I Pass for Human

Chris D. has long been the kind of artist whose work manages to create sharp divisions of opinion, and this, his first feature film, is going to prove no exception. But that's only to be expected when nothing you produce quite fits the tiny boxes critics are determined to squeeze it into for the sake of convenience. The man can be a hard sell, period.

I PASS FOR HUMAN is a horror movie, and it's a film about addiction. But viewers going in burdened by fixed notions about what either of those labels mean are bound to miss the point. It's not a horror movie with a lot of "boo!" scares or gore, and it's not an addiction film in the "classic" sense, like say THE LOST WEEKEND or REQUIEM FOR A DREAM.

What it boils down to is something unique: a hard-nosed portrait of a woman trapped in the inexorably turning whirlpool that is the malaise and uncertainty of addicts and the addict lifestyle, filtered through a decidedly grim take on the street-level L.A. music scene and vampirism (note: not necessarily the same thing). For those who demand comparisons, think somewhere between PANIC IN NEEDLE PARK and CARNIVAL OF SOULS.

The DVD commentary with Chris D. and producer/editor Lynne Margulies is an engaging listen, both for admirers of the film and would-be filmmakers alike. Their entertaining reminiscences of the ups and downs of DIY production offer comfort and inspiration to even the most forlorn no-budget filmmaker.

Also worth mentioning is the inclusion of 'Le Ciel de Sang,' an early 70s vampire-themed short inspired by Hammer films and Italian Gothics of the 60s in which Chris D. somehow manages to create a brief and hypnotic 'Rollinade' – decades before Jean Rollin's films made it to these shores! Call it another case of gifted minds thinking alike.