Necromentia

Director: Pearry Reginald Teo (2009)

Starring: Layton Matthews, Santiago Craig, Zeliann Rivera

Find it: IMDB, Amazon

A movie quite heavily indebted to the work of Clive Barker, Necromentia plays like something of a love-letter to the horror maestro. That said, it really works. Necromentia is possibly the finest bit of demonic horror since, well, Hellraiser. Put Mr. Teo behind the reins of the remake and I wouldn't complain.

Three men find their lives turned upside down when they come across a (self) tattooed Ouija Board which opens a gateway to other dimensions. The dimension in question seems to resemble the inside of Clive Barker's head for some reason. But that's a good place for a horror movie to be, so we'll let it off. It's a difficult movie to explain and even to follow, but definitely one worth watching. It's a non-linear movie, chock full of nightmarish imagery, hideous-looking demons, scenes of sadomasochism, addiction, torture and ultraviolence. There's a fat monster in a pig mask who dances around singing about having things vibrating up his bottom. There's a grey thing with a gas mask and various toothy demons, all of which make Necromentia a very interesting movie.

For all of its horror and gruesomeness, Necromentia is ostensibly about the power of love, and how far you'd go for a loved one. It'd be sweet if it wasn't so horrid. It's an impressively good movie considering its relatively low budget and straight-to-DVD status. Well worth seeking out, and should tide one over nicely until the inevitable Hellraiser remake.