Back when I first heard of the Michael Kuciak directed and written Death Metal I knew it was a film I would be interested in checking out for a review. The idea of a piece of cursed media that drives anyone who hears it insane is an idea that has been used in various ways over the years, whether it be a cursed guitar in 2013's Music Store Massacre, or cursed movies, such as with Screen and the Masters of Horror episode 'Cigarette Burns'. Following a rough start, this nasty indie film (nasty in the best way) soon came to delight, thanks to some great practical special effects, plenty of gore, and some good sound design.
After a disastrous European tour that nearly ended their band, death metal group Abyssinister are convinced to come together to record a new record by their founding member, Ivan (Nico Zahniser). Having hired a top producer, Fleming (E. Ray Goodwin), they head to his remote farmhouse to record in his new state of the art basement studio. It is there that Ivan tells his bandmates that while in Europe he came across a piece of music named the 'Devil's Concerto', which legend states caused all who heard it to go insane and kill themselves. He has mixed it into a rough demo of the band's new album, but after playing it to the group strange things begin to happen. One by one they begin to experience terrifying hallucinations and unexplainable body trauma, and one by one they are found dead or go missing, for it appears the legend about the curse was actually real.
This didn't get off to the best start, as the first four minutes is pretty much a music video for an actual metal band. I guess that was to set the vibe, as the band members we follow are never really shown playing their instruments much, but it was quite dull, especially for someone who isn't really into that genre of music. That coupled with some strange editing decisions nearly lost me early on, but thankfully things soon picked up. There was a weird use of slow motion when showing scenery, and these odd zoomed in insert shots of characters facial expressions that repeat after they have been shown once. It was a little off putting, but the later appearances of these worked a lot better once the horror began.
There was a nice selection of characters, I wish there had been more depth given to some of them, particularly the sullen and moody Ivan who never once came across as remotely likeable. Best of the bunch was Chris Richard's mild and friendly Satan worshipping character, who had some of more funny moments, such as when he reveals he had legally changed his name to 'Baphomet', and who refuses to wear prosthetic devil horns during their first act performance due to being against his beliefs. On the whole the film is serious, and tells a dark story, but there were a few moments like that which poked fun at the genre. A lovely campfire scene where Ivan's girlfriend Shadia (Shadia Martin) sings an acoustic song with gruesome lyrics, a guy struggling to make out what the band's logo actually says due to the hard to read font it is written in, and the band members having a humorous argument about what convoluted niche genre of music theirs falls into.
The special effects really delighted, and led to some messed up scenes that didn't make much sense but looked fantastic. A woman whose bite marks on her shoulders had sets of fanged teeth hidden inside them, eyeballs and their storks which fall out of a character's eye sockets, a gruesomely bloody suicide scene, and even a drumstick through the eye. All were practical effects and included plenty of screaming and plenty of blood that dripped everywhere. Even better was that each subsequent victim then came back as a Cenobite type being, their method of death being incorporated into their demonic look.
There was some arthouse style editing used whenever the cursed music was heard, which looked great on screen, and the idea to have this looping ear piercing scream playing over and over also added a lot to this. It was a slight shame that the finale decided to get rid of the great practical effects and instead insert some terrible looking digital effects.
Death Metal was an indie horror that wasn't without its faults, it had some rough edges to it, but also had some wonderfully messed up moments that compensated a lot. With each subsequent kill more surreal and violent than the last, and a slight grindhouse feel at times, this was an enjoyable horror that wasn't afraid to go to some messed up places.
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