Subconscious Cruelty (1999)

Director:

Karim Hussain

Writer:

Karim Hussain (writer)

Release Date:

13 April 2001 (Canada)

Genre:

Drama | Action | Crime | Horror

Plot Keywords:

Male Frontal Nudity | Slit Throat | Male Nudity | Urination | Gore

Cast

Brea Asher
Ivaylo Founev
Eric Pettigrew
Christopher Piggins

Directed by
Karim Hussain

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Karim Hussain		writer

Produced by
Mitch Davis	....	producer

Original Music by
Teruhiko Suzuki

Film Editing by
Karim Hussain

Art Direction by
Sonia Capogrecco
Patricia McNeil

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Patrick Tremblay	....	first assistant director

Sound Department
David Kristian	....	sound designer

Special Effects by
C.J. Goldman	....	special makeup effects
Philippe Spurrell	....	special projection effects

Camera and Electrical Department
Benoît Boucher	....	photographer: end titles

Production Companies

• Infliction Films

Distributors

• Albatros Film (Japan)
• Cinema Novo (Portugal)
• Infliction Films (Canada)
• New Select (Japan)
• Sazuma Trading (2005) (Austria) (DVD)

Also Known As:

Yposyneiditi sklirotita (Greece) (festival title) [el]

Runtime:

92 min | USA:80 min (DVD version)

Country:

Canada

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Certification:

Sweden:15

Filming Locations:

Canada

Company:

Infliction Films

Movie Connections:

Referenced in In the Belly of the Beast (2001)

Shocking, yes, but what else?

This was definitely the most graphically disturbing film I've ever seen. Apparently, the sole purpose of the film is to shock and outrage people (according to the Stockholm Film Festival booklet), and I guess it does, but it doesn't really go any further than that. Or does it? I get the feeling that Karim Hussain has something to tell us, but it doesn't get through very well. I understand the reason for showing the things no-one dares to show, and I think that's good. But it is not presented very well, so people will not get the picture. The last section of the film is clearly a statement against American double standard of morality, and the modern mans loss of spirituality, and it is also the most intentionally apparent section.

The 'sound design' is great, very reminiscent to Lynch's Eraserhead. The music on the other hand, is most of the time inappropriate. The middle part of the film where people are indulging in an orgy with Mother Earth, is so badly scored the scene becomes silly, which is a shame. Hussain should have chosen music in the vein of Ligeti and Penderecki for a film like this (like Kubrick did).

If you want to see a shocking film that is dead serious all of the time, go for this one. Not for everyone, though. Or maybe it is?