Clive Barker's Salomé & The Forbidden

Salome (1973)

Clive Barker is a multi-talented horror artist. Mainly a writer, but also a screenwriter, director, producer, actor, painter, illustrator... Although most of you know him as the author of "Hellraiser" movies, for me his life achievement will always be a collection of short stories Book of Blood and video game Undying. Salome from 1973 is the first cinematography attempt of then 20 years old future king of horror. This is short 18 minutes black and white silent film. Maybe more of a visual performance than a real movie. This low-budget or more accurately no-budget film is made in some basement with just a few friends. Using just one light source in complete darkness Barker concentrates more on building an atmosphere than telling a story. Considering when it is done, his age and budget and fact that this is his first amateur attempt of filmmaking, it is very ungrateful to try to rate it objectively. For true Barker fans and film students, this is a must-watch film, which will almost surely leave a positive impression. For the majority of the rest, this will probably be unwatchable crap. To me, this is

<3 Barker <3 /10

The Forbidden (1978)

This is Barker's second movie attempt. Like Salome, this is short, black and white silent film, but this time a bit longer, printed in negative and combined with animation. Barker claims it's based on Faust. Technically it's very experimental and inventive, and special effects are fascinating considering almost no budget. Some elements from this film he later incorporates in "Hellraiser". Although I'm impressed by results amateur achieved without a budget, relying only on his imagination, cleverness and small group of friends, it would be lying to say I liked it. It's so boring that I barely endured till the end. I must admit that the skinning scene is unbelievably convincing considering circumstances. When I found out how it's done I was sincerely stunned.

4/10

As movies themselves I can't say that Salome and The Forbidden are very good, but they are quite rare and curious. In fact, I found them to be quite a striking experiment for Clive Barker to decide to start his early days in the cinema and they are no different from other very peculiar short films made by great directors in their early days. Both shorts are silent and filmed in black and white, but the peculiarity of these is the editing, since the story of both is narrated through images, but in such a way that it makes them look like music videos. It is because of the editing and the mixed images that these tapes can be somewhat difficult to understand, but the concept explains everything and more than movies themselves, rather they are a visual experience. It is also worth mentioning that due to this, these films have a rather nightmarish vision and feel surreal, especially The Forbidden, since it has a mixture of negative tape with black and white, which makes it look very strange and sometimes I finish it. Compared to the short Un Chien Andalou by Luis Buñuel.