Forbidden, The (1978)
** 1/2 (out of 4)
Second film from writer/director Barker is somewhat based on the tale of Faust but it certainly goes in its own way. The movie was shot on a 16mm negative, which gives it an overexposed look, which adds to the surreal nature of the film. I'm really not sure what Barker was going for expect to come up with some very strange and he certainly captures that here. The movie has a nice music score to go with it and the film really captures the mood of doom and death. There's an extremely bizarre sex scene and an even stranger scene where a man with an erection dances to something that I'm not quite sure what it is. Pete Atkins and Doug Bradley, both from Barker's Hellraiser appear in the film as well. I doubt horror fans are really going to jump all over this film but if you enjoyed Luis Bunuel's early "art" films then this might be more for you.
Salome (1973)
* (out of 4)
Early film from Barker tells the story of a beardless John who is loved and tortured by the mysterious Salome. At least I think this film is trying to tell the story from the Bible as it's rather hard to tell because I had a really hard time following the film. I think it's very safe to say that Barker hadn't yet gained his talent for constructing a story that the viewer is able to follow but I guess you can't really blame him considering how young he was. The film was shot on 8mm, which makes the visual look of the film very grainy but this actually works well and leads to some fairly well crafted scenes. Some of the lighting effects are also well handled but in the end the film is still a major drag to get through.
