Title: Little Deaths
Directed by: Sean Hogan, Andrew Parkinson and Simon Rumley
Starring: Daniel Brocklebank, Luke de Lacey, Siubhan Harrison, Jodie Jameson, Tom Sawyer, Amy Joyce Hastings, Holly Lucas
Running time: 95 minutes, Unrated, Available on Blu-ray
Three short films set in Britain with the shared themes of sex and death.
House and Home – Richard & Victoria are a well to do couple who have a fetish for picking up homeless women off the street, giving them a bath, hot meal, glass of wine laced with roofies and a bit of raping. It’s all in good fun to them until Richard takes Sorrow home.
Mutant Tool – Jen is a prostitute and drug user, struggling to stay clean. Her boyfriend/former pimp Frank asks the help of his employer, a doctor who is working on an ongoing secret drug experiment. After prescribing Jen the drug, she begins having disturbing visions of the lives of those she touches, and unknowingly becomes involved in a medical scheme that is truly unsettling and evil.
Bitch – Claire and Pete are a couple in a sadomasochistic relationship; Claire is the top in the relationship, but she has a crippling phobia. After a night of humiliation, Pete has finally reached his breaking point, and decides to leave the relationship, but first he must give Claire a little taste of some well deserved punishment.
The title I’m guessing comes from the English translation of the French term la petite mort, which is a metaphor for an orgasm. In this anthology horror film, there’s lots of sex, violence, death, the supernatural and giant penises.
When I was a teenager and going through my own goth phase, I probably would’ve thought this film was brilliant. It is disturbing to say the least, and quite creative. I would’ve preferred they all had a supernatural element. Bitch was a little difficult to watch, because some mentally disturbed person could actually make it a reality; whereas House and Home and Mutant Tool are fantasy and somewhat safe, albeit gross.
The special features include the theatrical trailer and director interviews of the entire “making-of” process, the good and the bad.
I did somewhat enjoy the film as a whole, but I can only recommend it to those who are only going to see it once. Once you know the twist, there’s not really a desire to watch it again (although I did go back and watch the beginning of Mutant Tool to see what I missed the first time around). I would recommend it as a party movie, to see the reaction of others viewing it for the first time. It’s not for everyone, and some may never speak to you again.
Total Rating: B
Reviewed by: JM Willis
