Cradle Of Fear — Cradle Of Fear ( Blu Ray)
From the early 2000s, Cradle Of Fear is an extremely gory and fairly sleazy SOV anthology film from the UK, trying to recapture the spirit of the likes of the films put out in the 70/early 80’s by Amicus and Tigon. It features Dani Filth (of Cradle of Filth), as our sinister-yet- largely silent bridging character. It’s certainly got a lot of impressive/ gruelling gore, but the surrounding acting/ production is decidedly mixed/ cheap in places, so you have to ready/ open to this. Here from Unearthed, those uncovers of extreme/ brutal film is a double region A Blu-ray of the film- the first disc features the film & extras, and on the second a selection of short films by the same director.
Cradle Of Fear is from 2001. It was written and directed by Alex Chandon- who, since the late 80s and the early 2010s, has helmed sixteen credits in all- four features, and the rest are music videos/ shorts. His other three features take in wacky ‘n’ sleazy Adventure The Perv Parlor (1995), sex comedy Pervirella (1997), and gory folk horror comedy Inbred (2011).
Before I go on, I’ll have to say I've had a decidedly mixed history with the film to hand. You see, I’ve been a Cradle Of Filth fan since their 1994 debut album The Principle of Evil Made Flesh. So, in the 2000s, when I heard that the band's lead singer/ head honcho Dani Filth was going to be in a film, I could not wait to see it. And when I finally did, I felt rather underwhelmed/ let down. And this was due to homing in on the more amateurish/ bad acting sides of the film….now, some twenty years later, I accept/ enjoy bad film tropes, so rewatching the film again I found it a lot more entertaining- sure it’s far from perfect, but I can certainly see myself revisiting the film.
The film's wrap-around/ connecting story focuses on The Man (Flith), a seemingly superhuman & devilish henchman of a bearded, long-haired, and mad-eyed serial killer, Kemper (David McEwan)- who has been locked away in a windowless padded cell for the several child murders he committed. The Man has to make sure that the list of those connected with his boss's imprisonment is got rid of…which we see over the four stories on offer. Chasing him down is a glum, middle-aged & sweary police officer, Inspector Neilson (Edmund Dehn)
The first story features The Man picking up a woman from a gothic metal club, but a few days after she realises something is growing inside her. Filth has a decent enough presence in this one, with an often-fixed stare and clawed jewellery hands.
The second story regards two female friends breaking into an old man's flat to steal his savings, but things don’t go quite as planned. Story three regards a hedonistic and smug amputee- who can’t get it up and goes to some very extreme measures.
Story four focuses on Richard (Stuart Laing), who has rather a more creepy-to-intense young Sam Rockwell quality to him. He works in an internet company, and has become rather obsessed with snuff/ extreme porn. I really dig the retro internet detail in this story, and Laing is easily one of the better actors here.
On the gore side, we move from head crushings & top of head ripping offs. Bloody gut ripping’s.Eye gouging with a whisky bottle, clawed jewellery face slashing, cat decapitation & gut guzzling, and most impressive a rough & ready sawing off a human leg.
Acting-wise, it is extremely mixed, as mentioned; Mr Filth has a decent enough screen presence about him, though he has only a few lines, which are spoken towards the end of the film. I think the female actresses here are probably the worst, which, at the bad end, they come across like flat porn actors.
The music- which was another disappointment when I first saw the film- as it's largely focused on dark & moody drill ‘n’ bass- there are a few bits from COF tracks, but the dominant sound is definitely electronic. And to be honest, aside from sounding rather dated, I don’t mind the score now.
On the first disc we have a few archive extras. Some Making of Cradle of Fear (12.06), The Special German DVD Making of Thing Something For Cradle of Fear ( 42.14), Important Words ( 11.41), which is director Chandon and three others in a circle, swearing & dicking around. Behind the Scenes Gallery, and Trailers
Disc two is entitled Short Film Collection & Extras. The collection opens up with Chain Saw Scum Fuck (7.01). This short dates from 1988 and is clearly made by three or four teen metalheads, with its blacked thrash mayhem soundtrack. It’s basically a very gory apartment invasion- with a demented stocking head figure rampaging with shears & chainsaw- fingers are snipped, limbs are sawed, and leg joints are bloody pulled apart. Bullshit News (2.33) is from some point in the 1980’s and is basically a silly parody of investigative journalism. Bad Manor (41.09): this 1989 film is a blend of psycho thriller, wonky comedy, and slasher- it starts showing a bespeckled boy setting his neighbour on fire, then drowning his parents- the second is rather troubling/ harrowing. We then flash forward twenty years, to see our child killer all grown up & very geeky- two couples turn up at his grand manor, and there’s a masked killer on the prowl- there is a decent OTT gore resolution to this one, though the attempt at humour is more than a little trying. Bad Karma (36.16) This 1997 film starts as a family BBQ with early twenties mates having a few beers- the front door is knocked; Mum goes to answer it- to find two Hare Krishna followers pushing themselves into the house. Their faces start to bubble & stretch- one of them morphs into an impressive/ nasty looking snapping teeth monster with a line of knives appearing from one of its hands- with all-out gore mutilation ensuring- taking in poles through heads, gut-rippings, etc. This short is most impressive, with some neat ideas/ effects, though later on it does go a little annoyingly wacky when a biker gang & hill billies added into the mix. Drill Bit ( 32.11): this 1992 short is a bit of a mess- but there’s some decent ideas; a revenge-seeking killer is made after getting a drill bit stuck in his brain- it mixes in sweary zombie bashing, lengthy trailer voice over, and most memorable a figure with a spurting brain anus head and a huge spunk-shooting member. Film Extreme 3 (4.16) this is just a rapidly moving reel of effects- some well-known, some I’m guessing created by Chandon and his buddies. Night Pastor ( 9.28) this 1998 short feels more like an extended trailer for a film about a gone-bad Catholic priest who shoots folks, masturbates in confession, etc., with a cheap neo noir feel, and a soundtrack that mixes smoky sax & drill ‘n’ bass. 2005’s Borderline ( 4.04) is a real departure- it features M. C. Escher-like cityscapes, where staircases go upside down, roads run into rivers, etc. With a pulsing IDM-like soundtrack. There are also trailers for a few of the shorts, as well as one for his wacky sex comedy Pervirella.
All in all, I’d say if you enjoy gory, fleshly, and sweary horror- and don’t mind cheap/ bad movies tropes and SOV- then you’ll like what Cradle Of Fear has to offer. It’s great to see the film back out there again, and the second short films disc is a worthy bonus.