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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Truly creepy , November 28, 2006
While the theme of this movie is admittedly somewhat formulaic--corporate greed--the execution is definitely original and deserves real notice. Most impressive of all is the powerful atmosphere, which goes a long way towards giving the viewer the creeps. The filmmakers have essentially drowned their visuals in sepia--not a bad thing at all, and strongly reminiscent of, for example, City of Lost Children by Jeunet-Caro.
There's a really effective Lynch-Kafka thing going on here as our main character, Simon J (Jeremy Sisto) gets involved with his neighbors, his landlord, his friend the messenger, and his super, all of whom, he thinks, could be involved in the delivery inside his apartment of a succession of packages which, when unwrapped, are found to be empty.
Neighbors include the overly kinky Bruce Payne, the wacked inventor Udo Keir (he's great), and sexy nurse Deborah Kara Unger. The super, Lance Henriksen, is another creepy turn for this excellent character actor whose rendition of "Hallelujah I'm a Bum" makes you shudder just a bit. Keir's invention is Adam, a talking robot head that takes the place of its inventor's son (he never married and had children), and that mouths off to him and sometimes spews out decidedly paranoid visions to Simon when the latter comes to visit.
The messenger zooms back and forth on his zippy motorbike and tries to reassure Simon about everything. Simon periodically goes to the supermarket to buy groceries, all made by the Farm company, and all of which cost an arm and a leg.
The filmmakers, clever indeed, use a simplified, pared-down approach in creating their twilit, sepia-washed surreal world. When Simon leaves his building to go food shopping, nobody's on the street. When he walks down the hallway on his floor, no other tenants are there. This minimalist technique is effective in providing an isolated world--more precisely, Simon's isolated world. Not only can you not trust anybody, but because of that, you can't trust yourself.
The ending, while somewhat predictable, is nevertheless just as creepy as the rest of the film. In addition, it's always nice to see some lovemaking in the middle of a film like this, because you know that the supposed solace it provides to one or both of its participants is false--that is, the relief they feel is temporary...like life itself (oy, pretentious).
For a shoestring budget effort, this is indeed a very nice piece of work. Highly recommended.
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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Dada meets Kafka, February 4, 2005
"Paranoia will destroy ya..." or so said the Kinks years ago. The paranoia in this film...well, you'll have to watch the film yourself to see what happens. Step into a grim, surrealistic world (think Dada does Kafka) where strange, unexplained things are going on. A mysteriously empty box that keeps appearing on the doorstep of Simon (played by Jeremy Sisto), people dying under odd circumstances. Simon's world is dreary, dark, depressing and confusing. It is peopled by others who are as confused and zombie-like as he has become-Trish, the cancer ward nurse (played by Deborah Unger), who uses kinky sex to make herself feel alive after being around so much death, the inventor (played by Udo Keir) of a weird robot head, the peculiar custodian played by Lance Hendricksen. Their souls are being sucked dry by a culture that demands that they perform, conform, consume. The only character with energy in this soulless atmosphere is the Neighbor, a sleazy director of S&M porn games, played by Bruce Payne with his customary intensity and nuance.(Why is he left out of the DVD credits?! His is the most memorable character).
Though unrelentingly grim, it is worth seeing more than once. This Kafkaesque film is textured, with many levels of meaning woven into the surrealistic package. There are many messages to be extracted---the dangers of amoral corporations out to control and out of control, the deadening effects of a conformist society, questioning of the extreme measures people will go to to feel alive in a dreary world (TV "Reality" shows, anyone?). By the end of the film, the mystery of the box is revealed. It is a trick that is, as Max Headroom once said, only "20 minutes into the future," a science fiction about to turn into science fact. Is this all a metaphor for what is going on now in our culture? See for yourself. This film, unlike the majority of sorry excuses for entertainment out there, will make you think.
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
As weird as they come...., January 31, 2005
This movie is extremely suspenseful and extremely weird. It has a lot of imagery and subtle hints that require you to read between the lines to figure out what's happening to Simon (main character). I was on the edge of my seat for the better part of the movie. The ending is one of those where you have to draw some of your own conclusions and kind of leaves you hanging. A great sci-fi thriller with plenty of weirdness to keep you guessing.
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