Masters Of Horror: John Carpenter's Cigarette Burns Review
Written by: MistressOf Horror
MASTER OF HORROR : John Carpenter's Cigarette Burns
Film is magic. And in the right hands, it can be a weapon.
La Fin Absolue Du Monde a film so powerful and personal it drives its audience to murderous acts.
A struggling owner of a movie theater, Kirby Sweetman (Norman Reedus) devoted to showing cult films and cinematic oddities (in a nice touch, Argento’s Deep Red is advertised on the marquee in the opening shots). He’s got a dead girlfriend (drug overdose) who haunts him at every turn, his business is struggling and his almost father-in-law constantly hounds him for the 200 grand he loaned Kirby-and he’s packing heat to make his point.
Mr Sweetman meets an eccentric millionaire Ballinger(Udo Kier) is a hardcore cinephile with a taste for the extreme. He summons Kirby to his home with an offer-track down the rumored one remaining copy of the controversial film La Fin Absolue Du Monde–The Absolute End of the World. The film played once in France and inspired its audience to commit incredible acts of brutality on one another. The French government banned the film and reportedly burned the print. However, Ballinger has it on good faith that a copy still exists-and no price is too much to acquire it.
Kirby takes the gig, setting out for Europe in search of the holy grail of subversive cinema. Then everything goes odd. The title, “cigarette burns” refers to the round marks that appear in the upper right hand corner Kirby starts seeing “cigarette burns” in real life-followed by disturbing images , causing him to question his sanity. . so the story unfolds, will Kirby find the film ? and more importantly, if he does, can he survive watching it?
The gore in this film isn't too extreme but it can be disturbing. Its strikes a chord in a person that stays with you long after viewing the movie. In a sense its one of those movies that haunts you.
this episode works because it gets you more interested in the characters seeking the film than the film itself. This fact is what sets Cigarette Burns apart from movies of this sort. the effect it has on people and the kind of people who would want it are what’s important. Because of this, Cigarette Burns has a very mesmerizing tone throughout.
I highly recommend it