Wound

When a film opens by mercilessly depicting a penis being gruesomely castrated with a pair of scissors, you know that, if nothing else, you're in for something interesting. And Wound is just that, unrelenting for its entire 77 minute runtime.

A mere five minutes following the genital mutilation, a nude, submissive housewife is tortured by her "master" in front of a camera. The nightmarish imagery does not end there. Other eccentric scenes include an animalistic rape by a man in a pig mask, incestuous teat suckling and a nasty birthing scene featuring a deformed, blood-spewing vagina.

As a result of the questionable content, Wound stirred up a bit of controversy in its home country of New Zealand. While people unfamiliar with the genre might make a fuss about it, the graphic content doesn't hold a candle to the likes of A Serbian Film or even The Human Centipede. Nothing but overblown claims to drum up press.

Between the bizarre sequences lies the perplexing story of a mother uniting with her daughter. The plot is not easy to follow, but there are two sides to the story. On one hand, an orphan, Tanya (Te Kaea Beri), searches for the mother that she has never met. Meanwhile, the mother, Susan (Kate O'Rourke), believes that her unborn daughter is taking over her life.

Susan struggles with metal illness, which accounts for the film's nonlinear structure. Acclaimed filmmaker Ken Russell (The Who's Tommy) hailed the movie as a "masterpiece." While I wouldn't go that far, Wound does share the unsettling, dreamlike atmosphere with Russell's Altered States.

Writer/director David Blyth has been in the industry for some 35 years, but Wound feels more like an independent filmmaker's early attempt at experimentation with controversial issues. Blyth, whose most notable effort is helming a handful of Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers episodes, recently took off the better part of a decade to focus on documentary work. Wound marks his return to features and, perhaps, a rebirth as a director as well.

This psycho-sexual horror isn't for all the horror buffs walking around because it doesn't contain straight horror but it tricks your mind into a depraved ride between humiliation and incest.

Made by David Blythe who gave us Death Warmed Up (1984) before we ever heard of Peter Jackson was a well known kiwi exploitation director. And it shows because this is to be honest another exploitation flick. It do has nudity but one of that kind that isn't attractive and surely isn't for the easily offended. It contains some red stuff here and there and even that can shock people, just see the shower scene once the daughter discovers the blood of her mother. David didn't add gore in it but at the final we do have a slashing that is ultra gory. But many will have turned it off because it's such a weird flick, in the line of Eraserhead (1977°. I like those kind of flicks were they go into the mind of sick people like for example The Dead Girl (2006). I found the acting sublime by all.

A supernatural sickie that takes you back to the old school exploitations. Full of weird shots and offending sexuality. A classic.

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

This film doesn't even deserve a one star rating. The actors and actresses, special effects are way beyond horrible. The simple fact is that an elementary school child could have made a better film. What truly amazes me are all the positive reviews of this dribble labeled a film. I only could stand to watch about 2 minutes before I just had to turn it off. Any positive reviews come from people either smoking their own supply or just simply paid off lackeys trying to generate some type of income for the film. Do not even waste your time watching this trash. In my opinion a root canal would be more enjoyable then having to suffer anymore than five minutes of this movie. Anyone else who says otherwise is just outright living in fantasy land.

OMG!!! What did I just watch? And how can I put this experience in words. I will say this, there are some things in this film, that I will not forget for a long while. One involving the two main characters Susan and her daughter Tanya, in masks also involving a guy in a mask and plastic wrap. The most mind messed up manipulating scenes I ever witnessed in any film. And a castration scene, that would not be happy until it made you really think you saw a real one. It was the most realistic you could make it, without it really happening and please David tell me that scene is not real. I am worried. The movie deals with Susan, who may or may not be suffering from mental illness. And it tackles a lot of subjects. Rape, Incest, Revenge, Death, Mind Control and just plain what is going to happen next. Tanya, the daughter was quite possibly the hottest female I have seen this year in any film. There is a scene in the beginning with a counselor and her that you know by the tone and words being exchanged if this truly is a movie for you. Susan, starts the movie normal enough, but within minutes you are thrown right into her world. She is a servant to Master John, and those scenes are so cruel. You feel for her. Or do you. You find out as the movie goes on she is no angel, and her past she is ridden with a lot of guilt from things she has done and decisions she made, and thru the beauty of this film David lets you live them all out with her. This film is no horror film in the terms of a Jigsaw, or Freddy Kruger, its a horror film in the feeling of a they wont do this scene, OK they did it, he wont take it further. Oh man he did. This film is shocking, controversial, sick, depressing, and cruel. I loved it all. I don't know who is worst. David Blyth for creating this film, or for me loving it so much. This is no art film, or a statement movie. This is pure nightmare. Its a manipulative, sad and very challenging movie to make you feel, react and trust me by the end you will either be loving it or hating it. This is the film all those people who think they have seen it all, well here it is. And trust me, this film is just as controversial if not a little more than a Serbian Film.

A supernatural horror film that explores the dark worlds of mental illness, incest, revenge and death...

With all due respect to the writer and director, this film would best be handled if given to someone who had the ability and funding to fully realize the material. It is clear that a great idea is here and it is executed fairly well, but still leaves something to be desired.

The story is decent, but the intent is clearly stylistic and visual. Some of the gore and flesh scenes call David Cronenberg to mind, and I would love to see how Cronenberg would have handled this script. Again, the germ of this story is strong, but it was not given the soil and nutrients needed to fully blossom into a mature elm.

I neither recommend this film or ask you to steer clear -- just know that what you are witnessing is a director whose time has not yet come (but may soon).