★ 7 / 10
An overall fun if slightly flawed heavy metal horror effort
kannibalcorpsegrinder
Trying to recover from a disastrous tour, a fledgling metal band decides to record their new album which contains a series of notes derived from a Satanic…
Trying to recover from a disastrous tour, a fledgling metal band decides to record their new album which contains a series of notes derived from a Satanic piece of music written hundreds of years ago, starting a vicious curse that traps them in a deadly nightmare they may not survive from.This was a decidedly enjoyable heavy metal horror effort. One of the better features of this one is the enjoyable setup that takes their frustration and determination to keep the band going. With just enough hints of their disastrous tour that's supposedly filled with fighting, inner turmoil, and other controversial measures that have followed them back to the current iteration of the bad, we get a great idea of the band at the start trying to keep their careers going. This carries over into the majority of the first half where their determination and desire to keep going in the studio despite all the outside pressures from their label or the burgeoning incidents around them that suggest everything is going haywire which creates a solid setup for what's to come later. That manages to be another strong part of the film in their highly effective and enjoyable supernatural-tinged sequences of the curse coming to light. Focusing on the initial introduction of the haunted music by having the affected members freak out unnaturally, succumb to over-the-top physical transformations, and the unnatural behavior exhibited by the affected individuals allows this one to come off quite nicely at building up a rather intriguing series of setpieces throughout here. Once it gets to the second half and it becomes more about the affected minions acting as crazed followers trying to turn everyone else into their grasp through a strong series of hallucinatory visions that show their demonic state allows to play out. This keeps the pace high and the gore effects are quite nice overall which all manage to generate quite a lot to like here although this one does have a few minor drawbacks holding it down. One of the bigger issues present is the somewhat unrealistic manner this one starts to introduce supernatural elements that don't raise any kind of alarm in anyone. Despite how great it is that this is at getting the cursed nature of the original musical piece is to their career, the fact that it goes immediately into voices that aren't there, freak bloody noses that lose an unnatural amount of blood, or straight-up killing themselves in front of everyone doesn't send up any kind of alarm about the situation. It's all too much too fast without any build-up and it makes for an unnatural series of reactions to everything which can be slightly off-putting. Coupled with some bizarre usage of slow-motion sequences that don't need to be done in that manner, there's not much to dislike here.Rated Unrated/R: Graphic Violence, Graphic Language, and Brief Nudity.
Read full review
★ 4 / 10
Out of tune
louisdut
Death metal is an extreme subgenre of metal music. The specific sound is easily identifiable by its use of bass-heavy guitar distortions, ear-splitting, often…
Death metal is an extreme subgenre of metal music. The specific sound is easily identifiable by its use of bass-heavy guitar distortions, ear-splitting, often growled or bellowed vocals, and particular brand of compositional complexity. This musical subgenre is a perfect fit, as well as having an overlapping fanbase, with horror cinema. With Death Metal, Michael Kuciak, producer and short film director, attempts to combine these genres and fanbases in a cacophony of violence and chaos.A Death metal band, AbyssSinister, is about to be dropped from their label, after a catastrophic European tour. The group hire a legendary Producer and hole up inside a remote farm house to record a brand-new album to rejuvenate their careers. Ivan, the lead guitarist, plans to incorporate The Devil's Concerto, a demented, mythological piece of music, which drives the listener insane. The band start work on the album and quickly discover that the concerto is truly the work of pure evil.In 2022, Dave Grohl and the rest of the Foo Fighter boys also tried to amalgamate music and horror and although this is not a new impulse, with Trick or Treat (1986), The Lords of Salem (2012) and Lords of Chaos (2018) making similar attempts, they discovered that bloodstained vinyl does not equal art. The gravest mistake a horror filmmaker can make, is taking his material too seriously when the concepts are absurd, outlandish and downright silly. Elevated Horror has garnered critical and financial success over the last decade by playing the storylines straight and serious, but the appeal of bonkers horror like Re-animator (1985), Slither (2006) and Malignant (2021) remain intact due to the undercurrent, if not blatant focus, on tongue-in-cheek humour. The filmmakers are aware of the absurd nature of their premise and give a knowing wink to their audience. Kuciak is either unaware of the ridiculousness of his material or is unable to insert any nuanced fun into his supernatural plot.Gorehounds will find some entertainment in one singular kill, but the make-up design on the reanimated band members are top notch. The Hellraiser-esque elements are a nice touch. These elements, however, are underutilized and undercooked within the context of the storyline. There is no fun in the kills and no internal logic, with the viewer left befuddled with a number of creative decisions made by the director, including a strange extra-terrestrial, alien abduction inspired sequence that feels so out of place that its almost whiplash inducing.That said, there is potential here. The horror-music trope is a deep well of cinematic opportunity, but the script of Death Metal is flat and uninspired, with acting performances that are forgettable. Kuciak and his crew shouldn't be too hard on themselves though, as Grohl and the boys had no better success themselves.
Read full review
★ 8 / 10
The Devil's Concerto...
DBlackthorne
On the verge of breakup and even receiving a heckler, ABYSSINISTER features Katon on vocals, Ivan on guitar, Devin on bass, & Baphomet on drums; decide to make…
On the verge of breakup and even receiving a heckler, ABYSSINISTER features Katon on vocals, Ivan on guitar, Devin on bass, & Baphomet on drums; decide to make a Hell of an effort or bust. So when an opportunity presents itself to record at a studio free of charge, they jump at the chance! So the band take their girlfriends to the styx to record.Katon acquires & decides to incorporate The Devil's Concerto* into the album {makes for atmospheric intro & background}, yet any who hear it become immediately cursed, and the environment turns into a nightmare. Derives from a witch decomposer in league with The Devil centuries ago - her ghost makes appearances here and there to guide victims along to their doom. Smacks a bit of Deathgasm in this sense.Highlights: Mutilation hanging results in spine with head attached pulled from body. Enucleation. Zombification. Cannibalism. Succubus vampire. Full frontal Nudity. Everybody goes to Hell!Overall, great camera angles, indie production, good special effects.Factoids: The term Death Metal was coined by POSSESSED on the album 7 Churches with the song by the same name. While VENOM coined the term BLACK METAL on the album & song by that name._____________* Folklore to The Devil's Trill by Tartini. {Classical}
Read full review
80%
AUDIENCE
4.0/10
146
•••
Oh.My.Lord! This is so bad that they should be sued for making this "movie"