Pandemonium review
A light anthology format housing some true darkness.
New movie reviews will not contain spoilers.
Pandemonium
Directed by Quarxx
Written by Quarxx
Starring Arben Bajraktaraj, Hugo Dillon, Ophélia Kolb, Carl Laforêt, Manon Maindivide, Jérôme Paquatte and Sidwell Weber
Pandemonium Review
Pandemonium may be best described as a soft anthology. It uses the format to detour the main story into a couple of side stories unrelated to the plot. We generally review anthology films in a very specific manner…ranking the segments by how effective they are. Pandemonium may not be sold as an anthology…but we’re going to go ahead and treat it as such anyway.
For the purposes of discussion…we’re going to look at the movie in four segments. Technically speaking, the standard format would see the first and last as pieces of the same segment (with a brief interstitial piece to tie in the two side stories). In reality…there is a distinct opening act, two unrelated stories, and a framing story that takes place after the opening to connect the pieces together. We’ll just treat that framing story as the final segment as that is where the bulk of it lies.
That is a lot of explanation to jump into a ranking. Sorry about that.
Pandemonium is a movie about death. It’s not interested in finding the lighter side of those stories. This is a bleak movie that examines a few different angles on death. It does so with style and confidence. Although the middle segments are separate stories…the entire package is about a specific journey. Namely…a journey through Hell.
Now let’s break down those segments…in reverse as is our way.
4. Segment 4
Given that Pandemonium isn’t technically an anthology…the segments don’t have titles. The final part of the story is the closest thing to a framing device that the movie has. Nathan (who we meet in the opening segment) is traversing through Hell. This is where he comes across a couple of bodies and the movie jumps into their stories for a while.
All of Pandemonium is strong…but the final act is easily ranked at the bottom. It takes us to the resolution of Nathan’s journey…and then lands on a strange resolution. It’s interesting. It’s also quite out of nowhere. The meat of Nathan’s story is in another segment. This plays out mostly to tie in the other two segments and wrap up the movie properly.
3. Segment 3
Despite coming in third…the third segment (and second unrelated story) in Pandemonium is quite good. It speaks to how strong the overall package is. This dark tale involves a mother dealing with her daughter’s suicide. Flashbacks are used to show her daughter’s struggles with bullying and a mother who was always distracted by work. It’s a tough watch. So much so that the aspects of the story set in the present are easier to take. And those involve the mother propping up her daughter’s body as if life was continuing like normal.
This is an unsettling story that mixes excellent makeup effects with all too realistic issues. It would sit atop many of the anthology movies we’ve covered…and is nearly as strong as the two parts of the story that rank ahead of it. Pandemonium is that good.
2. Segment 1
Our introduction to the world of Pandemonium begins with an end. Two, in fact. Nathan (Hugo Dillon) awakens on the side of the road. A man named Daniel (Arben Bajraktaraj) is there waiting for him. Daniel died when Nathan’s car ran into his motorcycle. Nathan, to his surprise, is also dead. It takes him a while to come to terms with it…and the afterlife isn’t planning on giving him a lot of time.
Two doors appear before them. One with the sound of singing behind it…the other the sound of screams. Limbo won’t hold them forever…and death rarely gives you a choice. The opening segment of Pandemonium does a great job setting the tone for the film. There are interesting visuals and a strong discussion of death. A theme that will play out over the course of everything that follows.
1. Segment 2
The best segment of Pandemonium is the first of its side stories. A young girl finds her parents murdered. She heads to the cellar and confronts Tony the Monster…a deformed person living in the basement. She brings Tony upstairs, cleans him up and asks for his help dealing with the bodies.
This is a wild story. It takes a break from the narrative to present a stage play reenactment of itself. That kind of wild. It also ends with the most disturbing image of Pandemonium. While the other segments deal with reaction to death…this one focuses on the horror of bringing death. The metaphor is clear…but chilling, nonetheless. A terrific short story to highlight a strong film from writer/director Quarxx.
Scare Value
Pandemonium takes a page out of the horror anthology book to depict some truly bleak scenes. The detours initially feel out of place…but end up adding to the overall point of the movie. Despair. This is a dark movie that focuses on death from different angles. An odd turn in the final moments may leave a slightly confused feel. It doesn’t taint the horror depicted before it. Pandemonium depicts Hell as the remnants of people who deserve damnation. Don’t expect a lot of laughs in that.
3.5/5
Pandemonium Link
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