Black hole alien brain zombies!
Black hole alien brain zombies! Just say that name out loud before reading this review. The title promises so much, but can a film at all deliver on such an epic introduction? The sci-fi film tells a loose tale of scientists experimenting with the ideas of multiverse, black holes, and expanded consciousness. Using primarily public domain footage and psychedelic images, director Metatron lures the viewer into an experimental pseudo-mockumentary about the destruction of the human race.
As a fair warning, there is not much of an actual plot in it Black hole alien brain zombies! What almost resembles a traditional story is a conversation between two unknown voices about an experiment that has gone horribly wrong. This dialogue describes the spread of a zombie virus and the extinction of humanity in the pursuit of knowledge. It plays like a radio game set to cosmic imagery, plunging into further madness with images of outer space folding into itself, eerie voice-overs about a collective hive-mind, and kaleidoscope colors flashing across the screen.
“…that spread of a zombie virus and the extinction of mankind in the pursuit of knowledge. “
Calling the movie “trippy” would be a bit of an understatement. The opening feels like a VHS training video or low-budget documentary for an unknown science lab. Soon after abandoning the fake documentary format, Metatron brags about its Evangelion influence, dive into Avante Garde filmmaking and themes of existentialism. Getting weird for his own sake is an early critique I came across. I’m glad this exists, but often questioned why it does.
As I said earlier, the title sets expectations in the stratosphere, leaving the viewer hoping for a beautiful “B” movie of all time. Although I love to undermine expectations, this was a stretch. No narrative, structure or footage of zombies or aliens takes one early out of the movie. Beyond what it lacks, the cold fake documentary sci-fi approach is awkward in contrast to emotionally charged transcendental images and EDM. There seems to be so much going on in Black hole alien brain zombies! however, there is a massive deficit in the content of the screen and the themes of the story.
I am a personal fan of experimental films, music and art. I love seeing the boundaries someone can push a creative medium. This love of experimentation, however, is with a proviso that these eccentrics have a deeper meaning or purpose. With Black hole alien brain zombies!, the visual and dialogue moments lacked any purpose other than to cut images of stars melting and black holes destroying matter. If the film stuck to the fake doc structure, it could have been cult, meta and self-conscious. Had it stuck thoughtful hyper space of colors from the last 20 minutes 2001: A Space Odyssey, it could have been breathtaking. Instead Metatron finds its production perfectly in the middle, perhaps the worst place for an experimental project.