Amazing Fantasy Fest Coverage
Flesh of the Unforgiven review
The first part of the Diary of Death trilogy debuted on opening day of Amazing Fantasy Fest with star Debbie Rochon on hand for a Q&A.
Festival reviews will not contain spoilers.
Flesh of the Unforgiven
Directed by Joe Hollow
Written by Joe Hollow
Starring Debbie Rochon, Joe Hollow, August Kyss, Adriana Uchishiba, John E. McLenachan and Rachel Victoria Stone
Flesh of the Unforgiven Review
Opening day of Amazing Fantasy Fest continued with the World Premiere of Joe Hollow’s Flesh of the Unforgiven. Star Debbie Rochon came to town in support of several projects screening at the festival and took part in a Q&A following the premier. She is a delightful presence whose love of genre film resonates throughout both her projects and her discussions about them.
As far as the film itself, Flesh of the Unforgiven is an odd one. It feels like a cross between an early 90s direct to video feature and the prequel to Hellraiser we never knew existed. Those are meant as compliments. The style of the movie lends it that rare feeling of watching something you aren’t sure you’re supposed to be watching. That borderline dangerous feel where anything can happen to anyone at any time…and you aren’t completely sure the director won’t sneak in footage of actual murder somewhere in between the cuts. Again, this is meant as a compliment.
Thematically, Flesh of the Unforgiven presents itself as a story about inspiration. There’s another story playing out in the background that takes the story in a wilder direction. This is the Hellraiser prequel aspect I mentioned. The result is a movie that takes some time to get where it’s going…but ends up somewhere you didn’t expect to be taken. In fact, for a while in Flesh of the Unforgiven, you aren’t sure if it’s going anywhere at all. There’s a domestic drama playing out in front of us…but hints of something more mystical and mythical make you wonder how relevant any of it is.
It turns out to be quite relevant. Just not in the way you’d think. Jack (Joe Hollow) is a writer in need of inspiration. He’s suffering from writer’s block and is distracted by his strained relationship with wife Sienna (Rochon). Debbie cheated on Jack with his best friend and their attempts to put it behind them aren’t going smoothly. When a strange video tape is delivered to Jack…seemingly showing an abusive and deadly relationship…he may just find the inspiration he was looking for.
Flesh of the Unforgiven was made for less than ten thousand dollars. I’m not going to lie and say that you can’t tell. During the quieter sequences you can. But it makes the louder sequences, filled with flashes of blood and violence, decorated with demonic costumes and effects all the more impressive. Flesh of the Unforgiven has a trashy throwback appeal but it’s hiding something bigger under the hood. Things that feel almost at odds with the straightforward narrative of the film while watching it…but make a lot of sense by the end. They make even more sense when you learn that Flesh of the Unforgiven is intended as the start of a trilogy of films. The Diary of Death trilogy, to be specific.
The story occasionally cuts to a woman named Vivienne (August Kyss). Her story seems tangentially related to the main plot at best. We discover, however, that everything we see is connected. Everything. That bigger story playing out in the background, you see. It involves an entity known as the Death Dealer. As mysterious as the Death Dealer story is to start…it’s what pulls all the dangling threads together into something new in the end.
Flesh for the Unforgiven is one for the freaks. Also meant in a good way. It crashes stylish violence into a seemingly mundane world. Doing so with a hidden purpose that, when it is revealed, makes the prospect of future films in the universe an exciting proposition. It also throws a full-on music video right into the middle of the picture. Because it’s weird. Weird in the way it handles its character drama…weird with the way it flashes scenes of bloody insanity…weird in the way it marries them together. Weird. In a good way.
Scare Value
Flesh of the Unforgiven makes a lot more sense when you know that it is intended as the first chapter of a series. It effectively introduces a cast of demons you want to see more of. An origin story, of sorts. For whom is kept secret until the end of the movie. It leaves you curious about what comes next…as if someone made a movie about the Cenobites before Hellraiser came out.
