HOUSE OF FLESH MANNEQUINS

"Those images, this film ... is not just a movie".

In one scene, a little over midway through HOUSE, the lead character Sebastian (Domiziano Arcangeli) sits naked, masturbating before a projection of a gagged woman getting her naked body sliced by a cutthroat razor blade. This is, my friends, HOUSE OF FLESH MANNEQUINS.

The film is split into chapters and charts the downward spiral of filmmaker Sebastian’s mental health, nightmares of an abusive childhood at the hands of his father having left him scarred as an adult with a penchant for capturing acts of sexual humiliation and torture on film.

We begin with a ‘Prologue’ in which we learn a little of Sebastian’s current mind state, as well as glimpsing snatches of the suffering he endured as a child.

Things start proper, story-wise, as we move into ‘Act 1’ which introduces us to the protagonist in more depth. Given to watching his artistic S&M films in the solitude of his darkened apartment, his is clearly not a happy lot. He seems more than willing, then, to open up to pretty new neighbour Sarah (Irena A Hoffman) when she comes calling and shows an interest in his unsettling cinema.

As Sebastian opens up to her, he explains that his father conducted scientific experiments for the US military. These involved him subjecting his son to all manner of physical and mental torture, documenting Sebastian’s pain through his 8mm camera’s unflinching eye.

Now, as an adult, Sebastian has carried on with the fascination of capturing these acts of suffering and pain-dealing under the gaze of his own ever-watching lens.

Sarah is a tad perturbed, especially when he invites her to watch a hardcore reel of his parents fucking (yes, we get to see it too), but ultimately is beguiled by her neighbour and continues to pay him visits, digging deeper into his past each time and learning more about his twisted psyche.

But is she as innocent as she seems? Her relationship with her father, who she lives with, suggests that she’s hardly the most normal kid on the block after all. Oh, and did I mention that her chain-smoking, throat cancer-addled Dad is portrayed by living genre legend Giovanni Lombardo Radice ...?

That’s the plot, sort of. There’s more as it unfurls awkwardly through further chapters, introducing us to the titular peep show as Sebastian lets Sarah further into his fucked up world and we witness a mindscape filled with people indulging in S&M, sex and body scarification.

Episodic (literally), sometimes torturously slow and undeniably pretentious, HOUSE is a strange film made all the odder by terrible dialogue and seemingly deliberately mannered, theatrical performances. In the latter respect, credit must go to Hoffman for breathing believability and warmth into her role. But Arcangeli comes across as wooden and nervous. Married with the pacing and general arty fartiness on display, it’s almost as if writer-director Domiziano Cristopharo doesn’t want us to like his film.

Strange, then, that it’s actually very well-made on many levels. The use of classical music on the score lends weight to some stylishly shot, fetishist set-pieces. Expert camerawork and imaginative, colourful lighting techniques further add to the film’s impressive look.

Many scenes are beautifully composed, making great use of their sparse sets to create a convincingly offbeat and unnerving atmosphere. Bondage lovers will feel spoilt by the aesthetically sound scenes of otherwise ugly deeds, while the noirish twist the film takes in the latter half works better than you’d expect.

The gory FX work, too, is very good for the most part. Be warned though, there are scenes contained within which feature people carving each other up for real. Similarly, the sex in the film is not simulated: expect graphic vaginal penetration and blowjobs along the way.

HOUSE is never as shocking as that perhaps makes it sound though. Maybe this is because it is such a stylised and portentous piece, echoing Peter Greenaway and Luis Bunuel as much as it does the likes of A SERBIAN FILM, SUBCONSCIOUS CRUELTY and CAFE FLESH.

In fact, the film is filled with references to other flicks and directors throughout. Be it the scene that opened this review echoing the start of Pedro Almodovar’s MATADOR, the plot’s obvious debt to Michael Powell’s PEEPING TOM or the sequences in Sebastian’s homemade movies resembling scenes from stuff like Fred Vogel’s AUGUST UNDERGROUND or Lucifer Valentine’s SLAUGHTERED VOMIT DOLLS ... Those who like to spot these things will have a field day watching this.

HOUSE OF FLESH MANNEQUINS comes to American DVD fully uncut courtesy of Elite Entertainment’s subsidiary label, MVD Visual.

Shot on varying formats but mainly film, the 1.85:1 transfer is 16x9 enhanced and is largely a very good one. Blacks are deep, colours are strong and natural, while some scenes are staggeringly sharp. Softness and flat colour palettes do tip the balance at times, but overall the presentation here is highly satisfactory.

English 2.0 audio is clear and consistent throughout. Optional Italian subtitles are advertised on the back cover but I couldn’t locate them on the disc provided.

A static main menu page leads into a static scene-selection menu allowing access to the film via 12 chapters.

Extras begin with full versions of the 5 ‘snuff’ films glimpsed at in the main feature. These last a total of 16 minutes and are fairly strong in their depiction of consensual bodily mutilation and reasonably well executed gore FX. Edits and musical score don’t help the faux snuff feel, of course, but it’s all pulled off in considerably sleazy style.

"It’s Just Flesh" is a 6-minute documentary focusing on the film’s special effects, with Multivision FX artist Michael Del Rossa giving us an insight into his on-set work.

12 minutes of cast and crew interviews are a little self-congratulatory and don’t offer a great deal of background information.

Much better is a 13-minute Behind The Scenes featurette. This is well-edited and filled with interesting reveals on the shoot of this $500,000.00 budgeted film.

Overall, HOUSE OF FLESH MANNEQUINS gets a strong DVD release. The film itself is uneven and difficult to warm to. However, it’s also undeniably striking, original and not for the faint of heart.

Review by Stuart Willis