Rubber Johnny

Wow. This has to be one of the finest pieces of non-feature film-making I have ever seen. The best way to describe would be: The baby from EraserHead having grown up and become professional dancer.

The opening scene is one of the creepiest things ever put to screen. I could barely even watch. It lessens once Aphex Twin's music kicks in, but then your fear is replaced by wonder at the truly incredible editing techniques and visual effects.

The whole things screams for Chris to do a feature film, a truly twisted and bizarre film in the style of the aforementioned EraserHead.

Also recommended: Windowlicker and Come To Daddy.

I love music and visual synchronization. Some may compare this to cheesy Hollywood movie horror films, but also keep in mind that not every person finds the "shock" video/audio effect cheesy. I love it.

Rubber Johnny is not an amazing piece, but certainly accomplishes it's goal of being a very elaborate 6 minute blitz of style. One almost grows a fear of Johnny in the beginning. Not only is he extremely grotesque, but his vocalizations almost sound inhuman. With his enormous bulbous head leaning over the back of his wheelchair and his insanely disturbing babble fits, Johnny makes a hell of an impression right off the bat. Once the actual music portion of the video begins, the score intertwines with johnny's sick mind and together they mutate into one of the most fast-paced music/video progressions i've ever seen, and quite frankly, it initial impact is hard. Still, the distortion effect wears off eventually and you begin to wonder what else Cunningham will throw at you. About 10 seconds before the end of the video you are hit with some deranged visuals of Johnny, and i think those last seconds redeem the short to be worthy of what it is.

RUBBER JOHNNY is a short film by acclaimed music video director Chris Cunningham. It is a strangely emotional film about a deformed subhuman that does, something. I don't know what he does, it's a little difficult to describe. It could be interpreted as dancing, and indeed, it is pretty much the only thing it could remotely be, but there is something more elaborate at work here. He may be stoned. The film can be easily taken as a music video, but I think that to call it that would be too easy. One could easily dismiss it as Chris Cunningham showing off his prosthetic morphing techniques, but they are far too simple to be shoved off as such. There is a story here, but we are given the bare minimum of what the underlying theme is, which is boredom. Or maybe it's loneliness. What I think is especially unique about this video is the lack of any sort of purpose. It simply tells of an apparent event. There appears to be some kind of theme involving male genitalia, with the title, RUBBER JOHNNY, and the fact that the title is marked on an erect penis. The prosthetics on display here are pretty abstract and disgusting, but in a fascinating and unique way. Chris Cunningham is great because he can take something popular in our culture and completely twist and distort it in a way that allows it to be the same popular thing, but the viewer will have a completely different feeling or opinion about it. Just look at his video for Aphex Twin's WINDOWLICKER. He takes the female body and shows it in a different way that is original and simple so that they remain in the same form the viewer was into before, however, because of the way he altered it the viewer gets repulsed and even very frightened by it now. The music video WINDOWLICKER was, in away, an act of protest and rebellion. As a result, I consider today to be among the most shocking music videos ever made. However, RUBBER JOHNNY is also a protest, but on a deeper level. The paranormal idea is so attractive in our way of life that we have caused culture revolving around aliens and humans to be a funny dream. What if somebody treated the idea in an honest and original way? The creature in this film may very well be human, but he is certainly not somebody that we would ever have any interest of allowing him to adapt to our ways. Chris Cunningham is able to take things a step further by adding a sexual element into the idea of RUBBER JOHNNY. The enlarged penis of the creature is another step in the direction of the fantasies that many people have discussed about having some sort of sexual or bodily interest in otherworldly beings. The film, instead, dares you to try and think about sex while watching this horrifying movie. I think that if Chris Cunningham continues to make daring and creative films like these, people could really look back on his work after the world has continued to grow and alter itself and realize that he had ideas that none of us have ever thought honestly about. Do visual effects really have to be complicated and drawn out to be good? Is the female body really a more beautiful thing that the male body? Are the ideas behind aliens really as fascinating as we've led ourselves to believe? It's these kinds of questions that make films like RUBBER JOHNNY work.

This is a 7 minute short film by Chris Cunningham, about a shape-shifting, mutant child named Johnny, who is kept in a basement with only his dog and his imagination for company.

It has also been suggested that Johnny is merely a hallucinating drug addict, because at one point in the film you can see him snort a line of white powder.

However, the original concept was for a video of a raver morphing as he danced, which eventually evolved into the concept of a music video/short film about a mutant child keeping himself occupied.

While incredibly disturbing, it's definitely worth a few watches. Once the initial shock of the images wears off, a vastly creative video shows itself through all the creepiness.

Filmed almost entirely in night-vision, the film has a grainy, documentary feel to it, which is why upon first watching it, some people concluded it was actual footage of a mutant.

With original music by Aphex Twin (inserted into the film as a remix done by the director himself) the latter part of the video does more resemble a music video than a documentary, and you'll almost certainly find yourself watching the last 2 or 3 minutes again.

In all, disturbing and unforgettable. Not for the easily scared or sensitive.

Chris Cunningham's works have shaped the music industry. He's probably the best and most influential music video director ever. He did videos for Aphex Twin, Madonna, Bjork, Portishead and many others, but now he is retired from industry. Now he works for himself.

His independence lets him to experiment a lot and to realize himself better. Chris's world is a strange, but interesting place and it can't be censored or cut. It is a thing to be examined. Once you got into it, you become a part of it, you see everything in an absolutely different way. Just try it.

"Rubber Johnny" is a 6-minute experimental short film and a 40 page book. All in one package, both absolutely genius. Some people say that book is too nasty and film is too short, but they are only half-right. Book is nasty, of course, but everything is not that simple in Cunningham's works. To see what's behind those scary pictures, you'll have to look deeper. I'm not gonna spoil you, you've got to find out yourself what's great about it.

But the real treasure is a short movie. It is frightening, disturbing, entertaining and amusing at once. The movie is shot on a simple home camera, but "Johnny" features some stunning visual effects. Believe me, it worth watching. "Rubber Johnny" is the fastest damn thing i've ever seen and the editing is something unspeakable. And, as a rule, it is deeper than you could ever imagine. It's like reading a good book: one must use his imagination to see the author's idea. In 6 minutes Chris puts a story witch could have been a full-length film. He shows a work of a true master: we're gonna be disturbed, entertained and (most important)we're gonna examine the depths of Johnny's character. And everything in 6 minutes! Unimaginable!

"Rubber Johnny" kind of movies may turn out to be a new form of art: 2000's are fast times and fast times require fast art. Not fast-created, but short-length, clever, entertaining and deep-minded. Chris Cunningham does it first (as usual) and he does it better than anyone in this world.