Breath-taking from start to finish, creators Karim Hussain and Mitch Davis Arthouse Horror anthology 'Subconscious Cruelty' is an experience which, of course, will not be supported by many people, but which, and that was the goal, turns out to be honest, generous and of extreme quality. This does not offer a commercial narrative in the conventional sense as the film is divided into four episodes, which are called "Ovarian Eyeball", "Human Larvae", "Rebirth" and "Right Brain / Martyrdom" according to the credits. After a prologue which emphasises on "Surrender to the film, let the imagery affect you and the feelings decide", which is he most fitting metaphor to describe the film without dwelling on scene-by-scene descriptions, it's a slow and inexorable descent along a staircase that leads to the deepest and darkest of the abysses.
The first of these moments, which is mild compared to what is to come, when a naked woman is sliced by a sharp blade and an eyeball removed from her belly which is followed by the 2nd segment capturing the incestuous relationship between a man and his pregnant sister and the birthing scene is so sick, also the last segment "Right Brain/Martyrdom" has to be seen to be believed. From that moment on it will be a crescendo of increasingly disturbing, inconceivable and absurd perversion scenes, where each sequence seems to represent the maximum peak. It is hoped that we will not be able to go beyond that limit, and yet this is moved further and further from time to time.
"Subconscious Cruelty" stomps its boot on the throat of representability, pushing the envelope of the New Extremism further than almost any other film, and opening a whole new can of worms when it comes to the uses and abuses of extreme content. It's a classic supported by eerie score by Teruhiko Suzuki, David Kristian for sound design and CJ Goldman for his special make-up and a must watch for extreme horror fans.
The first of these moments, which is mild compared to what is to come, when a naked woman is sliced by a sharp blade and an eyeball removed from her belly which is followed by the 2nd segment capturing the incestuous relationship between a man and his pregnant sister and the birthing scene is so sick, also the last segment "Right Brain/Martyrdom" has to be seen to be believed. From that moment on it will be a crescendo of increasingly disturbing, inconceivable and absurd perversion scenes, where each sequence seems to represent the maximum peak. It is hoped that we will not be able to go beyond that limit, and yet this is moved further and further from time to time.
"Subconscious Cruelty" stomps its boot on the throat of representability, pushing the envelope of the New Extremism further than almost any other film, and opening a whole new can of worms when it comes to the uses and abuses of extreme content. It's a classic supported by eerie score by Teruhiko Suzuki, David Kristian for sound design and CJ Goldman for his special make-up and a must watch for extreme horror fans.