Directed by: Dan Schaffer
Starring: Caspian Faye, Nina Courson, Jasmine Sumner, Sylvia Soska
Comic book artist Dan Schaffer makes his directorial debut with this dark expressionist horror feature, Electric Meat.
Filmed in black-and-white, with spoken words non-existent, the story of this film takes place almost entirely inside a house. It would be fair to say, though, that this film is less focused on a narrative, concentrating instead on how the viewer will perceive the images and the content. What is the plot? A young photographer (Faye) lives alone in a house, and one day he brings home a woman’s dead body, which he decides to utilise as a model. Creepy.
So, what is there to see here, then? Well, a great deal of sinister stuff as reality gets mixed with nonreality. The photographer’s property has walls covered with pictures, there is a huge crack in a wall that seemingly attracts his attention, and there is the dead body. So far, this seems to be reality. Then, there are televisions, quite a few of them, stacked on top of each other, turned on and showing what appears to be women sex workers behaving erratically, screaming mostly.
There is also another woman (living), who pretty much just walks around the house, and the film often cuts to women apparently dressed as sex workers. All this (and more) gives the impression that they exist in the photographer’s mind. It should be acknowledged that some parts are quite disturbing.
What is there to hear? As mentioned, no dialogue. Instead, there is eerie music, whispers, and static sounds throughout. The visuals and the audio collaborate, and the result is an unsettling and frightening atmosphere.
The thing is…repetition. From start to finish, along with the protagonist performing his gruesome ”art”, the viewer is constantly met with the same images time and time again, be it television sets on static or showing women, photos of women, an electrical substation, or the crack on the wall. Generally, not much happens; the pace is slow, so what keeps the viewer watching?
Evidently, Faye’s character is a guy who is profoundly disturbed. A loner who has very dark thoughts and sets out to make them a reality via photography. The supporting cast (consisting solely of women) succeeds in portraying eccentric, insane, and menacing characters.
This feature provides a commentary regarding mental health, loneliness, and unspeakable desires. From a different perspective, it looks into the worlds of photography and the sex industry. It could be argued that pessimism dominates, with many negative traits being brought to the surface such as murder, isolation and maniacal instincts.
A sinister journey into the mind of a disturbed youngster. The atmosphere is a plus; however, this is a slow burner with constant repetition. It is appreciated that this is an expressionist project; nevertheless, even this genre’s biggest fans might find it hard to be constantly engaged. Perhaps a duration significantly shorter than ninety minutes would have been more effective?
Electric Meat will have its World Premiere at Tubi FrightFest on 28thAugust.