The low rating is for the poor cinematography and cheap feel of the film over all.
The over all vision of the film is quite striking, however.
I really enjoyed the songs and the lyrics. The big conceit is that Nick seems like a psycho because he is! He is so obsessed with being great in the music business that he is more than willing to sacrifice everything and everyone to his goal! This movie's vision is very high on metaphor and symbolism (what else would you expect from Vincenzo D'Onofrio?).
I think most horror movie fans hate musicals. I certainly do! But I had to admit that this little crappy film had something. If you bear with it's absurd story line, the songs are quite good (too bad for the band members never surviving to reap the benefits!).
D'Onofrio's vision is an absurd look at the obsession with success, with art, and especially with hit song lyrics that paint nihilist images of life and existence, but do not really face the meaning of their own words. The teen angst that fills most songs is obsessively narcissistic. It views the world from a self-centered perspective without broader context. Every hangnail is a reason for suicide and despair. When faced with real annihilation, its plaintive cries do not match experience. They fall absurdly short of authenticity. But this film juxtaposes the two in a very original vision.
One reason I think many reviewers hate the film so much is that it holds up a mirror to our narcissistic, hypocritical vision of artistic success. No generation that sees itself as having a monopoly on artistic authenticity likes to see itself reflected in an absurdist mirror, and this is exactly what this film does!
Yes, the characters are all stupid, impractical, shallow, foolish, and self-destructive. They barely put up with Nick's maniacal obsessions, but they do so because they see him as the only one who really aspires to the artistic greatness and success that they all would like to achieve. None of them has the slightest clue about what it really takes to be successful, but Nick does, and, in the end, he shows them; to their ultimate horror and demise.
The selfish narcissism is not only unauthentic, it actually turns out to be psychotic and sociopathic as well! Once Nick realizes what is happening to all his friends, he sees it as the ultimate means for his personal success. What music is more authentic than what is born out of facing true despair and extinction? True artistic greatness comes from the context of truly ultimate despair and annihilation! At least this tends to be the dominant artistic outlook of our post-modern existentialist age.
The ending is a devastatingly cynical commentary on artistic success and the extremes to which it often goes. Nothing matters but success and artistic authenticity, leaving a scorched-earth wasteland of hypocrisy and broken humanity in its wake.
Bravo, Vincenzo!
The over all vision of the film is quite striking, however.
I really enjoyed the songs and the lyrics. The big conceit is that Nick seems like a psycho because he is! He is so obsessed with being great in the music business that he is more than willing to sacrifice everything and everyone to his goal! This movie's vision is very high on metaphor and symbolism (what else would you expect from Vincenzo D'Onofrio?).
I think most horror movie fans hate musicals. I certainly do! But I had to admit that this little crappy film had something. If you bear with it's absurd story line, the songs are quite good (too bad for the band members never surviving to reap the benefits!).
D'Onofrio's vision is an absurd look at the obsession with success, with art, and especially with hit song lyrics that paint nihilist images of life and existence, but do not really face the meaning of their own words. The teen angst that fills most songs is obsessively narcissistic. It views the world from a self-centered perspective without broader context. Every hangnail is a reason for suicide and despair. When faced with real annihilation, its plaintive cries do not match experience. They fall absurdly short of authenticity. But this film juxtaposes the two in a very original vision.
One reason I think many reviewers hate the film so much is that it holds up a mirror to our narcissistic, hypocritical vision of artistic success. No generation that sees itself as having a monopoly on artistic authenticity likes to see itself reflected in an absurdist mirror, and this is exactly what this film does!
Yes, the characters are all stupid, impractical, shallow, foolish, and self-destructive. They barely put up with Nick's maniacal obsessions, but they do so because they see him as the only one who really aspires to the artistic greatness and success that they all would like to achieve. None of them has the slightest clue about what it really takes to be successful, but Nick does, and, in the end, he shows them; to their ultimate horror and demise.
The selfish narcissism is not only unauthentic, it actually turns out to be psychotic and sociopathic as well! Once Nick realizes what is happening to all his friends, he sees it as the ultimate means for his personal success. What music is more authentic than what is born out of facing true despair and extinction? True artistic greatness comes from the context of truly ultimate despair and annihilation! At least this tends to be the dominant artistic outlook of our post-modern existentialist age.
The ending is a devastatingly cynical commentary on artistic success and the extremes to which it often goes. Nothing matters but success and artistic authenticity, leaving a scorched-earth wasteland of hypocrisy and broken humanity in its wake.
Bravo, Vincenzo!