Unearthed Films continues to scour the annals of
transgressive cinema from around the world and their latest acquisition is none
other than German born The Burning Moon director and visual effects artist
Olaf Ittenbach’s 2003 unfinished business ghost story yarn Garden of Love. A German shot production filmed in English
where everyone seems to have a German accent, featuring a largely international
cast with British actress Natacza Boon of Æon Flux at the helm, German
actor James Matthews and German singer/musician Bela B as a vengeful
bloodthirsty ghost, the film also known as The Haunting of Rebecca Verlaine is
overall a pretty silly if not long winded romp despite running only a mere
eighty-nine minutes but will give fans of the effects artist turned director’s
penchant for arterial spray and heads being ripped apart a run for their
money. Previously released on DVD via
Mill Creek Entertainment, the cult face and body smasher destroyer of a film
makes its Blu-ray disc debut via Unearthed Films in a new special edition
featuring behind-the-scenes materials and even a gag reel.
Years ago when she was still a child, Rebecca Verlaine’s
family consisting of a flowery hippie commune lead by pop star Garbiel Verlaine
(Bela B) is ruthlessly massacred on Christmas Eve leaving only the young Rebecca
left alive with no recollection of the events which transpired. Years later now as an adult, Rebecca (Natacza
Boon) on the cusp of a new fruitful relationship begins experiencing bizarre
and grisly hallucinations involving the bloodied gore-torn apparition of
Gabriel sometimes seeing and hearing him on the television or seeing him walk
by the shower.
After conferring with police
on the case whose findings point to Rebecca as the potential culprit, she sets
out to her old homestead where the murders occurred and is tasked by the
spirits of her dead family members to try and find the real culprits and bring
them to the household as cannon fodder for the murderous spirits to make
mincemeat of. Trouble is she doesn’t
know where to look and at one point inadvertently leads a group of policemen
into the household to a montage of absurdly gory deaths as the actual killers
responsible for the massacre are still lurking nearby.
Visually it looks okay if not scruffy grainy in
stately 1.77:1 cinematography by Holger Fleig and the score by Albert G.
Striedl is mostly average and middling Casio keyboard synth. Performance wise the acting is okay but the
mostly European cast with heavy accents feel peculiar with some actors who
might mean more to German audiences than English speaking ones. Still though the real star of this show is
Olaf Ittenbach and his effects partner Tommy Opatz coming up with all kinds of
ways to destroy the human head with practical effects that range between being
repulsive and feeling more than a bit like a regional Halloween haunted
hayride.
--Andrew Kotwicki