Customer Reviews

Blue Flame [VHS]

5 star:		(0)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

The only directoral attempt by Cassian Elwes, this is a numbingly incoherent story that Elwes states he wrote during four days in hospital while sedated with opiates following surgery, and it must be noted that a drug-induced fog, indeed, seems to permeate the proceedings. As much as can be determined, the story is set in a future wherein a pair of anthropomorphic felons is imprisoned in a condition of suspended animation from which they escape, attracting energetic pursuit from a former policeman who knows that they kidnapped his young daughter, therewith causing his marital failure, all of which is included within a screenplay bare of intelligibility, dealing principally with the capability of the villains, named Fire and Rain, to enter human psyches at will. An essential consideration for success of a film that involves alteration of reality relative to temporal and spatial matters is that either a scientific framework for such surrealism as is evident here must be established, or the subject should be verbally let entirely alone, and a decision by Elwes to have his characters attempt to analyse the outrageous events of the tale only increases the unintelligible quality of this picture that, in all probability, possesses scant interest for even enthusiasts of science fiction and fantasy. Queer as they may be, Elwes presents ideas, but finds that directing a cast to expand upon them is entirely another matter, with the players here walking through thinly written roles, only Melissa Behr leaving a defined impression with a portrayal as some type of android; in sum then, this is a low-budget, chaotic item, cumbered by subpar production values in spite of inventive work by cinematographer Daniele Massaccesi.