In a sweaty Texas bar, a customer (Tony Wolford) is surveyed by a pair of men (Justin Meeks and Reese Hunt) with sinister designs on him. This is confirmed when he wakes up in a woman's nightgown, in a remote woodland area, where he is beaten and subjected to a grisly ritual by the nasty duo, wearing Pagan garb. Subsequently, he is frazzled in a makeshift electric chair, before things get really weird

Moody, bleak and hallucinatory, the appropriately named VOLTAGEN has all the traits that made the filmmaker's longer HEADCHEESE such a visceral achievement. With rapid cutting and camera-work that pulls us into the harsh action, this might deal with extreme mental states over its eight minutes but is an astonishingly physical piece of work  emphasized in no small part when Inur Jizur and Dura Celloid (the two torturers) beat the victim, known in the credits as 'Tortured Soul'. The camera doesn't watch passively while he is pummeled; instead, it whips down to follow the motion of every blow. No one who sees this film will be allowed to sit in an idle state of comfort  and the image of the two pagans drawing blood from the backs of their throats by stabbing a knife through their mouth is a real jolter, that also clues us into the emphatic commitment of the attackers. Likewise (in the vein of Graves' and Meeks' other films I've seen) filmed in black and white, VOLTAGEN is all the more harsh for its stark visual contrasts of dark and light areas, and is memorable for its stylistic prowess as well as its off kilter content.

What VOLTAGEN lacks in comparison to HEADCHEESE's thorough and confrontational depiction of a diseased mind, it makes up for with ambiguity and one stunning set piece. That scene, in which oculists Jizur and Celloid fry the poor man, is a thrilling moment in extreme cinema. The electric chair itself is a wonderfully inventive collage: objects culled from the everyday  a metal dog bowl (to fit the victim's head, conducting the electricity), a belt (to hold it on), and a suffocating cloth (covering his face)  take on a sadistic dimension, as well as constituting the type of weird juxtaposition of mundane elements that embodies surrealism at its best. The 'voltage' is put to full use; cue some effective 'light bending' special effects as the man's skin quivers in electric vibrations. This 'tremble' effect is applied superbly, emphasizing the crackling energy that courses through the tortured soul's ravaged body. Rapid cutting enhances this truly kinetic feel, and the increasingly tight close shots emphasize waves of energy that seem ready to break through not only the man's body, but through the screen: the film's mesmerizing hold is infectious.

The end, when the film spirals into different layers of consciousness, is not only a weird piece of narrative symmetry that takes us within and then without a bizarre mind. This multi- layered treat also makes us wonder what goes through the mind of the distracted looking person who stands near to you in the local bar.

The horror genre features stories that aim to elicit fear, suspense, and a sense of dread in its audience. Horror stories often explore themes related to the unknown, the supernatural, and the macabre, and they frequently evoke strong emotional reactions such as anxiety, terror, and unease.

The short form refers to creative works characterized by their brevity and concise storytelling. Unlike full-length feature films, short films have a running time of less than 45 minutes, while TV shorts have a running time of less than 22 minutes.

Benedict Cumberbatch in The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar (2023)

Takes a disturbing look at a man's last moments as he is abducted from a backwoods bar by Pagan locals, brutally tortured and fried in a makeshift electric chair. Or was he?

Get a closer look at some of Hollywood's perfect pairs.

Hollywood Power Couples

Get a closer look at some of Hollywood&#39;s perfect pairs.

See which big screen releases you can watch from the comfort of your couch.

Theatrical Releases Coming to Streaming

Get a closer look at these actors from their many TV and streaming series roles.

Voltägen

Photos

Top Cast6

User reviews1

Related interests

Storyline

Top picks

Details

Tech specs

Contribute to this page

More to explore

Recently viewed