Director Christian Matzke has made a number of short films inspired by the writings of H.P. Lovecraft ("Nyarlathotep" and "An Imperfect Solution: A Tale of the Reanimator" for example). With Experiment 17 he has come up with a very interesting idea.
We know that Hitler and some of his closest circle believed in occult powers and actively sought out magical and mystical artifacts from the countries that they occupied. So, they would be well aware of the existence of the dread Necronomicon wouldn't they? They would also know that one of the extant copies is held within the collection of the Bibliotheque Nationale in Paris. So, when Hitler's troops occupy the French capital he orders his men to get the Necronomicon. Once they have seized the book and transported it back to Germany a series of experiments are conducted to try and harness the secrets contained within the tome. However, it is not until an Arab dignitary meets with Hitler and hands him a cipher for the writings of the Necronomicon's author Abdul Al-Hazred that a breakthrough is made.
Matzke makes excellent use of genuine historical footage in this short film. The footage of the Arab dignitary used in this film looks like genuine footage to me (possibly of Mohammad Amin Al-Husayni, The Grand Mufti of Jerusalem?). Mixed in with newsreel footage and film of Hitler taken by Eva Braun are still photographs taken by Matzke using vintage cameras - showing elements specific to this story. Overlain over all of this historic and 'historic' footage Andrew Leman (the director of the B/W silent film "The Call of Cthulhu") provides a commentary of events that sounds just like the sort of thing you would find on a programme on the History Channel.
The finale of this short is a fresh segment of silent, black and white film purporting to be of the successful Experiment 17 of the title. The director takes the role of Helmut Koch the decorated officer and member of the Thule Society who is in charge of the experiment. This is the only part of the film that I have a complaint regarding. Unfortunately, someone on the film crew seems to have gone a bit mental with a smoke machine in these final scenes and it is at times a little difficult to see what is actually going on. Even so it is still clear what has happened at the climax which is effectively shocking.
Overall then this is a good idea for a short, well executed for the most part. I for one look forward to watching the sequel - Experiment 18.
We know that Hitler and some of his closest circle believed in occult powers and actively sought out magical and mystical artifacts from the countries that they occupied. So, they would be well aware of the existence of the dread Necronomicon wouldn't they? They would also know that one of the extant copies is held within the collection of the Bibliotheque Nationale in Paris. So, when Hitler's troops occupy the French capital he orders his men to get the Necronomicon. Once they have seized the book and transported it back to Germany a series of experiments are conducted to try and harness the secrets contained within the tome. However, it is not until an Arab dignitary meets with Hitler and hands him a cipher for the writings of the Necronomicon's author Abdul Al-Hazred that a breakthrough is made.
Matzke makes excellent use of genuine historical footage in this short film. The footage of the Arab dignitary used in this film looks like genuine footage to me (possibly of Mohammad Amin Al-Husayni, The Grand Mufti of Jerusalem?). Mixed in with newsreel footage and film of Hitler taken by Eva Braun are still photographs taken by Matzke using vintage cameras - showing elements specific to this story. Overlain over all of this historic and 'historic' footage Andrew Leman (the director of the B/W silent film "The Call of Cthulhu") provides a commentary of events that sounds just like the sort of thing you would find on a programme on the History Channel.
The finale of this short is a fresh segment of silent, black and white film purporting to be of the successful Experiment 17 of the title. The director takes the role of Helmut Koch the decorated officer and member of the Thule Society who is in charge of the experiment. This is the only part of the film that I have a complaint regarding. Unfortunately, someone on the film crew seems to have gone a bit mental with a smoke machine in these final scenes and it is at times a little difficult to see what is actually going on. Even so it is still clear what has happened at the climax which is effectively shocking.
Overall then this is a good idea for a short, well executed for the most part. I for one look forward to watching the sequel - Experiment 18.
