Consumption

"I have to give thanks to our editor here at Rogue Cinema, a good man named Duane L. Martin. Duane, who not only takes an incredible amount of time out of his life every month to see to it that this zine gets published on a quick basis - but he is also the man responsible for dealing out who gets what DVD screeners. I used to just assume I was lucky to get so many films that I find interesting - but now I realize it's Duane who knows my taste. He may not always agree with my film choices, but he knows what intrigues me and Consumption is something just up my alley. Consumption is about as dark and morbid a short film as you are going to find outside of something like Cutting Moments, and I was absorbed for every minute of it. As someone who is both a big fan (as much as one could be that is) of cannibal films and the ever-obscure "girl gets hacked into pieces" genre made popular in Japan - Consumption came as a real pleasant (read: disturbing) surprise. I walked into the film with literally no knowledge of it nor the plot details beforehand, and I am here now to relay to you that if you're an extreme horror fan that this one is going to be worth searching out. Without question.

The story focuses on a Professor who we are introduced to at his mirror, as he repeats his introduction to a guest that hasn't arrived. When the doorbell rings we are introduced to his visitor, a beautiful (and I mean beautiful) young woman who appears to be there for dinner. The two sit down to their meal, and the young woman appears nervous. She excuses herself to go to the restroom and makes a phone call to her ex-boyfriend who she has apparently broken up with. She informs him that he won't have to worry about seeing her... ever again. The two keep their agenda hidden, but in minutes all is revealed as the woman then signs a waver and gives a final goodbye to the professor's video camera. The professor then steps behind her, says his goodbye and then slits her throat. He pours her blood in a bucket as she passes away and we discover his true motive. He is interested in the purity of human meat, and pretty soon both we the audience and the professor himself will see how pure the meat truly is.

Certainly not the goriest film to deal with this subject, but the idea of voluntary cannibalism is something that has only been made all that popular with the case of Armin Meiwes out of Germany not too terribly long ago. For those unaware, Meiwes is a man who apparently found another fully consenting man on the internet who's goal was to be eaten. So Meiwes invited him to his house, the two were intimate and then the man was systematically killed and eaten. The story has received a lot of publicity with two feature films being based around the case, and Consumption took quite a bit from the story as well. You can't help but be intrigued by such a bizarre and horrible story, and filmmaker Richard Powell crafted his own disturbing twist on the story by showing a variation and having a man of class and prestige being the one behind the knife. The moral ambiguity of the situation confounds the viewer but the slightly pretentious professor is always confident throughout - until he knows he might have made a mistake. The ending makes the entire effort completely worthwhile and actually sells Bruno Talotta's (who plays the professor) performance all the more. I don't care to give it away, but the twist and failures of the professor hit home with a truth and show his fragile mental state for what it is.

The short isn't the goriest of its type, but it really is pretty sickening at times. Skin is peeled from the body, the head is hacked off, intestines are removed with reckless abandon and the carcass dummy used for the film is very, very effective! In the end, if you're a fan of rather extreme horror or you're simply looking for a horror short that is made with some professionalism as well as something that will leave an everlasting impression - this would definitely be the one. You can read more about Richard Powell, director of Consumption, at his personal Website www.fatalpictures.com.Give the film a look if you're a horror fan, I guarantee you won't be disappointed!"