Faust: Love of the Damned

Yes, it's a strange movie. Yes, I still don't know if I like it: Divoff was right as M, I liked him. The plot place for Van Campen's character was right, too, although her own dubbing (to spanish) was bad bad bad. Mark Frost was Jim Carrey in a Gore movie but I liked his Faust part of the role. The psychiatrist character and actress are the most defined and well worked ones. The FX were right (wonderful make-up, specially the Van Campen-turns-into-DesireWoman one: horny at the beginning and more disturbing as it went on). But the mix of bad acting, Spawn-theft plot and bad worked scenes and connections didn't leave me clear one thing: did I like this movie? I don't know...

Looking to exact revenge on the gangsters who murdered his girlfriend, artist John Jaspers (Mark Frost) strikes a hasty deal with the mysterious 'M' (Andrew Divoff), exchanging his soul for supernatural abilities and a mean set of arm-mounted blades. But in his eagerness, he forgets that it always pays to read the small print before signing a contract, which in this case states that he must continue to kill for M after settling his score. When Jaspers refuses, M has him buried alive, but somehow (details a bit fuzzy here...) the artist comes back from the dead as a demonic being and once again goes looking for retribution.

Anyone looking for a faithful adaptation of the classic German legend is going to be majorly disappointed by Brian Yuzna's Faust, which is less a tragic study of moral abandonment, more a diabolical, blood-soaked, logic-free comic-book-style fever-dream packed with hokey gore, heavy metal, surreal effects and nudity. In telling his demented tale, director Brian Yuzna gives viewers lots of insanely OTT action full of severed body parts and slashed throats, while makeup artist Screaming Mad George provides some suitably weird prosthetics work (including one effect that sees a woman reduced to a giant pair of breasts and a huge ass with a face), and voluptuous actress Mònica Van Campen gets naked and has sex a lot. All of this is accompanied by a thundering soundtrack that includes the likes of Fear Factory, Machine Head and Coal Chamber.

Literary scholars will most likely be appalled by what they see; students of 'serious' horror will think it churlish; I thought it was one hell of a fun time!

7.5 out of 10, rounded up to 8 for IMDb.

Say what you will about Bryan Yuzna, the man has found a very distinctive niche in the subterranean levels of the body-horror-comedy market. Although it is superfluous to attempt a summary of this hokum, it is the sheer exuberance and vitality of its execution that you will remember. There are demonic skeletons, grotesque bodily transformations, satanic rituals, eye-popping gore and more blood-drenched T&A than you can shake a stick at. Beelzebub himself even makes an appearance in full latex glory during the deranged climax. The result is like Dario Argento swallowed an entire sheet of acid before whopping 5 grams of cheap cocaine up his shnoz bucket. Sure, it's ludicrous tripe but I can't understand how this hasn't found a larger cult audience. If it's a late night gore fest with added laughs you're after, this will hit the spot.

Brian Yuzna, the happily disturbed director of such films like `Society' and the `Re-Animator' sequels, returns here with an ultra-violent movie that goes straight for attacking the viewer's last bit of good taste. John Jaspers makes a pact with the devil…In return for his eternal soul; he's offered the change to avenge the death of his girlfriend. John is satisfied after this, but the devil (referred to as `M') wants John to go on with his killing spree. He refuses and gets buried, only to resurrect as Faust! A typical comic book and cloaked superhero, but slightly more bloodthirsty than the average Bat-, Spider- or Superman. Is `Faust – Love of the Damned' a good movie? No…not at all, in fact, but it could have been worse. The basic Faust plot outline (selling your soul to the devil) is as old as cinema itself. The eminent director F.W Murnau (Nosferatu) already made a film with this theme back in 1926. Try and compete with that, Brian Yuzna! The screenplay contains a few slightly ingenious aspects, like the character of the insatiable, sex-addicted sidekick of M, played by the ravishing Monica Van Campen. But the biggest goal of Faust is showing as much gore as humanly possible. Make-up artist Screaming Mad George gets to be his old, filthy self again and inserts grotesque gore such as eye poking and decapitations. There even is a melting-sequence, entirely in the tradition of `Society'. Regretfully, the acting performances are a giant letdown… Mark Frost overacts terribly and Andrew Divoff (who already annoyed the hell out of me in `Wishmaster') is the most undeserved horror lead ever. Jeffrey Combs still is the man, although it hurts to see him being downgraded straight to the supportive cast. Furthermore, there's not the least bit of tension, depth or atmosphere so I wouldn't exactly call this a successful new horror film. Lots of fun guaranteed if you're a gorehound, though

This movie lives by those words. Faust is simply a fluff film meant to have fun with. You people have got to stop saying that this film ripped off Spawn. This comic was published back in the 1980's! The 80's folks. Got that straight? Now, Faust is not a good movie, it's a good looking movie. It's stylishly done. Brian Yuzna has certainly progressed as a filmmaker. Screaming Mad George's effects are, as always, different. There is a strange lack of gore, however (most reviews kept talking about the gore, but they obviously have not seen other Yuzna/George collaborations). It does get a little far fetched when M turns the chick into a blob of goo. It's just ridiculous, I wish Yuzna would take his films more seriously sometimes. I mean, sometimes it's funny, but at others it's inappropriate. There is also a monster that looks dead-on like Dr. Freudstein in Fulci's House by the Cemetery. My other complaint comes during the subway scene. Why do they have to have sex after they escape danger? It's over the top to say the least. Faust does have a plus side. You've got a couple of cult favorites starring. Jeffrey Combs always adds something to a picture and Andrew Divoff is perfect as M. He has one of the most evil voices ever (I'm just not sure about that haircut). Mark Frost gets the award for gratuitous over-acting. It is a comic book movie though. There's also a great soundtrack. Nothing like some good old fashioned heavy metal to drive a violent flick.

"You can't cure evil, Dr. It's not a sickness."