I Never Left the White Room

I was rather surprised that this flick, now already 13 years old hasn't been reviewed on this database. Maybe that says something about this flick by which I don't mean any negativity towards the flick but about the promo of this art flick. The director,Michael Todd Schneider, did had any fame when he made the notorious flick Mordum together with Fred Vogel. Mordum was made 3 years after this one and in fact it took Michael 7 years to finally end I Never Left The White Room.

It was his student film project, back then called My Crepitus, that started his career and this already much acclaimed flick. The new version that has come out again in 2013 (only at 25 copies!) is his final approach towards his flick. Don't expect to see a flick like Mordum or other Toetag (Fred Vogel's company) cruelty. This is a trip into the mind of Jeffery, a psychiatric patient, which explains the title, into his madness. It's a bit hard to explain this out of control edited flick that will make the viewer goes berserk if he isn't used to see flicks full of post-processing effects like grainy moments, loops, over-saturated colors, jump cuts, slo-mo, I guess you get the picture.

It do has some nasty moments with a head being axed and it has some weird moments with some ghouls having devilish looks. I was also surprised about the nudity involved in such a project. It goes full frontal but it isn't gratuitous at all, it's sick because it's Jefferey doing a peeping tom on a girl masturbating in the shower until blood runs from between her legs while Jeffery is playing with his boner. It has a bit of this and that all over the movie but still it's worth picking up. I really can't classify it under a straight horror but if you have seen Begotten (1990) or flicks coming from the hand of Lucifer Valentine then you get the picture.

It sometimes did remind me of Erazerhead (1977) towards the end with the baby involved and the end credits surely reminded me of Love Will Tear Us Apart of Joy Division (by which I mean the door). This isn't a flick that every horror buff will like due the way it was shot. I just watched Snuff 102 (2007) the other day which in fact used the same method of Michael's debut in part of filming and post production.

You really have to watch it twice to get it all, first thinking it's a mixture of all kind of scene's but it isn't, gruesome in some ways, nasty, and dark. I'm sure Micheal never has left his white room after making this one.

Gore 1/5 Nudity 1,5/5 Effects 3/5 Story 3/5 Comedy 0/5

The 2000 version of "I Never Left the White Room" (2007), then called "My Crepitusa" (la August Underground, 2003, where Schneider acted, co-directed and co-edited with inter alia Vogel), was Michael Todd Schneider's film school project and feature film debut. As such, the 2007 version demonstrates, as the name of the film implies, substantially increased editing prowess, which contributed greatly to the film's unique psychedelic arthouse blend of madness and artistic endeavour. I understand (and have unfortunately not yet had my hands on a copy), that MagGot's 2021 reboot demonstrates even higher cutting room skills. That said, there is little, bar for a seemingly underdeveloped script, which Schneider did not elevate to its highest potential on a truly limited budget. As always I stand in awe of writer, director, producers who takes up a major acting part. And when they do it this well, one might be tempted to infer a healthy degree of genius into the project. To quote, Schneider, the film essentially represents the "internalized journey of a man trapped inside...". I might add that said journey has some really decent gore (created by MagGot FX) which works brilliantly with the editing effects like slowing down, speeding up, texturing and over-saturation. The bridge scene does this especially well. The soundtrack, where Schneider again contributed (as Porcelain MagGot) is engaging, interesting and unsettling enough to work well into the total project. Acting in general was decent and Schneider himself did very well. As far as psychological gore goes, it truly hits the mark.

This movie was obviously made on the cheap but it uses it at its advantage and ingeniously fuses it into this hell's cape of a movie. The visuals are feverishly off putting and the story is disorienting. The movie constantly makes you wonder what's actually going on. Is this real or just in some psychos head. I think this is quite the impressive movie. Give it a chance it'll get under your skin.