Review of Begotten (1991) by Rodney S — 16 Jun 2010

Nobody will get through BEGOTTEN without being marked. In this nightmare classic by Edmund Elias Merhige, a godlike thing dies giving birth to a quivering messiah thing; then the local villagers ravage and bury them, and the earth renews itself on their corpses. It is as if a druidical cult had re-enacted, for real, three Bible stories - creation, the Nativity, and Jesus' torture and death on Golgotha - and some demented genius were there to film it. No names, no dialogue, no compromises, no exit. No apologies either, for BEGOTTEN is a spectacular one-of-a-kind (you wouldn't want there to be two), filmed in speckled chiaroscuro so that each image is a seductive mystery, a Rorschach test for the adventurous eye. Black & White, 78 min., USA 1991.

I'm not entirely sure this is a horror film, maybe more of a disturbing Art film. "Begotten" is a movie that stayed with me for days and days, I could not get it out of mind. Even when I think of it now, it totally creeps me out. One of the most amazing and horrific, and yet mesmerizing movies I have ever seen. I showed it to a friend once, and he had no idea what was going on. I told him, I couldn't help him, that is a movie that you see what you see, and every viewing experience can be different. If you have never seen "Begotten", you owe it to yourself to see it at least once.