In Video Diary of a Lost Girl, Lindsay Denniberg brings us an unusual and ticklish tale of a demon enamored by love most unnatural.
The initiates a series of bold and chaotic images with an unnerving illustration of Lillith, who,
according to Jewish Folklore, was the first woman. Made from the
earth just like Adam, Lillith refused to submit to her male counterpart. After he raped her, she made love to demons and gave birth to the new race of women: the Lillin.
After the poignant and hooking introduction, Denniberg's film introduces the demons as creatures of modernity. They seem like normal girls who like
to party and eat Cool Ranch Doritos, but there is one thing that's a
little different: they fuck to live and fuck to kill. Once that time of the month rolls around, they bleed and it doesn't
stop until they get a little somethin' somethin'. If they don't
cookie their nookie, they will bleed to death, but if they harvest on time, the lover becomes the victim. Enter the youngest Lillin: Lousie. Outcast from the other Lillin, Louise is awkwardly passing her time working at an adult video store as she approaches her
centennial. She quietly minds her own business, acting as close to human as she can, until the day that her very first victim, the man who broke her death cherry, returns from
the grave for a little visit. The audience soon learns that despite
her demon DNA, Louise fell in love with her exed and his return proves no easier.
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| Video Diary of a Lost Girl Starring: Priscilla McEver, Chris Shields Directed by Lindsay Denniberg My Opinion: I see a cult following... and I'm at the front. |
With all the mythology and rules and
regulations of demon-hood, there is a shit-ton of story and background to communicate. However, Denniberg's spicy but casual dialogue
successfully articulates the doomed love story intertwined in this unfamiliar fantasy world. The expressionalist style and use of video effective
communicates the tone of the Lillin's tale. In addition to the never
ending parade of enamoring imagery accented by homages to horror classics, the soundtrack creates an
atmosphere of haunted lust. The voices are akin to Siouxsie and PJ
Harvey tragically dying together from a heroine overdose, yet the resulting sound
is breathtaking. Somehow, the film also makes room for several catchy tunes that have adhered themselves to my cranium.
Naturally, the film isn't without its imperfections. I will reluctantly admit that the acting is one of the
film's weaker points. That being said, a certain presence of awkward moments and rocky delivery
have become a staple in the world of indie filmmaking, however, the
dialogue in Video Diary is so
clean and natural that it minimizes the shortcomings of any of the
actors. Furthermore, the richness of the characters in the film prove that Denniberg sculpted each actor into their roles. In the end, everyone is very convincing and every performance
has some truly, lovely moments.
Video Diary
of a Lost Girl is a lot
to take in one sitting. The film could be construed as another flick about an angsty adolescent demon confronting her first romance. However, it gets a little more
tenderhearted than you'd expect. Even the darker moments have a
spooky charm with a level of cult-class
that's as addicting to original films of Tim Burton (Pewee's Great
Adventure, Mars
Attacks!). I'd also say that the horror films of Peter Jackson's early career were brought to mind. It's truly a wonderfully entertaining gem of indie
film: dark and funny with just a touch of sweetness. It is seriously impressive for a feature debut.
