The Duke On The St. Francisville Experiment
Published May 02, 2004
Overall, though, this is some really effective malarkey right here. Some of it, especially a rather tense wander through an attic, is creepy as all hell, and you find yourself saying things like "shit, man, don't go in there! You just saw a chair get flung across the room! Stay the hell away!" It's unfortunate that the film attempts to right those heinous wrongs of the earlier ghost-camcorder film by having some daft CGI shenanigans at the end.
Also, if you wanna make like a primate and start picking nits left and right, there are plenty to get on with. For example, if these guys are the ones who are doing the filming, then how the hell did we get a shot of their car driving up to the house? And there are loads of times when you're thinking, who the hell is holding the camera here? Plus, they have a really ingenious habit of setting the thing down in such a way as to perfectly capture the fucked up shit that's just about to happen to them. Really, these folks have a sixth sense for setting things down in exactly the right place and at exactly the right angle.
But if you can accept that it's flawed as all hell, and that some of the acting is at first unpleasant and then utterly sphincter-clawingly awful, and that it's all just Blair Witch Cannibals In A Big House, then this is actually really effective. A good old fashioned ghost story that just happens to utilise modern technology.
It's a shame, though, that the democratisation of filmmaking that was anticipated after Blair Witch arrived has resulted in folks just producing carbon-copies of said flick.
If you see this on telly some night, or you're in the video store and all the copies of Killer Condom are rented out, then in my opinion you should check this motherfucker out. After all, it's from Ted Nicolaou, the man who gave us Leapin' Leprechauns and also Spellbreaker - The Secret Of The Leprechauns. In fact, the only real disappointment here is that there are no leprechauns. It's almost like seeing an Abel Ferrera flick without someone masturbating over a stool sample or something.
B+, Ted Nicolaou, but next time more leprechauns. Play to your strengths, man.
The Duke resides at Mondo Irlando
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The Duke (Aaron McMullan to his parents and the clergy) is a Northern Irish writer, performer and insomniac currently residing in London. He is the creator of Mondo Irlando, wherein his scribblings and hollerings can be found. He is currently working towards the completion of his first novel, and his debut "punk / country / folk / whatever" album has recently been released by Ex Libris Records . You can also pop by His MySpace Page and maybe have a coffee and a biscuit.
- The Duke On The St. Francisville Experiment
- Published: May 02, 2004
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- Section: Video
- Filed Under: Video: Documentary, Video: Fantasy, Video: Horror, Video: Suspense and Mystery
- Writer: Duke De Mondo
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Comments on this articleComments
Cannibal Holocaust is a real movie? Here I thought the Duke was being creative and using his special "what the movie should have been called" powers on a film I can't quite place, but thought maybe was supposed to be 28 Days Later. You learn new things every day.
Abel Ferrera, you say? Is a review of
"Ms.44" to be forthcoming soon ???
er,umm,uh "Ms 45" that is.....
Thanks all! Here The Duke just came down for a half four in the AM cigarette and finds all these nice words and so on. Mrs 45 Review? You never know. Tom, C.H is indeed a real flick, and has nothing to do with The Cannibals What Ate London. As to S.E, good to see a convert to the old C.H. U might enjoy my earlier posting entitled "Why Cannibal Holocaust Is A Damn Masterpiece". You'll find it under where it says "see all posts by the duke de mondo" up at the very top.
When I need a laugh, I read El Senor Duke. Nice job as usual, and I love any post that references Marlon Brando's funky turn in Superman. But wait, The Duke also references Ferrara! It just don't get any better than that!
Another Cannibal Holocaust convert.....jeepers creepers, what's this world coming to?!
I'm with you on Blair Witch Project, a film that scared the wholly living crap out of me, that would be me.....
I have not seen The St. Francisville Experiment, though truth be told, I did indeed have the little valentine in my hand walking towards the counter before deciding on When We Were Soldiers, Killer Condom or some such shit.
I can see I now made a mistake! I have heard great things about Last Broadcast and shall now rent it this weekend......thanks for jogging my memory dear sir!
Chris, a pleasure to hear from you as ever! Indeed, what are we going to do with all these Cannibal converts! Is Alcatraz still going? Anyhow, with regards your rental of The Experiment What Went Down In St. Francisville, be warned it may not be to your tastes. There are times when the acting is truly below-amateur, and nowhere near as convincing as those three in the tent. But if you take it on face value, ie, a very low budget attempt to do some scares the old fashioned way, then you might find yourself being won over by its silly charms. Not Lucky Charms, incidentally, like Nicolaou is more accustomed to. As for Last Broadcast, it is indeed worth renting, but i was very dissapointed by the ending. I'm sure you'll se what i mean. Say no more, say no more, nudge nudge etc
So true, so true. St. Francisville does indeed resemble The Last Broadcast, a movie which was ripped off again by the movie American Crime, or American Murder, or something like that just recently. The Last Broadcast seemed to write itself into a corner. "Wait, we have to end the movie, what do we do?" "I dunno, just tack something on." Very dissapointing. The Last Broadcast should be seen by more people.
So it goes. St. Francisville however was just dull. As a Yank, I saw an awfully lot of these damn things cluttering up the video stores, it really didn't stand out. Glad you liked it though, the making of it probably kept a few people off of the dole for a few weeks.
As far as Ms. 44 goes, great flick, though the ending kinda sort rips-off Carrie. R. I. P. Zoe Tamerlis who died way too young.
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I recently saw Cannibal Holocaust for the first time at a special midnight screening. Great, gory stuff. Glad to see you mention it. And to see that you agree that it's superior to Blair Witch.