Fantastic Factory Presents… Review

• 12th Apr 2011

Completely off the radar until recently- seemingly being lost amid their more ‘high profile’ releases – Arrow Video brings together a collection of four very different genre films from the once premier Spanish genre studio Fantastic Factory. Contained within this set is the good and the bad from the Fantastic Factory label – started by director Brian Yuzna – and as such is a little uneven at times. The films included are: Faust Love of The Damned, Beyond Re-Animator, Arachnid and Romasanta The Werewolf Hunt. Even though it is a mixed bag there are a few rather enjoyable features to sit and view.

To start with is Faust Love of the Damned, the Factory’s first low budget genre picture based on the long running – and near pornographic- comic by Tim Vigil and David Quinn. Directed by Brian Yuzna, Faust is a strange film to review because even though it contains many elements from the comic, it does at times feel boring and very badly acted. On top of which, each action sequence is filled with migraine inducing heavy metal music, which irritates more than it does engage the viewer with the action. It does have one or two moments which interest though, the make-up effects by latex and gore maestro Screaming Mad George – although crafted on a low budget – are still impressive and feel decidedly gooey and visceral. Faust’s suit, for instance, is eye catching – even if his over the top performance is not – while a certain moment that involves a melting pile of tits and ass is particularly foul and stomach churning. As a comic adaptation it fails but as a metal head’s idea of a low budget genre flick it has its moments.

After Faust, the Fantastic Factory followed up with Jack Sholder’s Arachnid, a low budget throwback to the monster sci-fi films of the 50s and 60s. While it is a generic and typically pedestrian low budget feature, several of the spider effects are quite impressive. Thankfully keeping CGI to a minimum and using practical effects where possible, it has an almost retro 80s video feel to proceedings. This does not stop it from being the weakest of the four features – only really having the creature effects to recommend it – as it verges into substandard Aliens territory.

Thankfully, the third film included in the set is Brian Yuzna’s second film for the label, which itself is a follow-up to the cult film series Re-Animator. In Beyond Re-Animator we see what has happened to Dr Herbert West in the 15 years since his last set of crazed experiments went wild. Now imprisoned and unable to experiment on anything other than rats, he has become bored and frustrated with no progress within his research. What unfolds is very different to the first two films in the series, but it is no less enjoyable. Jeffery Combs is value for money, as always, and his characterisation of West is a joy to watch. The experiments and moments of madness when the prison goes into full riot mode is utterly bonkers. Several of the moments help to make this one of the standout films among the set. It is certainly the most fun of the four films and any film where the credits play over a silhouetted fight between a rat and a re-animated severed penis, has certainly got to be worth at least one viewing.

Finally there is Romasanta The Werewolf Hunt which is one of best within the set. Directed by Paco Plaza – one half of the visionary directorial team of [REC] – this underrated film is certainly a change from the average werewolf fare and thankfully, a genre film with some interesting concepts. Starring Julian Sands, the story is set around a small Spanish village which has come under attack by what appears to be a serial killer. Based on a supposed true story, Plaza manages to produce an impressive and visually interesting low budget feature, which I am sure will gain a steady cult following if it has not already. For a werewolf picture it manages to produce enough in the way of new ideas – particularly involving the effect of lycanthropy – that it both engages and entertains in equal measure.

As a collection of low budget genre features go, you would be hard pressed to find anything as varied in one set. While the features themselves are not always perfect, this is still an interesting boxset and one which Arrow seem to have pulled out of thin-air. Each film has been given a digital re-mastering leaving it looking crisp and vibrant. Each disc also comes with Arrow’s usual attention to extensive extra material.

Included in all of the discs is a fold-out double sided poster, collectable booklets and reversible cover artwork – the first by The Dude Designs, the second is the original poster – along with the original display image. Which amounts to nine different choices which is certainly the most Arrow has produced for one set so far. There are commentaries present on Faust and Beyond Re-Animator as well as a slew of exhaustive interviews and documentaries providing insight into the Fantastic Factory label and its untimely demise.

This is certainly a must buy for genre fans or, indeed, fans of low budget creature features. For those not sure about the complete set, each film is also being released separately – with identical features – over the next few months.

Dominic O’Brien