Visions of Suffering (2006 Video) User Reviews

Too much of a good thing

[polysicsarebest · 6/10 · 21 May 2008]

Visions of Suffering is the purest definition of "style over substance" that I can really think of. There's not much of a plot, and what there is of one is pretty... uh... stupid (some nonsense about vampires, drugs, dreams, goth chicks, and a broken telephone). But you don't watch a film like this for the plot -- it's all about the imagery, right? So, yeah, if you watch this film for its imagery, you're probably going to enjoy yourself -- it's EASILY the most insane movie ever made. Honestly, I thought a lot of the images were brilliant, though about half of them were cheesy (maybe intentionally?) in a seriously "Look how many VST plugins I have on my DV editing program!" kind of way. Note the images themselves aren't bad, it's some of the cheesy filters the director puts them through. Unfortunately, we're probably going to be seeing a lot more of this in the future from other young independent directors...

Really, at two hours and six minutes, the film feels about two times as long as it should be, and the initial shock of what you're seeing starts to turn to annoyance at around the half-way mark. Especially that strobe light -- god, turn that thing off. I can safely say most of it wasn't boring, but a LOT of fat could have been excised, mainly all the shots in the rave. On the other hand, I have to give points to the shockingly effective gore and some hilarious dialogue. And despite some of the cheese in the images, there are some that are unbelievable: one shot near the end of a 3D scythe and a man's testicles blew me away. And that's all I'll say about that...

So, long story short: This film is nothing like El Topo or whatever other films this has been compared to, it's not an "art cult film", it's NOT Lynch-like (I swear, every somewhat weird or somewhat experimental film on IMDb gets called "Lynch-like")... it's more of a bedroom DV experiment with a lot of interesting shots and a lot of silly effects. This film could have been brilliant if a good 30 minute chunk of it was taken out. As it is, it's occasionally genius, oftentimes disturbing, but usually only mildly interesting. It's a film you'll never forget, though, which offers kind of a contradiction: after the movie is over, you will say, "That was the most messed-up film I've ever seen!" for sure, but you won't really remember what made it so messed up. It's just a constant onslaught of visuals and weird sounds, but it too offers something of a contradiction. If the point of the director was to make a bunch of insane visuals, why even waste time with the silly storyline and characters? There are just a few too many elements at work here to be able to define this film as "good"... so, don't go in expecting a "good" film, but if you want to see something more messed-up than Begotten, Pinnochio 964, Tetsuo, Happiness of the Katakuris, and Holy Mountain COMBINED (though, again, it's not really like any of those movies), you should check this out. Definitely worth one watch though I highly doubt even fans of this would want to pop it back in for a bunch of repeated viewings.

subconscious cruelty in russian

[owjan-45979 · 4/10 · 11 October 2020]

This movie kinda reminds me of 2000's karim Hussain's movie called: subconscious cruelty. Both are bizarre, wierd surreal and both are going on in someone's head, except this one was very Russian. Not a bad try, worth watching if you are sick and tired of Netflix but nothing compare to the other one.

Visions of a Bad Film

[teeuuoh · 2/10 · 23 February 2008]

Title, promising. Cover image, intriguing. Plot synopsis, very, very alluring. Then you watch it. And your interest fades. And you realize, that you are in the presence of a filmmaker who's not only immature, but is wholly void of confidence in his abilities.

Visions of Suffering is a two-hour music video, but the music is bad. High School student film bad. Its attempts at creating an atmospheric and ominous score are thwarted by the stock sound effects, repetitive queues and really bad Gothic rock. Recently there was a movie made by members of the band Lordi, and in an interview done for Rue Morgue, it was said that "There have been so many examples of how not to do it, if you have a scene with monsters or any villain, if you want to ruin the mood completely, just put (on) some heavy metal." And while I don't particularly care for Lordi's music anyway, the message is more true than I can vouch for.

Sometimes its the juxtaposition of sound and image that creates a great mood, or scene. In the case of VOS, the image hardly stays focused for more than one minute, with a radical jump cut happening every 1-15 seconds, in a ploy to create within the viewer a sense of disjointed nightmare reality. And over these fast choppy images is... fast choppy techno/soundscapes. In the end, all it creates is annoyance.

When you realize the special effects in the movie are amateur at best, you start to think that the jump cutting is an attempt at hiding their poor sfx. But even if you appreciate the sfx, you still have to consider the pointless camera angles, the cheesy color manipulation, the repeated shots of meaningless actions, and bad bad lighting.

It is not good enough to film something "scary" and present it to the viewer and say "isn't this scary?" I can show you a creepy picture of my grandmother eating mincemeat pie and say that, and sure enough, you might think it's creepy at best. But to show it to you repeatedly, with no build up, no suspense, and no logic as to why it's scary, you are simply looking at a grandmother eating mincemeat pie. No sleep lost over that horrifying sight.

Then we come to the white elephant of the film. "Dream Logic". Yes there are "visions" of weird things. Weird things shot in a small forest which, apparently, is the only place these weird things exist in these "visions". Yes, there are waking nightmares and "creepy" old people who say cliché things about vampires and dreams. Yes the story is disjointed and chopped up ala punk rock editing style. But let me ask you this... Why did Freud write so much about dreams and make so much sense as he did so if dreams make no sense at all? Why did Jung devote a life to symbols and mystic psychology if the dreaming subconscious mind has no ebb or flow? If dreams and nightmares are really this nonsensical then these men wasted their life.

I am not saying this movie is a disgrace to these men, not at all. I am saying that this film has no excuse for its lack of coherence. Vampires and Demons have their mythologies and Dreams have their subconscious roots. And to make a film about these things and completely ignore all that, is just plain dumb.

With its half baked philosophy on the waking world and the dreaming mind, its embarrassing use of CGI to describe psychedelic experience, its bad acting, and its fear of revealing itself as shallow and uninspired, this movie is one long excursion of "Isn't this scary?"

Another Surreal Nightmare From Andrey Iskanov...

[EVOL666 · 7/10 · 28 September 2006]

I was pleasantly surprised with Iskanov's first "major" release, NAILS - and VISIONS OF SUFFERING continues the director's twisted and nihilistic views of the world and "reality" on a larger, though for me personally, less impressive scale. Not that VISIONS is a "bad" film - it's just not going to garner any real mass-appeal, and there were some negative sides that I just can't shake, regardless of how original the film is.

As far as storyline - it's hard to pin-down on this one. We have a guy who suffers from horrific nightmares when it rains, and he comes to find (with the help of a helpful telephone repairman) that the world is full of "vampires" that can invade your dreams - and any mention or acknowledgment of them can cause certain doom for those fool enough to speak about them. Unfortunately for the repairman, he doesn't heed his own advice. So basically - there are 2 parallel and intertwined story lines about dream vs. reality, and a somewhat more "classical" idea of these strange "dream vampires" who follow some of the traditional concepts that are commonly thought of pertaining to vampires. The rest is a mix of hallucinatory and sometimes grotesque images that play out like a fever-dream, often not following any coherent "plot" or storyline...

Good things: Iskanov has an EXTREMELY distinctive style that is original and fresh that will more than likely be appreciated by fans of "experimental" splatter/horror films. I'm personally not a huge fan of experimental style films - but Iskanov is one of the few exceptions. His visual and storytelling style is very unique and although his films are full of incomprehensible moments - the basic plots of both VISIONS OF SUFFERING and NAILS are a bit easier to follow than many other experimental/art-house/cyber-punk films I've seen before. Iskanov is (for the most part) able to successfully blend these genres into a workable and interesting, if somewhat challenging film. I'm also impressed on the amount of visual "flair" that Iskanov is able to pull off with what is obviously a very limited budget and little-to-no classical film training. Major downside to VISIONS: IT'S WAY TOO DAMN LONG. Of course, that gripe is a personal preference - some may enjoy the long and drawn-out, "feverish" feel of some scenes - I personally thought the film could have been cut by a full half-hour and been streamlined into a "sleeker" experience for the viewer. At about two hours and five minutes - it was just too much. I found myself fast-forwarding through some parts towards the middle of th film. This was enough of a gripe to me to knock it down several points. Unlike NAILS which felt pretty sharp and focused all the way through, VISIONS lags towards the middle which caused me to lose track of what was happening, and negatively impacted the viewing experience for me. Overall - Iskanov seems to be a strong new director to watch for who can definitely bring some truly nightmarish visuals to the screen, which is a breath of fresh air in this day and age of sloppy SOV trash that plagues a lot of the "underground" horror/splatter scene. I'm highly interested to see how Iskanove tackles the subject matter of Unit 731 with his upcoming PHILOSOPHY OF A KNIFE, and would also be interested to see if he could pull off something with a more "traditional" narrative...7/10

Surreal,nightmarish and disturbing head trauma.

[HumanoidOfFlesh · 9/10 · 1 April 2007]

"Visions of Suffering" is a vast improvement over "Nails" in every way possible.The plot of this complex surreal piece is pretty hard to follow,but the film is loaded with scenes of hypnotic beauty which contrast with ugly and disturbing horror.I was torn apart from reality and found himself in the world full of nightmares,murders and drugs.The visual effects are very well done and extremely grotesque.The acting is natural and Alexander Shevchenko is outstanding as the tormented main character.I can't believe that such genuinely trippy film was made in Russia,where independent filmmakers are not respected.A hallucinogenic nightmare.9 out of 10.

If you can watch it, watch it.

[lestatdsr · 10/10 · 19 June 2015]

This movie is so creative. I was stimulated by the otherworldly feel of the "Visions of Suffering". Lots of vignettes, special computer effects, as well as practical makeup. Perhaps the most effective part of the film was the sound effects and the really creepy music.

There are parts where you won't be able to take your eyes away from the screen. Loving that. Honestly James Wan should watch this and learn.

This movie is pretty dark and the pacing is slow. As soon as the movie starts you get to watch the protagonist's nightmare. It's pretty intense, loving that too.

There is so much the movie accomplished without the desperate James Wan flash. If you want something genuinely interesting and different, give this one a watch.

Masterpiece of Russian Independed Cinematography

[ninja-51 · 10/10 · 17 August 2006]

The main character of the movie is a skinny man in glasses (played by Aleksandr Shevchenko), who suffers from realistic nightmares. After one of these visions, he finally decides to seek for help from his friend (Aleksandra Batrumova), who is very interested in mysticism. A sudden breakage of his phone changes his plans and brings a repair man to his home (Victor Silkin). The highly experienced specialist tells him about the vampires who cause awful nightmares, he also tells him some methods of fighting them. The worst part is that all humans who know about the existence of the vampires are doomed to be tortured, followed by death. The same destiny awaits for the informers. To implement their verdict, the vampires send the executioner; a tall man in a black hat and a long raincoat. Now all chit-chatterers and eye-witnesses are awaiting a cruel ending. The main character receives a call and finds out that his girlfriend is at a strange nightclub. Briefly summing up the problem, he asks her to come as fast as she can, not realizing that he has just opened a horrifying truth for her and has given out her location to the vampires … The audience should expect two hours of being torn apart from reality and finding themselves in the world full of nightmares, murders and drugs The subject matter of the movie might be periodically lost during the first viewing of the film, and may also cause some misunderstanding of what's going on. In fact whilst watching the screen, dreams slowly takes over the reality, and as in all dreams; there's not much logic and common sense. At least the viewer can always relax and marvel at the special effects.

Accompanied by the actions of the executor, the nightmare replaces reality. This process is illustrated well in the scenes at the night club, which represents an absolutely independent world with it's own rules and charters. After fierce attack by the conqueror on the club, they are forced to give up. Some sort of struggle between two dark forces, reality with non-existence. Demonstration of the night life in the club before the attack of the darkness is a little stretched in time. This causes a feeling that the movie is cut in the middle of the plot. As for the rest of the story, the action speeds up and doesn't give any time for the viewer to get bored all the way to the final credits.

The special effects and the make-up of the actors are of a very high level. The dreams of the protagonist and the former priest (Andrey Iskanov) are done especially well. Some great cutting (montage), and soundtrack by Aleksandr Shevchenko make these scenes some of the best in the film, putting Andrey in favorable position among the majority of his colleagues in this genre. Despite the absence of theatrical education, the actors managed to perform their roles admirably.

Negative characters, in Sviatoslav Iliasov execution, have especially distinguished: a phantom knocking on shaman's tambourine, and efficiently mowing (down) everything on the way mutant. In a role of ominous "executor" successfully debuted Igor Orlov.

Even though "Visions of Suffering" is a very scary and decadent movie, it isn't a classical horror film. Despite the of presence of severe and colorful murders, the director did not try to create an atmosphere of horror or to shock the audience with uncompromising scenes. Accurate to the limits, Andrey demonstrates to the viewer a reality full of terrible characters, and it's other side; incomprehensible and mystical, that has no logical explanation. I would say, that result of the work of the film-making troupe has become qualitative surrealistic cinema without the unfortunate claim of a horror movie.

Unlike "Nails", the second movie is much more scaled. The acting troupe has considerably grown and the main characters are given much less attention. The action takes place in the apartments of the characters, the night club, in dreams, and the other side of reality. Huge technical superiority over the debut work is very noticeable. However, the plot and the concept considerably narrows down the audience. Despite the advantages of the second movie, both films carry out a strong atmosphere and originality, which are the main attributes of the director, Iskanov.

A one hour "Making of" documentary is available as a bonus feature on the DVD, which helps to discover more interesting details about the movie and the process of shooting. Some of the humor and shocking details may surprise some viewers. The fully completed idea of the film will put everything in place for the audience who may have lost some of the subject line. Besides a documentary film, the gallery of photos and an excellent soundtrack, in the style of early Carpenter and the cult Xtro are available to enjoy.

"Visions of Suffering" is a quality independent movie, with an original plot and excellent direction. If you enjoyed watching movies like Eraserhead, Dream Demon, El Topo, Holy Mountain, Liquid Sky and the debut film by Iskanov, it's most likely you will enjoy the second film. I strongly recommend not to wasting time watching the working version of "Angst", which can be found in cult cinema fans collections and on the Internet. This version has a poor quality sound, picture, a large amount of cut out scenes, and will only spoil your impression of the movie. Wait for the official release that's coming out soon.

Film: 4 of 5

4D SFX

[mrdonleone · 8/10 · 12 March 2019]

One should see this movie for the special effects that are in it almost as if one is watching a movie of David Lynch or Guy Maddin. And wasn't that last one somehow connected to Madonna maybe I am wrong Mets music is very important here as well it's suppresses the people who are Russians and the people who are watching it are the audience's and plenty of sexual references as well all of which weekend say it is important like taking too many drugs or Coke that's how it goes in life it isn't easy but it's the way it is and they keep on dancing and moving their hips like the sexual plays Old Harry's but it's really about the camera work the camera work is one of the greatest in the latest 10 to 20 years ever seen inshallah Hallelujah yes and that is a reason to see the movie for the special effects.

Absolutely one of the best movies I've ever seen

[seanboy1982 · 10/10 · 1 July 2020]

Andrey Iskanov is one of my favorite directors, his films are his own, he has so much style and mostly it works. This is definitely scary, and it's hard not to get sucked into it. The effects are decent, the film itself is very creepy and dreamy, as it is ultimately about our nightmares filtering into reality when it's raining. The darkness and sadness of rain opens our souls up to our inner demons slipping into consciousness

Nihilistic necros gone wild

[seirgejenkins · 9/10 · 26 November 2021]

When it rains the dreams arrive and the realization that blood sucking vamps get into your dreamscape and give visions of the worst suffering. Very believable story.