Subconscious Cruelty (2000) Reviews

• Interesting art-house horror with plenty of WTF moments.

  BA_Harrison2007-04-06

  A gory, low budget, art-house horror with scenes of extreme nastiness, Subconscious Cruelty is not an easy film to watch for several reasons: it is extremely 'symbolic' (some might say pretentious); it has no standard narrative; and it features very unsettling imagery. It is, however, well directed and edited, and features some amazingly realistic effects and a pretty decent score. Subconscious Cruelty starts as it means to go on, with a bizarre short segment entitled Ovarian Eyeball in which a naked woman on a table is sliced open; from her wound, an eyeball on an optic nerve is produced. It makes no sense (to me at least), but is certainly visually arresting. And so the weirdness continues, with a second 'story', Human Larvae, about a guy who wishes to make a mockery of the miracle of birth by killing his sister's newborn child as it is leaving the womb. This one is without a doubt the vilest story I have ever seen committed to celluloid and should be seen only by those with a very strong stomach. Part three, Rebirth, is less intense, with a bunch of naked people rolling around in mud, fellating tree branches and shagging pools of blood! I quite enjoyed this bit after the gruelling nature of Human Larvae. The final segment, Right Brain/Martyrdom, fuses religious symbolism with female nekkidness and gore, and is a shocking slice of sacrilegious depravity guaranteed to upset Christians everywhere. I can't say that I enjoyed director Karim Hussain's debut, and would hesitate recommending it to pretty much everyone I know, but I imagine that it will definitely have a cult following amongst those people who prefer to delve into cinema's weirder output, such as the films of Lynch, Jodorowsky or Miike.

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• Shocking, yes, but what else?

  marcopop2000-11-20

  This was definitely the most graphically disturbing film I've ever seen. Apparently, the sole purpose of the film is to shock and outrage people (according to the Stockholm Film Festival booklet), and I guess it does, but it doesn't really go any further than that. Or does it? I get the feeling that Karim Hussain has something to tell us, but it doesn't get through very well. I understand the reason for showing the things no-one dares to show, and I think that's good. But it is not presented very well, so people will not get the picture. The last section of the film is clearly a statement against American double standard of morality, and the modern mans loss of spirituality, and it is also the most intentionally apparent section. The 'sound design' is great, very reminiscent to Lynch's Eraserhead. The music on the other hand, is most of the time inappropriate. The middle part of the film where people are indulging in an orgy with Mother Earth, is so badly scored the scene becomes silly, which is a shame. Hussain should have chosen music in the vein of Ligeti and Penderecki for a film like this (like Kubrick did). If you want to see a shocking film that is dead serious all of the time, go for this one. Not for everyone, though. Or maybe it is?

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• Boring... self-indulgent crap

  cmorris212009-01-18

  Looking for something shocking? Okay fine... the imagery is that. That's about it. This film attempts to make deep connections with the audience through various symbolism and just ends up being annoying. I am not quite sure if the director's purpose was to truly portray some sort of deep message to his audience, or if he just sought to shock the hell out of them with gore, sex and violence. I am thinking that it was probably the first...but in the failed attempt..it simply ended up to be a piece of artsy garbage with lots of blood, some obnoxious characters, and an over reliance on religious symbolism. If you're looking for some independent film to critique for its attempted use of metaphor...have at it. If you are looking for a gore flick that will make you queasy and uncomfortable... here you go... If you are looking for a film that will irritate you to no end because you realize that in the end, the message was stupid...the movie was stupid... and you will never get those minutes of your life back..this is surely the film for you!

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• Gruesome, Gory, Sick and Disturbing

  claudio_carvalho2011-07-29

  A couple of days ago, the censorship did not allow the exhibition of "A Serbian Film" in Rio Fan Festival 2011 in Rio de Janeiro. A friend of mine mentioned that "Subconscious Cruelty" was another polemic film and I decided to watch it. "Subconscious Cruelty" is indeed gruesome, gory, sick and disturbing, and one of the nastiest and pointless films I have ever seen. The film is divided is segments and it seems that the only intention of the director is to shock the audiences with a confused narrative and disconcerting impressive images. Paradoxically, the music score is very tender and beautiful. Ovarian Eyeball - In the first segment, a naked woman is sliced by a sharp blade and an eyeball is removed from her belly. This surrealistic short is absolutely senseless. Human Larvae – in this second segment, a deranged man that hates his sister that is pregnant kills her newborn offspring and she during the delivery. This short is one of the sickliest films I have ever seen. Rebirth – in this third segment, a group of naked people rolls around mud and blood in another pointless segment. Right Brain/Martyrdom – in this last incomprehensible segment, there are the visible intention to offend the Christians with religious symbolism associated with gore and sex. Considering that I did not understand three out four segments, I really did not like this film. My vote is three. Title (Brazil): Not Available

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• There are movies that shouldn't be made

  filipemanuelneto2016-06-25

  When the surrealist art came it shocked people. Salvador Dali is one of the most controversial painters ever thanks to this. But, nevertheless, its beautiful, its art. This film, which pretentiously tries to be Surrealist, or Dadaist, don't get it and is absolutely condemnable in its basic intention: to shock people because, period. Directed and written by Karim Hussain, has some actors too, but who cares? The film is divided into four parts, each one more sickening than the other, in a reflection of the twisted mind of its director, who seems to have the sensitivity of a rock and the mental health of a Roman emperor. The film mixes, without apparent reason or sense, extremely graphic violence, explicit blood, sex, profanity, religious symbology being desecrated, killings and other things like that. The only explicit and latent purpose throughout the film is the shock, the clear and stated intention to intimidate the public and revolting people. And when this is done without any explicit positive intention behind, its always bad, is doing the opposite of what cinema should be: Art that tells you a story. Yes, cinema may shock and go against what people consider normal. But it should serve to change them, to improve them, to change mentalities for good. Offending people shouldn't be an end in itself, or in the movies or in anything else. The Seventh Art didn't need that. This movie has repeatedly censored and banned in several countries. A measure that many persons will find punitive and dictatorial, but that is, in this case, very reasonable. This film will serve as a beacon of bad example for ever.

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