HURT

HURT opens with a podgy, thinly haired man sitting himself down in front of a video camera and preparing to address the screen. The man is Michael (director Scott A Martin, SEVEN TO MIDNIGHT), sat in a dank-looking room with two offscreen male friends.

Michael talks to the camera, addressing us as a news reporter, telling us/him he's submitted the footage to him because "you're a nobody". Michael talks shyly at first, stumbling over how to present his words. He asks his offscreen buddy Craig (Thomas Shrader) if he has anything to add before their previously filmed footage commences. Craig responds by telling Michael the following footage is going to turn him into the next Larry King.

Downing a can of beer, Michael ends his introduction with an inviting "on with the show".

The "show" begins with ominous text on screen, proclaiming "There are thousands of missing people in the world. We found out what happened to 47 of them". Then we cut straight to breathless handheld video footage of a man being chased through a field in broad daylight. This first of many vignettes is dated onscreen as having originated from October 2001. It culminates with the man being bludgeoned.

A middle-aged reporter, looking like a low-rent Dennis Hopper with his white beard and glasses, watches the footage while slumped in front of his TV. Gradually, the reporter becomes increasingly disturbed by what he witnesses.

HURT unfolds in an episodic fashion from hereon-in, with various filmic formats (video, DV etc) used as we intercut for the next hundred minutes between numerous sleazy sketches filmed by Michael and his cohorts, Michael's leering speeches into the camera and the reactions of the bewildered reporter.

It becomes apparent that Michael has been running a makeshift business specialising in homemade porn. He even manages to get some seriously hot young women involved, luring them to a basement at times with his overaged friends who snigger as the girls strip, then give them a good rodgering.

But Michael's stab at the big-time extends further than a bit of DIY adult entertainment. He achieves his "art" by torturing and killing his subjects, directing the action as cronies such as his elderly mate Jim through scenes of cruelty. And being the director, Michael even gets to pick and choose with glee who lives or dies.

HURT continues unrelentingly along these lines, with the reporter throwing in his own opinions on the footage later, when addressing the screen himself for what appears to be his own intended expose on Michael's exploits. So, yes, there's even a point being made here too ...

HURT is actually quite well made. It retains a grubby, claustrophobic atmosphere with consistency, thanks to some well written characters, nervy improvised dialogue and grimy locations. The low-fi video quality and the handheld camera work aide the faux-snuff feel of the movie too.

Performances are strong in general, offering a convincing imagining of snuff movie-making at play. Only the linking scenes with the reporter betray the authentic sense of degradation and despair captured by director Martin.

Music features rather a lot in HURT, and that's a shame. It's not necessary - and the music chosen, public domain dreck by the sound of it, is inappropriate. It kills the sombre mood on more than a few occasions.

Another jarring aspect is the various formats Michael and friends have used for their homemade showcases. This results in a film of varying aspect ratios, and one that occasionally dips unexpectedly into black-and-white. Image quality caries wildly as well, with some stuff being barely watchable.

There's very little FX work on show here, such is the film's ultra-low budget. But it disturbs not because of what you see, but often what you don't. The strong performances and well-conceived sense of impending doom that hangs over the female characters (the film manages to locate the sadness innate in modern homemade pornography) offer something more potent than cheap gore.

The feels like a distant cousin to Fred Vogel's AUGUST UNDERGROUND, albeit with more aspirations toward plotting and subtext, and less emphasis on the gross-out elements. To it's own ends, HURT is a minor success.

Redemption's UK release is uncut. The image quality is not too great, but this may well be due to the low-budget origins of the film and it's variant methods of shooting. As mentioned above, there are numerous aspect ratios throughout the course of the movie, and some scenes are overly dark, soft or grainy while others are bright and sharp. A mixed bag visually.

The English 2.0 audio track is a more reliable offering, steady and constant throughout.

The best of the extra features on offer is a feature-length commentary track from martin. It's a fairly entertaining listen, offering plenty of insight into the restraints of micro-budget filmmaking. Okay, there are a few pregnant pauses - especially later in the film - but by and large this adds a depth of appreciation to the completed picture.

A decent promotional trailer clocks in at around 2-and-a-half minutes in length.

We also get a rather redundant gallery of screen-grabs from the film. There are 14 in total.

Trailers for BELCEBU, 99 WOMEN and BLACK MASS also feature.

Redemption's new record labels get another plugging with a selection of tracks from their album catalogue - including delights such as The Courtesans and Torturecide.

Finally, and most bizarrely, are 5 stills from the pages of a new book entitled Blood & Dishonour. Essentially, these are glossy photographs of women gurning while adorned in fake blood or whatever. Not my bag, but you never know who's watching ...

HURT has it's flaws - it's too long and the linking film in-between the murders is weak - but it's a cut above a lot of recent US underground horror films. Certainly worth a look.

Review by Stu Willis