Pandemonium is a French horror film written and directed by Quarxx. It was over half an hour into this before it revealed itself to be a secret anthology film, rather than just the one story being told. The quality remains high throughout, while the jet black nihilism is often interspersed with some darkly comedic moments.
Nathan (Hugo Dillon - The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon TV series) wakes up on a misty mountain road to see his car smashed up and on its roof. He soon encounters Daniel (Arben Bajraktaraj - Taken), who informs Nathan that they were both in a car crash and that they are now dead. At first he is hesitant to believe the man, but it becomes apparent that this is the case. Then two gates appear, one that Daniel can hear beautiful music coming out of, and one that Nathan can hear screaming coming from. On Nathan's travels he encounters the bodies of other people, and is able to witness the events that led up to their tragic deaths.
So, Nathan's story is the focus but I wouldn't say it is a wraparound in the traditional sense. It starts off as its own film in its own right, and felt like something that would work tremendously as a stage play. There are comedic elements here, especially with Nathan and Daniel's interactions with each other, and the little revelations that alter events beyond what they at first appear. Aside from a few scenes, this storyline then goes into the background until the final part of the film that gives closure of a kind.
The second story is the most fantastical. In this one, Nina (Manon Maindivide) wakes up one day in her mansion to discover her parents have been murdered, something which she claims no responsibility for. Knowing it couldn't have been her younger sister Claire, suspicion falls on her older brother, Tony (Carl Laforet), a disfigured 'monster' who her parents had made live in the basement. Rather than be upset about the new change, Nina sees it as a chance to do exactly what she wants to do, and it becomes clear that she is not the most stable of people. Nina was an interesting character, and someone who is prone to some severely messed up things. It tallies up with the rest of the shorts in that horrific things happen to innocent people, with this ending on a note that is pretty shocking!
The final story is more down to earth, in this one a mother discovers her daughter Chloé (Sidwell Weber) has killed herself in the bathtub. Unable to process her grief, the mother tries to carry on as if her daughter is still alive, and eventually, when facing the truth she tries to do something about it. This was a mix of present day sections and flashback scenes. The real life horror here shows how Chloé was bullied at school, but that her work obsessed mother didn't really pay attention from what her daughter was trying to say.
Each of the shorts were directed by the same person and so there is no abrasive feeling. This also helps in linking the stories together, as it is Nathan who is encountering the dead bodies of the protagonists from the two other stories. There are some effective creature makeup effects here, particularly with Tony and a few demonic beings that Nathan encounters. The quality of the camera work and editing throughout remained solid, in terms of the stories being told, there are some dark moments here, and the film is a cruel place, with punishments on various characters who really didn't deserve them. Slightly balancing things out are the moments of humour, with all three of the stories featuring funny moments, such as when Daniel throws a screaming little girl through the gateway to Heaven, or Nina's twisted actions in general. None really have a perfect resolution however, with them often ending unsatisfactorily, or abruptly.
Pandemonium was a well made anthology horror that had a nice blend of different things going on. The English subtitles were perfect, and the actors, at least to me, seemed good in their roles. I didn't mind how dark some of this got, but I did think that none of the stories ended in the best ways, whether that was due to abruptness, or a lot of story trying to be told in a short timeframe. The Black Mirror of death rather than technology, there is plenty to take in here. Pandemonium had its US premiere at Screamfest on October 14th and leads the May line-up on ARROW, the streaming subscription service.
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