I'm back!! I've been waiting for something like this to drag my lazy ass out of review hibernation and it's finally arrived. Turkey's Baskin knocked my fucking socks off, hacked my feet at the ankles and dragged my freshly bleeding stumps through bleach and broken glass. This is the depiction of hell that I never knew I wanted to see and every second I saw of it was equal parts torture and rapture.
Where visuals and art direction are concerned this film is flawless. A balance of subtle simplicity and wildly ambitious artistry drags you into a version of hellish carnality never before fully realized on screen. It recalls in me the emotions I felt upon first watching Nightbreed or Hellraiser but executed in such a way that even my old jaded critic's palette felt rejuvenated. Morbidly perverse nightmares and wretched crawling minions populate a semi-familiar yet intensely foreboding and intimate universe for the latter half of this film interspersed with scenes of gruesome, ritualistic carnage and bizarity. Masterfully executed and I'm anxiously looking forward to seeing more from this director.
Where plot and story are concerned, this movie is a bit harder to break down. I really enjoyed the casting choices and they all had great on screen rapport, their dialogue in the first half of the film (prior to their descent into the insanity realm) was great and built them into a unit that was easily followed. The story itself however, was a little harder to nail down. It's fairly vague as to what is actually happening, though the events are as in your face as can be. There's a fair bit I think that's purposefully left up for personal interpretation because I feel like if they had tried to hand hold the viewers through an explanation it would have stolen a lot of this film's power. I will say the very final scene is a slight letdown, but truthfully I cant think of a better way to end a movie that went the way this one did, so I'm not going to dwell on it.
This film is NOT for the lily livered horror fan. Only those with strong stomachs need apply. But if you've got the stuff, there's not a more recommendable horror flick around at the moment so go see this fucking thing!
10/10 detached retinas
