Review of Prometheus Triumphant: A Fugue in the Key of Flesh (2009) by Cristina M — 28 Sep 2009

2009 US Director: Mike McKown and Jim Towns.

Score: 8.

Shot on (as I understand it) an extremely low budget around industrial sites and an abandoned asylum (which has since been demolished) in Western Pennsylvania, this film does an excellent job of re-creating the silent era of moving picture entertainment. Shot between 2003 and 2005 on digital video, it captures the look of the classic silent era films amazingly. I have no doubt that some, maybe many, will shrug their shoulders at that and ask ?who cares?? That?s fine. I can only speak for myself. I thought this is an outstanding production that recreates the roots of cinema.

This is a retelling of the Frankenstein story, and not a bad version of it. The effects, and I include those used to make this digital footage look like an old monochrome silent film, are very good, especially considering the budget this film had to work with. The acting is pretty good. I know this can be deceiving in a silent film, in fact that was one advantage actors had in the silent era. Even if they sucked at delivering their lines, who would know? It was up to us, the audience who reads the lines, to use our own heads to add the emotions and inflections into the lines. So for all I know these actors were a bunch of cheese meisters. In this film, they appeared to do just fine however. Since it is a silent film, the soundtrack was a key element. It has to really help convey the emotions and tensions of the scene. This one does a fairly good job at this.

One bit of trivia I read on this film was that the woman who played the main character Esmerelda, Kelly I. Lynn, completely disappeared before the film was fully shot. Apparently to this day they have no idea where she went or if she is still alive. A body double was used for the few scenes she had left to be shot. Strange. Real horror genre fans should give this one a viewing since it is an excellent homage to the very roots of the genre. Anyone looking for ?something different? as far as movie viewing should it interesting as well.

Notes: HV-N Suggested Age: 16+.