Adam Chaplin (2011)

I’d seen Adam Chaplin on the shelves of my local HMV, and to be honest the cover put me off, but then I heard about the movie on the grapevine and decided to give it a chance. Set in the fictional country of Heaven Valley, the story follows Adam Chaplin (Emanuele De Santi) as he seeks out revenge for the vicious murder of his love.

Adam Chaplin is a movie so difficult to put into words, it’s so bizarre, so extreme, but yet so amazing you could never do it justice in the written words. Imagine of you will The Matrix crossed with Peter Jackson’s Braindead, and you are on a starting path to understanding exactly how this film looks. Give it a sort of washed out 70’s video-nasty feel and you are bang on target.

From out of nowhere comes Emanuele De Santi, a man who’s first feature into the world of cinema, puts him as writer, actor, director, and musical composer. If ever there is a name to look out for then it is his. I have honestly never seen such an accomplished piece of work as this, to get such an inspired, captivating movie from a first time Italian director. It’s not bang on perfect, in fact far from it, but when you compare this to the likes of the much raved about Colin a couple of years ago, and this is in an entirely different league.

Visuals are one of the most striking things about the movie, the use of colour, make up, and lighting makes this a movie that sits on a plateau all on its own. Next up is the over the top special effects, the screen is awash with blood from the offset. And finally you have the harsh Italian dialogue against the cutting edge, and incredibly creepy score.

Santi’s characters from Adam, Mike, and the villainous Denny, and various street hustlers and vagabonds are like something out of your worst possible nightmare. Faces made up in the most bizarre possible way make this one of the most visually striking movies ever, combine this with the fact that the characters at the same time as being menacing, are also hysterical to look at.

Its sad that Adam Chaplin has received so little attention, hopefully however this will encourage you to venture out a try something a little different, in which case you’ll be absolutely thrilled with what you see, if not taken aback a great deal.