It's hard to know where to start...unfortunately this bonkers film does not reach the 'so bad it's good' category, it is just genuinely bad and contains some shocking elements of film-making that I, hand on heart, have not witnessed since A Level Film Studies. The plot you probably already know. In a nutshell, a virtual reality suit is programmed with the rituals of Aleister Crowley and the spirit of said Crowley goes on to inhabit Professor Haddo who goes through a major transformation. All well and good. What follows is a labyrinthine plot that is so dense your brain gives up following it. The script is a thoroughly well researched piece of writing, but that is its first downfall. The film starts to feel like a series of mini lectures about the background of all things scientific and occult and, whilst interesting, it really does start to get in the way of plot and pacing. A plot development can't be brought up without a character spouting for two minutes about the history behind it all. And what characters they are! All played without fear of getting anywhere near an Oscar. It's hard to pick who's worse, but Paul McDowell's (Symons) acting technique consists of the same facial expression and tone of voice for every second he's on-screen, be it a scene of terror or humour. To be fair, the poor lad probably didn't know what the hell was going on. Join the club, Paul. What is truly unforgivable is the appalling editing and camera-work, even the basics aren't right. Camera shots are wobbly, edits fly out of nowhere and in some cases the soundtrack is so loud that you cannot hear the actors at all. The editing adds to the confusion of a script that one would need several days to work out and probably a few headache pills along the way. As a book, it'd probably work a lot better. What was needed was a more experienced head behind the scenes. It needed a really good script editor to strip the script down, because amongst the chaos there are some solid ideas and plot devices. It needed a better director and crew. You have to applaud their gusto though, they must've felt like children on Christmas Eve getting the chance to run riot and make their own film. On the plus side the soundtrack contains Bruce and Maiden songs, and as a big fan this pleased me. Over the closing credits Bruce sang Man of Sorrows. I could relate to that, I'd just wasted a fiver....
Review of Chemical Wedding
