Cremaster 4 (1995)
8/10
Arcane Absurdity
10 January 2022
Cre·mas·ter

noun 1.

ANATOMY the muscle of the spermatic cord, by which the testicle can be partially raised.

2. ENTOMOLOGY the hooklike tip of a butterfly pupa, serving as an anchorage point.

This inceptive entry of the 5-part series plays like a low-budget Charley and the Chocolate Factory with buff, nude Oompa Loompas who exist circuitously in a Teletubbies-esque environment, but if the show's creators had been on copious amounts of methamphetamines. We primarily witness a crosscutting between a tap-dancing devil figure - who eventually must crawl through a viscous, uterine tunnel, as if being born into the world - and two separate, futuristic race cars which speed off from each other in opposite directions. A Lynchian sound design plays over Cronenbergian visuals - one example of which is gelatinous embryos that ooze from the pockets of the race car drivers, whose midsections are shot at a close up to appear like separate, slimy organisms. Barney's medium combines filmic techniques, with 3D art-instillations, and stop motion to create a singular pastiche. Plotless and entirely absurdist, this series, I can tell, will be perfect for me but certainly not for everyone. The final shot is of a close up of a pair of testicles being stimulated by prolonged metal objects. Enter into the Cremaster Cycle at your own discretion.
0 out of 1 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink

Recently Viewed