Charo Oubiņa in Faust: Love of the Damned (2001)

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Review

Um, let's see ... here's how they update Faust to the new millennium: our hero sells his soul to Satan, and eventually goes to hell, but he's a tough cookie and hell can't hold him, so he blows that hot dog stand and returns to earth, where he wears a red suit and becomes a super anti-hero. Flame on, dude.

Good premise, eh?

The director chose to adapt this comic book in the general film style of the carnage and cleavage school of Italian gore-schlock, which is to say lots of sudden movements, fast cuts, gothic sets, slasher gore, and high decibel heavy metal grunge music.

Good execution, eh?

Just like time-travel paradoxes, scriptwriters rarely try to make these Satanic plots internally consistent. What's the sense? But they went beyond the call of duty with this one. In persuading the guy to sign his contract M. says something like, "I can give you all that for the low, low price of your immortal soul. Surely, that's not a high price to pay for someone who doesn't believe in the supernatural."

Three points, your Dark Lordship:
1. If he doesn't believe in anything, then he won't sign the contract because he doesn't think you can give him anything. You have to demonstrate that you really have some power.

2. But if he does believe that you can grant him powers of some kind, then he therefore does believe in the supernatural, then he would also believe that you would extract your soul-based fee!

3. If he didn't believe in the supernatural before, he certainly will after you cause a fireworks show and produce a bloody contract out of thin air. If your sale hinges on his lack of belief, you might consider a lower-key approach to the demonstration of power.

Oops.

Despite the fact that the none-too-bright punk Satan demonstrated to the guy that the powers of hell were real, the guy signed anyway. What the heck? Why not? I guess he figured if Satan was that dumb, he could outsmart The Dark One later, in the collection stage.

It turned out that he was right, because when Satan sent him to hell, he simply escaped from the grave, and he got to keep the powers when he was back on earth. In fact, I think he had better powers.

By the way, it's good to see that Satan is keeping up with the times. Turns out that you can sell your soul right here on the internet, either at Satan's own website, or on amazon.com, which is an authorized Satanic reseller.

And you can sell it directly to Satan or to a third party if they can outbid Lucifer. In fact, if I were you, I wouldn't believe Satan's direct deals. They don't call the guy the Prince of Lies for nothing. He's been known to turn back an odometer or two in his time, so you're probably better off dealing with the trusted third parties who are looking to buy souls. I think Lenny Kravitz is looking for one right now, if you're interested.

As bad as this film might sound, there are some plusses.

Wishmaster plays the part of Mephistopheles with his usual sexy smarm and menace, but adds bleach-blond hair this time, making him kind of a grunge-punk-surfer Satan.

The sex scenes are graphic, and sometimes funny. One scene looks like The Book of De Sade as told to Terry Gilliam, with a woman whose buttocks and breasts expand to unsupportable proportions as she drowns in her own vaginal lubrication. Another scene is a stylized sadistic lesbian whipping, followed by blood-licking.

Between the grunge music and the fast cuts, the whole thing has an insane, frenzied pace which may the kind of thing that makes your pulse pound.

Depends on what you like. If you like the idea of a bloody Argento-like gorefest in the form of a semi-pornographic satanic music video, this could be your cup of tea. By the way, the entire movie was filmed in Catalunya, although it is in English.

Nudity Report: Monica van Campen was naked in several scenes, but the actual exposure was mostly breasts. Several women were topless/naked in the final black mass/orgy.

Critics Vote: No major reviewers

IMDB Summary: 5.0 out of 10

Box Office: Although it was produced for a substantial budget of $6 million, there was no theatrical release that I know of.

DVD Info: Widescreen anamorphic, 1.85:1; there are two commentary tracks, one by the director, one by assorted crew


Written by: Scoopy …scoopy.net