Three different films from three different continents. And they’re here to smack you up. All are devoted to investigation and provocation. All deliver vicarious thrills, rapidly and repeatedly. Just quickly, the Cyberslick and Spanish ROJO SANGRE (Blood Red) lashes ageism and redundancy onto its agenda when Paul Naschy does a deal with the Devil. Of course, this means it has to show Hell. AB-NORMAL BEAUTY from out of Hong Kong has it’s female protagonist go through her own Hell when her all-consuming passion for still photography blossoms into shooting atrocity and snuff footage. It all ends badly in a dungeon. The British BOY MEETS GIRL goes straight down to the dungeon and leaves you strapped uncomfortably, to a chair, as it performs but is not limited to, “the gift of Divine Lodgement”, and the most evil backyard surgery you’re likely to eyeball in a cinema this year.

ROJO SANGRE
KINO DENDY | Sun 10th July 9pm

Dir Christian Molina | 2003 | 90min
ROJO SANGRE is the electric debut of one Christian Molina. From a script by Jacinto Molina (no relation) who stars under his more recognisable stage name Paul Naschy, ROJO SANGRE is retribution on many levels. Naschy’s character of Pablo Thevenet is an out of work actor seriously aggrieved with the lack of respect his lifelong devotion to his craft has brought him. Still tenacious, if a little ideologically unstable, he remains strong enough to turn his anger into action. From working as a live statue re-creating infamous murderers outside the door of the Pandora nightclub, Thevenet soon gets his foot in the door for a word with the boss who immediately entrusts him with far more important and lucrative assignments. The boss, otherwise known as Satan, happens to run a global murder business from his laptop which also provides actors for his film company that produces, “quality snuff films”. Satan’s interest empowers Thevenet who embarks on a killing spree of both personal vengeance and directed hits. Throwing in everything from critical one-liners about Aleister Crowley to warnings on thoroughly reading every contract you sign, ROJO SANGRE is an actor’s piece where you get many pieces of the actors. It’s also an excellent example of CG being utilised effectively. Above all I can’t see any senior Australian thespian writing and executing anything that even remotely resembles this grand and hilarious revenge plan.

AB-NORMAL BEAUTY
KINO DENDY | Sat 9th July 11pm

Dir Oxide Pang | 2004 | 98min
AB-NORMAL BEAUTY is another dark contemplation by the boys from Bangkok who work out of Hong Kong, the Pang Brothers. In between EYE projects, they’ve assembled AB-NORMAL BEAUTY which brings together two siblings to play young lesbian lovers (!) as one of them Jiney (Race Wong) begins to see blood seeping out of the nude model in her art class. Next she takes her visions into the street to set up shots of chicken slaughter in her local market for her still camera. As the animal carcasses pile up partner Jasmine berates Jiney for her sudden lapse in taste. This only brings on flashbacks to childhood for Jiney revolving around a single event of molestation and manslaughter. A stalker with a penchant for creating their own media recordings and heavy metal piping is brought in to truly flesh out Jiney’s strange visions. Loaded with style if not too much substance AB-NORMAL BEAUTY deftly continues the Pang Brother’s pictorialisation of alienation and modern life. While the Pangs still sit at the forefront of the New Wave of Asian horror AB-NORMAL BEAUTY has been hanging around the back door. Time to let it in...

BOY MEETS GIRL
KINO DENDY | Tue 12th July 7pm

Dir Ray Brady | 1994 | 90min
In BOY MEETS GIRL a guy casually picks up a woman in a bar. Back to her place and she wants to watch, “erotic things ‹ dirty movies,” “Yeah sure”, is the excitable response. From there on in Tevin, as we get to know him, quickly loses interest in his new play pal especially when he awakes from an enforced blackout firmly attached to a chair in a room without windows. The rest of the running time is spent with Tevin’s captors revealing numerous home truths about him along with playfully administering the aforementioned activities of torture. Later, Tevin, finds himself caught in a cruel game where for points he must correctly guess items and objects placed in his mouth. Slugs, his own faeces and maggots are but some of the items. BOY MEETS GIRL is never a simple capitulation to feminist ideals through role reversal but rather a work of deliberate and complete provocation for the whole family. Cheaply made but highly inventive, from the increasingly crazed intertitles to it’s inevitably dark denouement BOY MEETS GIRL is likely to offend every viewer at some point. BOY MEETS GIRL is an early effort from British filmmaker Ray Brady who later worked on an unsold pilot for a show called Little Britain and has since made KISS KISS BANG BANG and Day Of The Sirens.

All features will be supported by shorts from the Njuta Films compilation SWEDISH HORROR including ZOMBIE PSYCHO FILM STHLM, CLAYBOYS ON MONSTER ISLAND & FACTS ARE SAFETY

Programming and notes by Michael Helms
Thanks: David Gregory, Simon Dower, Nigel Rennard, all @Siren Visual Entertainment, Igor Massa, Canonigo Films, Nicolas Debot, Njuta Films, Tony Timpone, Fangoria.