The Bleak (2019)

The Bleak (2019) - United States

Directed by: James Bell

ABOUT THE FILM:

As of September 2020, The Bleak is the latest release from underground gore virtuoso James Bell. James first made his foray into filmmaking around 2010 when he made the infamous Dog Dick, also known as White Trash Holocaust. It was a surrealist film about a group of white trash folks who played with dead animal carcasses for entertainment. The film remains very controversial to this day and James has been under extreme scrutiny for that film alone ever since his debut. It was around 2014 when the man began to further pursue his filmmaking endeavors with bizarre and over-the-top underground greats such as Manuer, Nutsack and Tantrum.

The Bleak is no different from the aforementioned works, and stands as a surreal piece of experimental splatter. I personally was unable to understand the narrative behind the movie at first, but I will do my best to make sense of it throughout this review. So the movie starts with this room full of humanoid creatures that have large hairy vaginas in place of their faces, and the film showcases them tearing apart their patient, ripping off his appendages and body parts. We follow one of the creatures as they leave with a videotape, only to have their arm cut off and the videotape stolen by a deformed hooded figure. The figure makes off with the tape, goes home and is greeted by.. a female figure (presumably a family member?) with their face completely missing, leaving a massive gap of nothing but blood, tissue and viscera. The humanoid pops in the tape and we are then treated with this sequence of a man who kidnaps a woman and continues to brutally torture, rape and dismember her. Meanwhile, a lunatic goes on a killing spree after his girlfriend refuses to fuck him for watching gore videos.

REVIEW:

To begin this review I'd like to take a moment to try and identify James Bell's style. What makes a James Bell movie?

James Bell's movies could ultimately be described as experimental, and upon first viewings, the films may subvert the viewers' expectations of the movies having traditional narratives. The narrative is there however, and James Bell has a unique way of telling his story, mainly through gore and through visuals. But the narrative is never too clear, and this makes the movie more interesting overall as it's up to the viewer to interpret the meaning.

I've noticed James's films have a common theme of violence, nihilism, cynicism and drug abuse. When I first watched The Bleak I had a hard time trying to process the pussy-faced creatures, the over-the-top gore and the inexplicably melting bodies. It may sound a bit absurd or even pretentious to make meaning out of a creature with a labia for a face, but the way I interpret this movie, it is an overall bleak and nihilistic view of the things we do to advance and to satisfy ourselves. We like to entertain ourselves with violence, whether by committing it or just consuming it on a daily basis. We put drugs in our bodies to escape our troubles; when we aren't satisfied we resort to extreme violence and perversion and we let these things eat away at us until there's nothing left.

But that's just the way I interpreted it. You may interpret it differently.

The movie accomplishes a lot through its visuals and through its subtle and unique method of storytelling alone. But what about the rest of the movie? The acting? The technical aspects? Well the acting is as good as it gets for such a production, but the cast still does a pretty good job with what they're given. Another thing that I've noticed about James' works is that they have the air of an amateur film, with sometimes weird editing, weird lighting and a very cheap camera, but at the same time they remain quite professional. It's very polarizing and I don't quite know how to make sense out of it. However, I will say that the movie is always lit well and the camera work is consistently good. Never jerky, shaky or annoying. And the music, also composed by Bell, fits each scene perfectly and adds to the chaotic air.

Finally, let's talk about the gore effects. One of the trademarks of James Bell's filmmaking style are his gore effects. James is by far one of the most talented independent gore effects artists and is extremely adept at making realistic gore. His props have been used in various different movies in the underground scene, and his props even made it into an episode of Dr. Phil! What I like about Bell's effects is that they actually have this distinct style. His silicone body parts show an impeccable amount of detail, from every vein to every skin particle to every hair. Once you're familiar with his style of gore effects, it's impossible to watch a movie and not notice his props being used because his style is so recognizable. The gore in this movie is nothing short of amazing, and stands as some of the best I've ever seen in an amateur production. The blood is just the right color and consistency and flows realistically and every kill is drawn out; the camera never shys away from anything.

This movie is already worth checking out for the gore alone, but it's also an interesting watch for those interested in surreal experimental cinema. Bell's work never fails to satisfy and any of his movies are a must-have in any gorehound's collection. I can not recommend The Bleak highly enough.

RELEASES:

-The Bleak was released on DVD under Jame's label Very Fine Crap Videos in October 2019.