Cigarette Burns is a truly disturbing entry from John Carpenter (The Thing, Halloween, Christine, The Fog, Assault on Precinct 13). Although it's only one hour in length, it still manages to feel like a normal, feature-length movie. Packed with great performances, an eerie score, vicious gore, perfect direction and an original premise, Cigarette Burns beats almost all modern day horror movies.
After meeting with a collector (Udo Kier), Kirby Sweetman (Norman Reedus) goes on the hunt for "Le Fin Absolue du Monde," the Holy Grail of horror cinema. Although he has heard of the many things that befall anyone that tries to hunt down, Kirby goes after it and ventures into a world of the macabre.
Norman Reedus is truly a good actor. He takes the role of a man with a haunted past and really lets us into him. I came to care for the man, although I knew he was doomed. Udo Kier was extraordinary as the obsessive collector. His character was twisted and Kier really plays it for all he can. Cody Carpenter creates a very moody score that suits the movie perfectly.
But the one thing I need to mention here is the gruesome, disturbing special effects. The last 20 minutes feature some of the most bloody things I've ever seen (eyes gouged out, intestines being reeled through a projector) and "Le Fin Absolue du Monde" is easily the most disturbing "movie in a movie" I've ever seen, it was truly unsettling.
This is easily the best Masters of Horror episode from Season 1 and a brilliant, dark little horror movie.
5/5.
After meeting with a collector (Udo Kier), Kirby Sweetman (Norman Reedus) goes on the hunt for "Le Fin Absolue du Monde," the Holy Grail of horror cinema. Although he has heard of the many things that befall anyone that tries to hunt down, Kirby goes after it and ventures into a world of the macabre.
Norman Reedus is truly a good actor. He takes the role of a man with a haunted past and really lets us into him. I came to care for the man, although I knew he was doomed. Udo Kier was extraordinary as the obsessive collector. His character was twisted and Kier really plays it for all he can. Cody Carpenter creates a very moody score that suits the movie perfectly.
But the one thing I need to mention here is the gruesome, disturbing special effects. The last 20 minutes feature some of the most bloody things I've ever seen (eyes gouged out, intestines being reeled through a projector) and "Le Fin Absolue du Monde" is easily the most disturbing "movie in a movie" I've ever seen, it was truly unsettling.
This is easily the best Masters of Horror episode from Season 1 and a brilliant, dark little horror movie.
5/5.