The Torturer (Short 2020)

The Torturer (Short 2020). The Torturer: Directed by Joe Manco. With Paul T. Taylor, Lawrence Varnado, Robb Hudspeth, Richard Houghton. A man is interrogated for information he can't recall, but there's more to the mystery than meets the eye. As the torment he endures get worse, it becomes clear that something else is going on behind the scenes.

“If the grit of Se7en had a baby with the torturous heart of Clive Barker, and the child was raised by Jigsaw, with Grandpa Argento decorating the nursery, and that being could be trans-mutated into a short film, it would be Joe Mancou0026#39;s masterful interpretation of Paul Kaneu0026#39;s story: the Torturer. I will admit, I went into this with little expectations, as many shorts fall flat, due to time and budget constraints. I couldnu0026#39;t have been more wrong. I walked away from this feeling like I had sat through a full-length feature, that had my attention from opening to closing credits.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThe film begins with a vague introduction to our main character, Andy, being captured and thrown into a dark room. Many suspense/thriller types that try this leave the audience too confused to get into the unfolding plot until much further in the film. Not this one. The intensity of the interrogation consumes you, despite not knowing anything about the leadu0026#39;s back story.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eu0026quot;Who do you work for and what do you do?!?u0026quot;- The Tortureru003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThe ambiguous nature of the story is the fuel for the cinematic, wildfire. As soon as we are drawn into the passionate queries of the Torturer, we are smashed in the face with some of the best, lower-budget torture effects Iu0026#39;ve seen. Far from being u0026quot;torture-pornu0026quot; the violence takes you right to the edge of unbearably gruesome, only to let you breathe for a bit, before the next round. This is the kind of ebb and flow that genre films have lacked for far too long.nAmbience, emotion, isolation and atmosphere are the main tools that comprise the cinematography, which could be best described as visual and visceral poetry. The extreme, uncomfortable closeups tug the strings attached to the part of my heart reserved for the love of this Fulci-esque style. It is absolutely gorgeous. Rhythmic dialogue is the melody, enhanced by the harmony created with superb sound design.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eWithout giving away too much of the plot, I have to touch on the surrealistic sequences with what we would call u0026quot;The Victims.u0026quot; Again, ambiguity prevents us from being able to put our finger on whose victims these people are and what relation Andy has to them. The effects here harken back to splatter films of the 80s, but with the Giallo-esque lighting, they are used with excellent precision. At no point, is anything gratuitous. On the contrary, it is painful, It is gory, it is art imitating life.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThe major arc in the story is obviously the relationship between the Torturer and Andy. It is in no way like Hostel or Saw, as it is not done in a sadomasochistic way or as means of moral teaching, it is that of the cerebral kind. Questions are asked, no clear answers are given and as a result, the Interrogated is punished. Letu0026#39;s say Lawrence Varnadou0026#39;s performance is more reminiscent of a vengeful God or perhaps a Cenobite, without the supernatural element. I am reminded of the early Nine Inch Nails home video for the Broken EP, especially the sequence for Happiness in Slavery. If you can imagine Michael Madsen from Reservoir Dogs torturing the police officer, except heu0026#39;s a little more of John Doe from the movie Se7en, all in the realm of psychological horror, youu0026#39;re getting close.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eI give this film 4 1/2 Evil-Ed-Heads, shy of five ONLY because I would have love to have seen it stretched to a full-length (could be done easily with the character depth and the passionate plot) and I would like to go further with the visual effects. Iu0026#39;m a SFX Makeup nerd, what do you expect?”