And never the two shall meet?
Perhaps it is the use of old hardware, methods of getting the old film look in post production that lend realism to an indie film. This makes every death more brutal. Long shots, uncooperative lighting, reliance on physical effects - the microscopic budget lends itself to very real looking death scenes if not much else.
A recently submitted film,
BaKa 2, by local makers Matt Clark and Jeff Parenteau tied in with these thoughts. After viewing the documentary
S&Man (pronounce: sandman) which covers the faux snuff film series of the same name, I was struck by how Clark and Parenteau's film fit right in. While
S&Man covers the buzz worthy ToeTag Pictures (of August Underground fame) and more, there are films like this made everyday. Lost to the sluice grates of YouTube where there are more videos uploaded per minute than babies born, you probably only see it if your friends made it. While more artistic, fans of the stalk and tackle indie kills may like this short.
For those like me who are not collectors but appreciate the thinking behind and what goes into micro-budget and experimental horror, the documentary is a real must-see. Having watched various docs on snuff in the past, and poring through comments on the death films mentioned in
S&Man and seeing my fair share of stalk and tackle indie gems (not to mention Faces of Death... I mean really, who has not see Faces of Death) I prefer dissection of the topic. This filmmaker not only ties in a little urban legend, but has extensive interviews with very open writer/directors on who buys their films, why they make them, and the sometimes questionable methods they take to capture death on film.
