This motion picture will be available on May 28th as a “Limited Edition” Blu-ray from Arrow Video.
While many are familiar with local independent horror pictures, the French have been delivering their fair share of creepers since the beginning of cinema. In the past few decades, the country has become known for examples of extreme horror that go well beyond what many American genre pictures will attempt. Writer/director earned plenty of praise for his 2018 horror/drama All the Gods in the Sky, merging arthouse aesthetics with more disturbing elements. His latest effort is the surreal creeper Pandemonium. The disc and image quality on display is excellent and the movie should please a lot of fans of international horror. But for this reviewer, the movie falters a bit after an incredible opening act.
The story begins with two men at the scene of an accident on a mountain road. One is a driver named Nathan (Hugo Dillon) while the other is a cyclist (Arden Bajraktaraj). The pair try to figure out what has occurred, with Nathan in particular trying to absolve himself from responsibility for hitting this figure. But it soon becomes clear that neither man could have survived the crash and the two are in some kind of spiritual limbo. As they try to figure out what to do next, two doors suddenly appear in the road. The two wonder whether the portals lead to Heaven and Hell, before arguing about who should go through what door and what to do next.
Eventually, the plot does follow one figure, who indeed ends up in Hell. This vision of the underworld looks like something out of the climax of Lucio Fulci’s The Beyond, filled with bodies lying in dirt. After approaching some of these individuals, the main character sees how the bodies met their fates, before discovering what will ultimately happen to him.
As mentioned, the first 25 minutes deal specifically with the panicked Nathan and the cyclist reacting to their situation. It’s very entertaining as Nathan rambles and tries to rationalize what has happened, suddenly bringing up the death of a spouse and how it should not cause him to be damned, all while the calmer and more reserved biker takes the high road (believing himself to be pure and innocent). As more details emerge and a final choice appears clear to both men, their attitudes change amusingly. The mountaintop roadside photography is excellent and two performers are fun to watch playing off of each other. Obviously, it’s a disturbing scenario, but there’s a lot of humor that results from their anxiety and bickering.
Unfortunately, one of these characters immediately disappears and the two segments that follow are very different in tone. One follows a young girl (Manon Maindivide) living in a mansion with her deceased parents and a malformed individual in the cellar (Carl Laforêt) whom she blames for their death. It has far more fantastic leanings and is beautifully shot, but the end reveal isn’t particularly surprising. The other is a deadly serious chapter involving a guilt-ridden mother (Ophélia Kolb) whose teenage daughter (Sidwell Weber) has committed suicide. She can’t deal with the loss and attempts to take the corpse on a vacation. While well-performed, it’s very clear from the outset that this family trip isn’t going to last.
Later, we return to the character in Hell what his ultimate fate will be. The film does attempt to deal with issues like grief and loss within families, but the constant shifts in feel are jarring and take one out of the drama. The pieces don’t quite fit together tonally and the graphic finale seems particularly silly, when a demon who looks like a pro-wrestler modeled after Leatherface abuses the protagonist a little too aggressively. Perhaps we’re supposed to experience feelings of hopelessness at this point, but we aren’t attached to any of the characters long enough to truly understand or feel their pain.
Truth be told, one wishes that the film had instead focused on Nathan (who has suffered his own kind of family loss) and his newfound acquaintance contemplating Hell or Heaven, coming up with a plan and trying to adapt to their circumstances and what may or may not occur.
For me, the two additional stories and finale don’t really ask big existential questions (I could have gone on and on and on with inquiries for that gatekeeper until he may have felt like he was the one being tortured for eternity). In the end, it mostly wants to shock and disturb with a vision of darkness, which is a bit unfortunate after the lengthy and strangely humorous opening. But having said that, those first 25 minutes are excellent and there are some impressive visuals as the story progresses. It’s an interesting film, but not a consistent one that veers around and never establishes a specific tone.
The disc includes plenty of extras. There is a lengthy interview with Quarxx who goes into making the film independently on a small budget. He notes how tough it was to shoot in extremely cold weather and how lucky the production ended up being with this striking footage. Additionally, he notes an impressive stage that was on the site of the mansion used in the second segment and how he adapted the screenplay to work it into the film.
There is also an interview with the make-up effects supervisor who goes into the make-up work for a character on the manor segment and some of the other hellish creations. Footage of a real birth is featured at the close of the movie (believe it or not, it is a part of the story) and another extra goes into how it was planned and shot. There is also a making-of, as well as footage from the premiere featuring cast, crew and attendees delivering their final verdict. Amusingly, two other filmmakers in attendance do mention that it wasn’t their cup of tea, but that they are enjoying talking about it and were impressed with the technical skills on display. It’s very similar to my reaction to the picture.
To be honest, I really enjoyed the opening third and wished that two lost figures from the beginning of the picture had actually been the focus of the entire tale. But if you like extreme French horror cinema, then there is probably a lot for you to appreciate in Pandemonium. At the very least, it is a beautifully lensed movie that takes you deep down into the grimmest depths of Hell.