Shadowz offers in his Halloween marathon a classic underground, oxymore particularly suited to deranged Cat Sick Blues. After no less twisted Laid to rest, so it's now a strange cat story that the platform offers us... So let's go down to this Australian feature film, so unhealthy that it's good and simply banned in New Zealand. Be careful, it's going to sound severe...
The Cat Man
The death of his cat plunges Ted, a young man (Matthew C. Vaughan) rather solitary, in deep depression. Yet a twisted idea will give him hope: why not sacrifice 9 people to bring his precious pet back to life... Then he follows a revengeful quest, where Ted steals behind a strange cat mask, sharp claws and... a dildo-belt-reverse-feeling. We warned you, Cat Sick Blues It's twisted!
Anthropmorphic animals
If sitcom Rabbits David Lynch, coming straight from the underworld, made you uncomfortable, you're probably not ready for Cat Sick Blues. Yet the creator of Mulholland Drive already put the package with its granular image, its terrifying sound design and its nightmare-like creatures.
« In a nameless city deluged by continuous groove, three rabbits live with a fearful mystery.»
It is also interesting to see how quick anthropomorphic animals are to create a sensation of visceral discomfort. Maybe because they remind us of our share of animality, maybe because hybridity is asking us about this kinship that has been wiped out as it constantly touches us. Obviously (and most recently), the question is dealt with in the pretty The Animal Kingdom, a feature film where part of humanity returns – gradually – to a purely animal appearance. Here there is no horror, but a fantastic adornment of philosophical questioning: why are we so abstract from nature?
In manga, it is the Japanese Takahiro Kato (who here feels well inspired by his colleague Junji Itō) who explores the question in his work Humanim. Returning to the zoo of his childhood after about ten years without visiting him, a young man finds strangely changed animals... Drawings in black and white infused with horror, the malaise of the pages.
Less away from home, the (more soothed) comics Blacksad and Goldsmith offer their dose of anthropomorphic animals. Here, the nightmare is elsewhere and anthropomorphism allows authors to quickly characterize their characters with mood traits that are usually ascribed to the animals represented (snake trick, smart fox, sweet lamb...). Two towers of visual strength, which are surrounded by historical and political metaphors that are absolutely exciting.
To return to the cinema, the anthropomorphic creature can form in the image in a simple mask, much simpler than the creatures of the Animal rule. It is all the more disturbing, and quite disturbing in the recent Good Boy. Submitted to NIFFF In 2022, one follows a couple in the process of passing through a dating app. But when the young woman goes to her suitor, she stays stuck on her strange dog, Frank. A Dalmatian like no other...
If Good Boy was already very black, still nothing to do with the absurd cruelty of Cat Sick Blues. To get an idea, we'd be more in a bastard movie between Terrifiing (whose third part is about to come to the French halls) and Halloween. And obviously, as for a clown mate with Michael Myers, it gives a naughty black cat...
Film punk
What is being punk? Subversion? Diversion of codes? Contestation? Setting up alternative structures? Critical feroce of capitalism? Probably all this, and probably a lot of other things. What is a punk movie? Probably all this too, and probably a lot of other things too. But for sure, we can tell you: Cat Sick Blues is a definitely punk movie!
Already, the film is not there to brush us in the direction of the hair, on the contrary. Made with four francs six sous, sometimes illuminated in a dubious way, not sparing a few lengths, there is no saying, the Australian horror film does not seek perfection. Worse still, he willingly swallowed a few jets of vomit in the mouth of his spectator. Kind of like punk rock: aggressive, wild, minimal, political and nosy. Power cords and saturated guitars become here a often simple editing of appearance, yet full of ultra-impacting planes, whose violence jumps to your throat.
Like a Terrifiing or Nekromantik, Cat Sick Blues It is part of a parallel economy. The film is broke – it can sometimes be seen – but perfectly free, until the most complete freedom. Sexually sexual, ultra-violent, diverted from any logic of the screenplay, the feature film will never forbid anything. And this boldness of the overflow, of this sincere and smelly reflux, is born a surprising spleen that irritates the feature of several strong political punches (between some hemoglobin slaps).
Offering us an acidic – but so jubilatory – look at several Internet trends still current today, the film criticises our relationship to images in the most disturbing way possible. The beta feature film gradually becomes a sneaky, caustic and (we have already said) resolutely punk pamphlet. No FutureThey say. This is a little the same conclusion as Cat Sick Blues whose final depressive whirlwind surprises in the offer of such films.
Third marathon film Shadowz for Halloween, and already a hell of a piece. Remember for your horror movies evenings and above all, beware of the priapic cat!
I confess that this film is particularly barred, broke but shot in many places, offering even scenes with a lot of characters. The opening scene is particularly interesting, simple and effective, it reminded the intro of Funny Games, triviality of the frame and violence of music. The rest is often strange, not always played just and we don't know how serious the real is in its purpose, until the botist or not. This is the end that left me in a perplexed thought, raising the subject and film to another level. Very nice discovery, thank you Shadowz, the best web site for me, my best investment culture in two years.
Clearly the best platform, and their Halloween marathon and this year still gargantuan! Thank you for your comment 😉