Film Review: Insanity (short film) (2002)

SYNOPSIS:

A predator… A lonely woman… A rape… A murder…

REVIEW:

“Insanity” is a short giallo style film lasting 18 minutes in total under the direction and creation of Fabrice Lambot (his debut directorial). This French film which bears an original title of “Court Metrage” was shot in the Argentina region and has since been circulated in “numerous festivals around the world”. The version I had which was supplied without English subtitles was still watchable for viewers to get the brunt of the film.

Karina Androvich plays the role of Sally, while Carlos Scornik plays the unlucky role of her victim Daniel. Sally invites Daniel over for a dinner date after a connection in a chat room. Dolled up and dressed in red, Sally is a model of seduction. Though seduction has its price when Daniel discovers that he has been drugged and tied naked to a chair in the basement.

Sally proceeds to taught Daniel at knifepoint and subject him to her “now” empowered position. It’s a role reversal approach opposite what we are “used” to seeing in these bound and gagged genre films. When Daniel tries to escape, things get violent. Due to the language barrier, I may have missed a few key plot points, but from what I could gather, Sally was raped in the past and now takes care of a toy baby doll???? (not sure what that eludes to, to be honest)

“Insanity” is a title which has been mentioned in underground circles as an “extreme” cinema short film, however, after finally viewing this piece, I’m convinced that while it offers a few moments of violence (an axe to the hand, arm and head), it’s actually less violent than youwhat you would see on TV in a “Walking Dead” episode (it has since been removed from our “Extreme Cinema” section)

The film which has long been off the circuit for viewing can now be found bundled with the “le sang du châtiment” DVD release per Metaluna Productions . “Insanity” does mark a great debut first effort for Fabrice Lambot (and a nice performance by actress Karina Androvich, though with all the waves of violent releases to arrive in recent years, “Insanity” feels like something we’ve also seen a dozen or so times.

Insanity (short film) (2002)