A Look at Beyond Your Consciousness: The Beginning, by Rinoj Varghese

An ambitious concept on a small sized budget.  

“Beyond Your Consciousness: The Beginning (2024).” IMDb, 2024, www.imdb.com/title/tt21807306/mediaviewer/rm3619584513/?ref_=tt_ov_i. Accessed 28 Oct. 2024.

The story follows Amanda, a psychiatrist, moving into a new house with her husband. However, the house is not normal; she feels something eerie stirring whenever she hears screams in the middle of the night. It seems there are ghosts lurking, but she is the only one who can hear them. Is she crazy? Is she not? The film dribbles with this question, leading to highly unexpected territory throughout.

At first, it was difficult to embrace some of ideas that I could tell could be better captured with a larger budget, especially regarding the visual effects. The dialogue often felt unrealistic and didn’t, at least with the supporting characters, convey realism with its characters. The script could have benefited from more reliance on the actors’ understanding of their characters.The main actress, Jen Ayer Drake, who plays Amanda, delivers a performance that feels relatively genuine. 

Despite the criticism regarding some choices and lost opportunities, what keeps the film engaging throughout its runtime is the unexpected twists and turns all thanks to the many choices in the cutting of the film. There is enough to be seen, and enough to be unseen, leaving much to the imagination. This independent horror film manages to maintain creativity within its ambitious concept. It offers an intriguing take on a ghost story that isn’t necessarily a ghost story.

I was particularly captured by Amanda’s first client, who is convinced of her own truth, which ultimately turns out to be nothing more than a mere fantasy. This blurring of reality and fiction propels the story forward. 

The low budget contributed to unique storytelling techniques through its sound and camerawork, evoking feelings of mysticism - like Amanada feeling too hot in one room while struggling to breathe in another, hinting at drowning. Amanda senses the tragedy that occurred in the house, motivating her to uncover the truth.

The question of whether Amanada truly sees these things or is simply crazy was incredibly engaging, prompting me to wonder if the entire narrative was a lie. That level of suspension of disbelief truly worked in my opinion. 

However, I found the ending to be somewhat cliched. I expected the film to stick to its psychological roots, as I believe that approach is more effective in horror than another twist. It left both the supernatural and psychological elements up in the air. Perhaps another rewatch would help if I missed any of the minor details that foreshadow the ending. 

While the film is far from perfect, it presents some very unique ways of telling a ghost story, along with something more. For that reason, I highly recommend this film to anyone looking for something interesting that combines various well-known elements in the horror genre. it held some very unique ways in telling a ghost story but something more.

A Look at Effigy, by John Cairns

A highly intriguing and visual piece.

John Cairn’s new film Effigy evokes an unnerving yet reminiscing feeling of surrealistic and experimental films like the works of David Lynch and Under the Skin.

The film follows a foreign translator Catherine, played by Camille Stahl, as she lives in the isolated city of metropolitan Tokyo. Her life takes a dark turn when she encounters an enigmatic client who demands a translation. From that moment, the line between reality and imagination begins to blur, revealing Catherine’s inner depravity.

Effigy is undeniably niche, offering no clear answers as the plot unfolds, leaving the viewer with more questions than resolutions. If Schoolgirl was able to avoid cliches within a genre that could easily lean towards creative limitations, then this highly surrealistic film was able to highly compliment what an experimental horror film can do. It challenges its audience to interpret its meaning, reflecting the director’s intent to push the boundaries of contemporary storytelling.

The cinematography is nothing short of stunning, portraying the city as an isolated, ominous presence. It was as if the city itself was coming alive with the dark contrast across the buildings, where the muted colors and ominous lights beamed in the streets. The sound design enhances this sense of lurking horror, hiding just beyond the shadows. It almost felt like I was back in Silent Hill, a franchise that I adore. 

The editing is equally striking, particularly during the scenes where Catherine translates. The film cuts between her frustrated work and her drawing, with the visuals coming to life as she narrates, a technique that echoes Cairn’s earlier film, Schoolgirl Apocalypse.

For an indie film there were some very strong performances. Camille Stahl gives a very compelling and demanding performance, shifting from innocence to psychosis with subtle yet terrifying precision just by the way she looks and moves alone. Shinsuke Kao as Doggy was great too, having a profound ability by simply disappearing into his character. 

Although I didn’t fully grasp the film’s message after my first viewing—especially as it reached its ambiguous conclusion—that’s not the point of a surreal film. It’s about the visual and hypnotic experience. And yet, much like watching a David Lynch film or playing Silent Hill, there’s a persistent sense that a deeper meaning lies behind the curtain—one with layers of interpretation waiting to be uncovered. 

Another reason for a re watch!

John Cairns | WRITER | FILMMAKER | VR & INTERACTIVE CREATOR (mysterywindow.com)

A Look at Schoolgirl Apocalypse, by John Cairns

Don’t let the title fool you.

“Schoolgirl Apocalypse (2011).” IMDb, 2024, www.imdb.com/title/tt2360114/mediaviewer/rm2543430656/?ref_=tt_ov_i. Accessed 8 Aug. 2024.

As a horror fan always on the lookout for something fresh, I was pleasantly surprised by how a seemingly ridiculous premise—one that Quentin Tarantino might conjure—can turn out to be a passionate and moving take on the zombie genre.

Set in a rural area of Japan, the story follows Sakura, a schoolgirl with dreams of living abroad. Her world is turned upside down when an unknown and devastating pandemic transforms the men in her village into bloodthirsty zombies. With her home destroyed, Sakura must navigate this new reality, guided by strange dreams that might hold the key to ending the turmoil.

The film stands out thanks to its many creative choices, straying from clichés and making it all the more unexpected. The animation used in the dream sequences offers a unique approach, reflecting Sakura’s inner conflict and distancing the film from conventional horror tropes through creative experimentation. This use of animation is particularly striking, given that animation for zombie films is quite rare.

There were moments when I forgot it was an indie film, thanks to its articulate and beautiful cinematography. The film features inventive angles and transitions, such as a scene where mirrors on side streets reveal a man’s illness before cutting to his transformation into a zombie, or the way sheets flap on the roof when Sakura defends herself from the zombies.

The pacing demands a certain amount of patience, allowing the suspense to build effectively before delivering the horror. While I wouldn’t necessarily call this a scary film, it is an effective one. It’s more of a coming-of-age story, focusing heavily on Sakura’s journey from aspiring dreamer to survivor. This character-driven approach makes it all the more endearing, providing a depth that many horror films lack, while adding a touch of humor and fun along the way without hindering the overall tone and pace of the story. 

An impressive piece of work by an indie team outside of Hollywood. After seeing this, I’m eagerly anticipating the director’s second film, Effigy.

John Cairns | WRITER | FILMMAKER | VR & INTERACTIVE CREATOR (mysterywindow.com)