Subconscious Cruelty (2000)

Director:

Karim Hussain

Writer:

Karim Hussain (written by)

Release Date:

13 April 2001 (Canada)

Genre:

Crime | Drama | Horror

Plot:

"Subconscious Cruelty" is divided in four segments: Ovarian Eyeball - a naked woman is sliced by a sharp...

Plot Keywords:

Blood | Symbolism | Gore | Hook | Surrealism

Cast

Sophie Lauzière	...	Woman On Slab (segment "Ovarian Eyeball")
Anne-Marie Belley	...	Hand (segment "Ovarian Eyeball")
Brea Asher	...	Sister (segment "Human Larvae")
Ivaylo Founev	...	Brother (segment "Human Larvae")
Eric Levasseur	...	Lover (segment "Human Larvae")
Janice Higgins	...	Girl In Photo (segment "Human Larvae")
Nadia Simaani	...	Female Performer (segment "Rebirth")
Anna Berlyn	...	Female Performer (segment "Rebirth")
Nancy Simard	...	Female Performer (segment "Rebirth")
Sean Spuruey	...	Male Performer (segment "Rebirth")
Scott Noonan	...	Male Performer (segment "Rebirth") / Gloved Hand (segment "Right Brain / Martyrdom")
Mitch Davis	...	Male Performer (segment "Rebirth") / Gloved Hand (segment "Right Brain / Martyrdom")
Christopher Piggins	...	Businessman (segment "Right Brain / Martyrdom") / Doppelganger (segment "Right Brain / Martyrdom")
Martin Sauvageau	...	Drunk In Bar (segment "Right Brain / Martyrdom")
Annette Pankrac	...	Secretary (segment "Right Brain / Martyrdom")
Vince Sheffield	...	Man On Television (segment "Right Brain / Martyrdom")
Karen Wiener	...	Female Hand (segment "Right Brain / Martyrdom")
Sylvain Rivard	...	Subliminal Body (segment "Right Brain / Martyrdom") (as Vainvard)
Patrick Des Islets	...	Subliminal Body (segment "Right Brain / Martyrdom")
Eric Pettigrew	...	Martyr (segment "Right Brain / Martyrdom")
Martine Viale	...	Female Attacker (segment "Right Brain / Martyrdom")
Mylene Giasson	...	Attacker #2 (segment "Right Brain / Martyrdom")
Sameera Hanif	...	Attacker #3 (segment "Right Brain / Martyrdom")

Directed by
Karim Hussain

Writing credits
Karim Hussain		(written by)

Produced by
Mitch Davis	....	producer

Original Music by
Teruhiko Suzuki		(original music score)

Cinematography by
François Bourdon		(director of photography)
Karim Hussain		(director of photography)

Film Editing by
Karim Hussain

Casting by
Patrick Des Islets

Art Direction by
Sonia Capogreco

Makeup Department
Bruno Gatien	....	additional makeup effects
André Gaul	....	additional makeup effects (as Andre Gaul)
C.J. Goldman	....	special makeup effects artist (as C.J Goldman)
Karim Hussain	....	additional makeup effects
Mike Minicucci	....	additional makeup effects
Gail Mockler	....	makeup artist
Adrien Morot	....	makeup effects consultant
Luke Poudrier	....	additional makeup effects (as Luc Poudrier)
Patrick St-Pierre	....	makeup artist (as Patrick St.Pierre)
Patrick Tremblay	....	additional makeup effects

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Mitch Davis	....	second assistant director
Julien Fonfrede	....	second assistant director (as Julien Fonfrède)
Scott Noonan	....	second assistant director
Patrick Tremblay	....	first assistant director

Art Department
Joel Boily	....	construction assistant
Christian Fuica	....	construction assistant
Xavier Georges	....	set construction
Xavier Georges	....	set design
Patricia McNeil	....	additional art direction (as Patricia Mc Neil)
Chantal Zapia	....	assistant set constructor
Chantal Zapia	....	props

Sound Department
Karim Hussain	....	sound editing
Karim Hussain	....	sound mix
David Kristian	....	recordist: special sound design
David Kristian	....	sound mix
David Kristian	....	sound performer: special sound design
David Kristian	....	special sound designer

Visual Effects by
André Abou-Jaoude	....	optical camera effects
Philippe Spurrell	....	special projection

Camera and Electrical Department
Anne-Marie Belley	....	additional stills
Anne-Marie Belley	....	grip: lighting/dolly
Joel Boily	....	grip/electrician
Benoît Boucher	....	photography: end titles (as Ben Boucher)
François Bourdon	....	gaffer
Sonia Capogreco	....	grip/electrician
Rob Cotterill	....	grip: lighting/dolly (as Robert Cotteril)
Mitch Davis	....	stills
Julien Fonfrede	....	grip: lighting/dolly (as Julien Fonfrède)
Gilgamesh Fuica	....	grip/electrician
Gilgamesh Fuica	....	stills
Karim Hussain	....	camera operator
Françoise Lavoie-Pilote	....	grip/electrician
Patrick Tremblay	....	grip: lighting/dolly

Editorial Department
Claudine Blain	....	negative cutting
Vladimir Zabransky	....	colour timer

Other crew
Brea Asher	....	voice actor
Cliff Baker	....	production assistant
Benoît Boucher	....	key set assistant (as Ben Boucher)
Claude-Francois Britto	....	production assistant
Sonia Capogreco	....	continuity
Alex Chisholm	....	additional making-of
Alex Chisholm	....	production assistant
Mitch Davis	....	making-of
Chris Feldman	....	production assistant
Christian Fuica	....	set production assistant
Guy Lahaie	....	production assistant
Francisco Lorenjo	....	production assistant
Benoit Marin	....	production assistant
Jesse Simpson	....	production assistant
Philippe Spurrell	....	voice actor
Steve Stone	....	production assistant
Sabry Tchanderly	....	production assistant
Richard Terry	....	key set assistant

Thanks
Junji Kaiho	....	thanks: soundtrack
Yuko Nakahata	....	thanks: soundtrack
Hiroshi Sato	....	thanks: soundtrack
Teruhiko Suzuki	....	acknowledgment: all original soundtrack compositions copyright

Production Companies

• Infliction Films (presents)

Distributors

• Albatros Film (Japan)
• Another World Entertainment (2008) (Denmark) (DVD) (2 Disc Edition)
• Cinema Novo (Portugal)
• Elephant Films (2012) (France) (all media)
• Infliction Films (Canada)
• New Select (Japan)
• Sazuma Trading (2005) (Austria) (DVD)

Other Companies

• MainFilm  digital sound editing facilities

Also Known As:

Runtime:

92 min | USA:80 min (DVD version)

Country:

Canada

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Certification:

Sweden:15

Filming Locations:

Longueuil, Québec, Canada

Company:

Infliction Films

Movie Connections:

Referenced in In the Belly of the Beast (2001)

Soundtrack:

Eaten By Trees

Interesting art-house horror with plenty of WTF moments.

A gory, low budget, art-house horror with scenes of extreme nastiness, Subconscious Cruelty is not an easy film to watch for several reasons: it is extremely 'symbolic' (some might say pretentious); it has no standard narrative; and it features very unsettling imagery. It is, however, well directed and edited, and features some amazingly realistic effects and a pretty decent score.

Subconscious Cruelty starts as it means to go on, with a bizarre short segment entitled Ovarian Eyeball in which a naked woman on a table is sliced open; from her wound, an eyeball on an optic nerve is produced. It makes no sense (to me at least), but is certainly visually arresting.

And so the weirdness continues, with a second 'story', Human Larvae, about a guy who wishes to make a mockery of the miracle of birth by killing his sister's newborn child as it is leaving the womb. This one is without a doubt the vilest story I have ever seen committed to celluloid and should be seen only by those with a very strong stomach.

Part three, Rebirth, is less intense, with a bunch of naked people rolling around in mud, fellating tree branches and shagging pools of blood! I quite enjoyed this bit after the gruelling nature of Human Larvae.

The final segment, Right Brain/Martyrdom, fuses religious symbolism with female nekkidness and gore, and is a shocking slice of sacrilegious depravity guaranteed to upset Christians everywhere.

I can't say that I enjoyed director Karim Hussain's debut, and would hesitate recommending it to pretty much everyone I know, but I imagine that it will definitely have a cult following amongst those people who prefer to delve into cinema's weirder output, such as the films of Lynch, Jodorowsky or Miike.