Review by: Goremetal 666
Date: 22nd May 2008
Ol’ John Carpenter hasn’t really had a good run for a while now. Pretty much everything he has
done since Escape From LA (1995) till now hasn’t really had the best reception (especially
Ghosts Of Mars (2001), although I quite liked it myself), and if that isn’t bad enough, Hollywood
has been ass raping some of his earlier films (Assault On Precinct 13, The Fog, and all those
shitty Halloween sequels) or low budget filmmakers have just been ripping him off completely!
(I much preferred 1999’s Ice Station Erebus AKA Sometimes They Come Back.. For More!
When it was called The Thing! Seriously watch it sometime and tell me it ain’t a complete rip-off!)
However, if JC’s episode in the first Masters of Horror series is anything to go by there may still
be a little fire left in his belly, as this is possibly the most gripping thing he has done in a long
time. That’s not to say it’s perfect though as the story is a long way past fucking preposterous,
but the execution is pretty cool.
Kirby Sweetman is young Cult Theatre owner, who also dabbles in finding extremely rare film prints
for rich clients. Kirby receives a request to visit one collector, Mr. Bellinger (Udo Kier of Flesh for
Frankenstein, Mark of the Devil, Expose fame). Mr. Bellinger’s request though is something of
a morbidly bizarre nature, he wants Kirby to track down a French film known as Le Fin Absolute
De Monde (The Absolute End of the World). According to Kirby, this film was only ever
screened once, and the film itself incited so much crowd violence that it was promptly stopped
and burned! What Kirby doesn’t know though is that there is one more print of the film in
existence. How does Mr. Bellinger know this? Why he is so obsessed with the film he has one of
the “stars” chained up in a room in his mansion, and the “star” (who is actually an angel that had
its wings cut off in the film) has a special connection with the film and can feel that a copy still
lives.
So after working out the finer details of the deal Kirby heads off to Upstate New York to track
down the only living critic who ever saw the film. The critic though is definitely a six pack short of
a slab and has become so obsessed with writing a new review on the film that the pieces of
paper have taken over his house! The only information that the critic has on him about the film is
an audio interview he conducted with the Director over 30 years ago.
With audio tapes in hand, Kirby then flies off to Paris to catch up with an old friend who also
sources out rare prints of films. Problem is that as soon as Kirby listens to the Interview he starts
seeing “Cigarette Burns” (which apparently occur on a film just as something scary is about to
happen, or just before it’s time for a Reel change) which also leads to flashbacks of Kirby’s life
and all the bad shit that has happened to him (His missus & him used to be strung out junkies
until she killed herself in the tub, in a scene that reminds a lot of The Shining) The closer he gets
to finding the film the more frequent the “Cigarette Burns” appear & intensify.
Kirby meets up with some really weird fuckers in his travels to find the film, including a very mental
snuff freak, before finally arriving at Katja’s house (the directors widow) in Vancouver Canada.
After talking to Katja for a while she gives him the last remaining copy of the film in existence, but
this is when Kirby’s problems really begin.
For a cult movie maker to make an episode of a Cult TV show about a cult film is surely a slight
stroke of genius! Even though Carpenter didn’t write the screen play this still has his name
stamped all over it and it would be very hard pressed to find somebody out there who doesn’t get
something out of this episode as it is a very good installment in the series.
That’s not to say it is without flaws though, especially the Le Fin Absolute De Monde footage.
While hearing about the film throughout the course of the episode, when the footage is shown I
was expecting something mind shattering, not just a bunch of clips that look like leftovers from a
Tool or Marilyn Manson video. However still give it a spin, as it is definitely worth an hour of your
time.
Anchor Bay does the same bang up job with this entry, just like others in the series. The disc is
that crammed with stuff it is nearly busting out of the case!! Buy the whole series!
Date: 22nd May 2008
Ol’ John Carpenter hasn’t really had a good run for a while now. Pretty much everything he has
done since Escape From LA (1995) till now hasn’t really had the best reception (especially
Ghosts Of Mars (2001), although I quite liked it myself), and if that isn’t bad enough, Hollywood
has been ass raping some of his earlier films (Assault On Precinct 13, The Fog, and all those
shitty Halloween sequels) or low budget filmmakers have just been ripping him off completely!
(I much preferred 1999’s Ice Station Erebus AKA Sometimes They Come Back.. For More!
When it was called The Thing! Seriously watch it sometime and tell me it ain’t a complete rip-off!)
However, if JC’s episode in the first Masters of Horror series is anything to go by there may still
be a little fire left in his belly, as this is possibly the most gripping thing he has done in a long
time. That’s not to say it’s perfect though as the story is a long way past fucking preposterous,
but the execution is pretty cool.
Kirby Sweetman is young Cult Theatre owner, who also dabbles in finding extremely rare film prints
for rich clients. Kirby receives a request to visit one collector, Mr. Bellinger (Udo Kier of Flesh for
Frankenstein, Mark of the Devil, Expose fame). Mr. Bellinger’s request though is something of
a morbidly bizarre nature, he wants Kirby to track down a French film known as Le Fin Absolute
De Monde (The Absolute End of the World). According to Kirby, this film was only ever
screened once, and the film itself incited so much crowd violence that it was promptly stopped
and burned! What Kirby doesn’t know though is that there is one more print of the film in
existence. How does Mr. Bellinger know this? Why he is so obsessed with the film he has one of
the “stars” chained up in a room in his mansion, and the “star” (who is actually an angel that had
its wings cut off in the film) has a special connection with the film and can feel that a copy still
lives.
So after working out the finer details of the deal Kirby heads off to Upstate New York to track
down the only living critic who ever saw the film. The critic though is definitely a six pack short of
a slab and has become so obsessed with writing a new review on the film that the pieces of
paper have taken over his house! The only information that the critic has on him about the film is
an audio interview he conducted with the Director over 30 years ago.
With audio tapes in hand, Kirby then flies off to Paris to catch up with an old friend who also
sources out rare prints of films. Problem is that as soon as Kirby listens to the Interview he starts
seeing “Cigarette Burns” (which apparently occur on a film just as something scary is about to
happen, or just before it’s time for a Reel change) which also leads to flashbacks of Kirby’s life
and all the bad shit that has happened to him (His missus & him used to be strung out junkies
until she killed herself in the tub, in a scene that reminds a lot of The Shining) The closer he gets
to finding the film the more frequent the “Cigarette Burns” appear & intensify.
Kirby meets up with some really weird fuckers in his travels to find the film, including a very mental
snuff freak, before finally arriving at Katja’s house (the directors widow) in Vancouver Canada.
After talking to Katja for a while she gives him the last remaining copy of the film in existence, but
this is when Kirby’s problems really begin.
For a cult movie maker to make an episode of a Cult TV show about a cult film is surely a slight
stroke of genius! Even though Carpenter didn’t write the screen play this still has his name
stamped all over it and it would be very hard pressed to find somebody out there who doesn’t get
something out of this episode as it is a very good installment in the series.
That’s not to say it is without flaws though, especially the Le Fin Absolute De Monde footage.
While hearing about the film throughout the course of the episode, when the footage is shown I
was expecting something mind shattering, not just a bunch of clips that look like leftovers from a
Tool or Marilyn Manson video. However still give it a spin, as it is definitely worth an hour of your
time.
Anchor Bay does the same bang up job with this entry, just like others in the series. The disc is
that crammed with stuff it is nearly busting out of the case!! Buy the whole series!
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Masters Of Horror: Cigarette Burns
DVD/APPROX. 60 MINS/2005/USA UNRATED
DVD/APPROX. 60 MINS/2005/USA UNRATED
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