Review by Adam Stephen Kelly
Stars Bianca Maria D'Amato, Cassandra Foret, Delphine Brual, Harry Cleven,
Maris Bos, Charlotte Eugene Guibeaud, Jean-Michel Vovk, Bernard Marbaix | Written by Helene Cattet & Bruno Forzani
UK Certification 18 | UK RRP £19.99 | BD Region B | Runtime 90 minutes | Directed by Helene Cattet & Bruno Forzani
To say that the response so far to Amer has been divided would be quite the understatement, but its reception should be no surprise to those who truly 'get' the film. Helene Cattet and Bruno Forzani's homage to '70s gialli – heavily stylised Italian thrillers charged through with sex, violence and indeed sexualised violence (the number one BBFC taboo these days) – is the ultimate pastiche of the work of such genre icons as Mario Bava, his son Lamberto Bava, Dario Argento, Lucio Fulci, Sergio Martino, Ruggero Deodato and Umberto Lenzi.
If you know your gialli, you'll have a blast picking out the number of direct references to a variety of Spaghetti Slasher classics amongst this feature-length rainbow of pop art infused with stark, beautiful imagery and incredible sensuality. The stunning palette combined with the creative camerawork sexes up every tight shot of bare flesh and heightens the sheer cringe-worthy unpleasantness of a glove-gripped razor blade carrying out its grim duties, likening each blood-letting to nails on a chalkboard.
If you go into Amer having never seen a giallo, you will most likely find it to be a mundane and experimental art film devoid of soul and story and akin to the English translation of its title, Bitter. But for those of us who know perfectly well the intentions of this very niche bite of Belgian cinema, its dreamlike spectrum of colour, light and intensity could not be sweeter.
EXTRAS ?? Five short films from Cattet and Forzani; a teaser; and the full trailer.