What would happen if a director created a work, a piece of film that was so powerful, so extreme that those that viewed it were driven into a blood drenched frenzy? Would it be possible for someone to craft images so disturbing that folks would willingly kill those around them and then themselves? These are the questions the John Carpenter poses in is Masters of Horror episode Cigarette Burns.
Minor spoilers ahead
This short film truly is a master work from a true legend of our genre. This project has everything going for it. Great story, fantastic acting, great disturbing imagery and most of all great, great, great directing. I don’t want to give away to much of the story for you because if you haven’t seen this one yet you’re in for a treat but long story short a film collector asks the help of a theatre owner / finder of rare films to help in securing a copy of a notorious film that has been long rumored to be destroyed. It seems that the film only played once and most in the audience wound up dead in a frenzy of blood and gore. There have long been rumors of underground screenings of the film but nothing that could be proven. The man who wants the film, beautifully portrayed the Udo Kier knows that the film still exists, he has one of the actors from the locked up in a special room in his mansion, kind of the ultimate prop collection. It seems that this actor is somehow tied to the existence of the film and if the film had been destroyed than this guy wouldn’t still be alive. Well, this is enough to send our researcher on his trek.
Before leaving to find the film we learn a little back story about his personal life that will weigh heavily at the end of the film. So, off he goes to find the film that may or may not exist. He begins having visions and things start getting weird, as if the actor locked up in a room wasn’t weird enough. What follows is a tour de force of excellence in horror film making.
This is what Masters of Horror should be, a legend of the genre performing at the top of his game.
Enough about the content lets take about the packaging. I love the way that Anchor Bay has put this series of DVD’s together. It really is a fans wet dream. The whole signature box layout is superb and the disc itself is just packed with extras. This disc features 2 audio commentaries, one with Carpenter and the other with the two writers. A feature called Working with a Master: John Carpenter and another feature that is an interview with Carpenter. There is also an on set interview with Nathan Reedus then there is the usual fair of trailers and stills. For those of you with DVD-ROM capabilities, you get to access the screenplay as well as a kick ass screensaver.
It all adds up to what may just be the first must have disc of the season. This whole Masters of Horrors disc set is going to kick ass. We’ll have reviews of the whole series as they are released two at a time over the next few months.
