the couple, and his appetite increases. This film draws much inspiration from genre classics The Little Shop of Horrors, It's Alive and Eraserhead. It's a very streamlined Jan Svankmeyer film, if that's possible; it is much more accessible than his more occult works. This is both negative and positive.

 

 

I did not enjoy it as much at first, simply because of the seemingly "mainstream" quality of this compared to movies like Alice and Conspirators of Pleasure. I however forgave this because this film is a great example of modern folklore, because of Jan's fabulous stop-motion animation and exploitation of taboos. The story is simple and predictable, however subplots and scenes are not. This would serve as a good introduction to Jan's oeuvre. Maybe I'm fucked, but I would regard most of Jan's work to make great, if not utterly terrifying, children's films. They convey a sense of wonder and creativity that really spark the imagination (Yes, these are fucked up movies, but I grew up watching Return to Oz and The Watcher in the Woods. As long as your kid isn't curbstomping neighborhood animals, I think they'll be fine).

 

 

Little Otik is very well filmed (expect nothing less from this man), surreal (ditto) and almost has a Peter Jackson feel to its stock and editing. It isn't a perfect film, but many uncomfortable subjects are addressed directly but serve as positive cautionary tales in this stark fairytale. 6/10

 

Watch the trailer:

 

OUR ROBOCOP REMAKE (2014)

OUR ROBOCOP REMAKE (2014) (UR) Dir. Various
108 mins.

 

This film has to be seen to be believed. It is a deconstructionist and immensely surreal retelling, that really explores and dissects the themes of the Paul Verhoeven classic. 50 directors contributed to this mind-melting piece, and despite that fact, the transitions between segments really work to the movie's benefit.

 

I kid you not, dear readers, this opus has everything; gore, stop-motion animated action figures, musical numbers, dance, cartoons, video games, and exploding penises. Many, many exploding penises. This all leads to a very tripped out climax that is both meta and sublime. If you are familiar with Doggie Woggiez, Poochie Woochiez!, you'll have some idea of what to expect here, though I venture to say this is superior to that film in many ways.

 

 

If you love of Robocop or psychedelia, I cannot recommend this enough. It is a love letter to the original (and altered states of consciousness). 8/10

 

Watch OUR ROBOCOP REMAKE on its official site: http://www.ourrobocopremake.com/watch.html