Facebook Twitter Instagram YouTube
    HORRORSCREAMS VIDEOVAULT – SUPPORTING INDEPENDENT HORROR
    • Home
    • Film Reviews
      • Films Beginning With Numbers or Symbols
      • A – C
      • D – F
      • G – I
      • J – L
      • M – O
      • P – R
      • S – U
      • V – X
      • Y – Z
    • Book Reviews
    • Franchise Corner
    • Competitions
    • Horror Screams Podcast
    • Contact Us
    Facebook Twitter Instagram YouTube
    HORRORSCREAMS VIDEOVAULT – SUPPORTING INDEPENDENT HORROR

    Film Review: AGALMATOPHILIA (2018)

    Peter 'Witchfinder' HopkinsBy Peter 'Witchfinder' Hopkins24th February 2020Updated:24th February 20202 Comments2 Mins Read

    AGALMATOPHILIA **** USA 2018 Dir: Jared Masters, Brittany Ballantyne. 72 mins

    A beguilingly strange, largely improvised Hollywood-set oddity, centered around director Jared Masters’ workaholic desk clerk, whose office space in this unspecified time frame is sparsely decorated with rotary phones, manual typewriters and old television sets. He’s an obsessive-compulsive paranoiac stimulated by numbers and taking sixteen different psychoactive, experimental drugs. His 728 page “Standardised Book for Secretaries” is put to good use when a mannequin (co-director Ballantyne, providing the voice while often simultaneously operating the camera) applies for a secretary job, promising she can bring realistic thought principles to the role.

    Bedecked in flamboyant fashions and make-up, Masters makes for a fabulous misfit hero – and the movie, like the John Waters films that prove a prominent influence, has genuine affection for his assorted quirks, including very specific hand washing procedures. Ballantyne doubles up as Masters’ female client, a horny young woman having an affair with a jealous lamp (“You’re so uptight!”). The film’s deliberately over-extended individual scenes and various non-sequiturs echo THE GREASY STRANGLER, though it isn’t interested in the grosser, cruder indulgences of that equally loveable movie. Instead, Masters and Ballantyne punctuate the oddball relationship stuff with disarming musical interludes, melding the stylings of Cole Porter with bands like Umbrella Jamboree via strangely touching songs containing appropriate refrains like “What does it all mean?” This movie also has cinema’s finest ever lamp-human sex scene and quote-worthy dialogue galore: “Look at us – we’re young professionals eating salads!”

    Review by Steven West

     

    Facebook0Like0Share0Tweet0Pin0
    Agalmatophilia Brittany Ballantyne Comedy Drama Fantasy Frolic Pictures Jared Masters

    Related Posts

    Film Review: A FERAL WORLD (2020)

    10th May 202203 Mins Read
    Read More

    Second Sight Films release Lake Mungo on Standard Edition Blu-ray

    3rd May 202202 Mins Read
    Read More

    The Company Of Wolves official soundtrack available on limited LP

    12th April 202203 Mins Read
    Read More

    Acclaimed and Visionary THE WANTING MARE available now

    10th February 202201 Min Read
    Read More

    2 Comments

    1. Pingback: FROLIC PICTURES CELEBRATES 10 YEAR ANNIVERSARY

    2. Randy on 29th March 2019 6:51 PM

      Wow, I really love this review. I also enjoyed this film, but your review made me appreciate the finer details even more ("Cinema's finest ever lamp-human sex scene")! I also Loved your references to John Waters, Cole Porter (sadly forgotten by many of the younger folks), and also "The Greasy Strangler." Now I'll have to go check out "The Greasy Strangler"! Thank you for your awesome and insightful review!

      Log in to Reply

    Leave A Reply Cancel Reply

    You must be logged in to post a comment.

    Search The Website
    Recent Posts
    • North American Trailer Released For ‘Hollow’ Ahead Of Its Release on VOD & DVD
    • Wyrmwood: Apocalypse the Zombie thrill-ride sequel gets Home Entertainment release this May
    • HORROR SCREAMS PODCAST: Episode 29 – I Walked With ROB ZOMBIE
    • Film Review: ENDANGERED SPECIES (2021)
    • Film Review: JAKOB’S WIFE (2021)
    Archives
    Facebook Twitter Instagram YouTube

    Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.