CYBER ZINE FOR AUDIO EXPERIMENTALISTS
VIDEO/FILM REVIEWS
this issue includes reviews of the following:
SEPARATE FAITH - Sacred & Profane -- Video
Troma's TERROR FIRMER -- Film
SEPARTE FAITH -- Sacred and Profane LIVE -- VHS Video
(Strength Through Joy Video)
There are so many different ways to effectively film something to make it
scary and disturbing to the viewer. Unfortunately, none of them were
employed in the production of this video. I feel bad having to write
this nasty review for what sounded like competent industrial music, but
there were moments while watching this video that I wondered if my friend
Lob wasn't playing a practical joke on me. The first segment is a guy
being crucified in extremely low light. It might have been cool looking
if one of the crucifiers hadn't been wearing a Gotcha surf wear T-shirt.
In fact, in all of the action segments, it looked like the first walk
through rehearsal of a play. These people seemed to know nothing about
filming a theatrical production. This film would focus on nothing for
ten minutes while music played!
The second segment was a long shot of a guy in a wheelchair in a room
with a television with a guy laying on the floor with stage blood
spattered on the front of his shirt. And that was it!!! They just sat
there for about ten minutes while grindy industrial music played. It was
torture to watch for all of the wrong reasons. The remaining half an
hour of video seemed to be all poor recordings of live performances. I
watched the whole thing and, without exaggeration, about 90% of the time
I had no idea what was going on. I could tell that there were people on
stage doing things, but it was lit so poorly and shot on such crappy film
that you're looking at a black grainy screen that jerks around a light
and pans over to a piece of plastic covering the wall. Then, you'll
think you see some guy laying in stage blood and somebody picks up a
piece of kelp and starts whipping them with it. This sounds a lot cooler
than it looks. I think that it was supposed to be entrails they bought
at the butcher shop or they had actually pulled out of the guy on stage.
I didn't care because they didn't let me care. It alienated the audience
in all of the wrong ways. It's a half assed piece of film by people who
look like they should know better. I hated having my time wasted and I
suggest none of you make the same mistake. Like I said, if you buy a cd
of their music, it's your standard, Skinny Puppy rehash of industrial
music played by decent musicians. I really think they all ought to go to
the nearest community college and take AT LEAST the most basic film class
before they put out another video. Maybe they'd have something then.
-- [Rev. Paul Mathers]
SEPARTE FAITH -- Sacred and Profane LIVE -- VHS Video
(Strength Through Joy Video)
okay.. so i gave this video to paul to reveiw, because i didnt have a
TV.. and he did , so i thought i would let him check it out.. and then he
said all these awful things.. and i just had to see for myself..and
well. yes this is an low budget video done by un-professionals.. what
gets me is that he expected it to be professional?? i dunno.. also i
think that maybe he just hasnt seen very many underground video...so my
quick add on review to this.. is that it reminded me of early work from
SLEEP CHAMBER, which seemed to be the feel the entire video was
going for anyways.. so if you like OLD Sleep Chamber.. you may like
this.. but dont get too excited.. there isnt any flesh shots to jerk off
to.. -- [LOB]
(Strength Through Joy Video, P.O. Box 82435, Portland, OR 97282)
Troma's 
(1999, Troma Films)
Troma's TERROR FIRMER is a fine movie, I'm sure; but since this is a
magazine about sound rather than one about fine movies I'll be writing here
about TERROR FIRMER's noises.
They're the same sort of noises you'd find in a Warner Brothers cartoon--if
you could find one about disemboweling, pickle-fucking, rock&roll mainlining
movie freaks: very squishy, and there's a hell of an explosion toward the
end.
Also there's a constantly-playing musical score: again, like a cartoon,
except instead of big-band it's ass-pounding rock from such as the
Lunachicks, Third Grade Teacher, Motorhead, and Toilet Boys. I mean it
sincerely: ass-pounding: I wasn't able to sit down for a couple of days.
What I'm trying to say is that TERROR FIRMER sounds just fine, I'm sure;
perhaps someday I'll see it. -- [Ardinger]
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