There
have been a few films based on Glenn Danzig’s ultra-mature horror comic, Verotik,
including the adults-only Grub Girl. That would be the higher quality,
more socially redeeming movie. This is the other one. Danzig himself helms an
anthology of three “greatest hits” stories and does quite a job of it with the
already notorious Verotika, which is now available on VOD.
At
least the explicit naughty bits in Grub presumably served the purpose for
which they were intended. Just what Danzig was going for is beyond mortal
understanding. The sleazy bafflement starts with “The Albino Spider of Dajette.”
Poor Dajette is a fetish model with eyeballs on her breasts, who develops a
nightmarish psychic connection with a pale spider monster. Supposedly, it is set in Paris, but the city
never looked so cheap and dingy. Honestly, you will hear better fake French accents
in a Le Pain Quotidien in Paramus, New Jersey.
The
worst part of “Albino Spider” is it is probably the best story of Verotika,
but it won’t feel that way at the time, because it comes first. Next, Danzig
uncorks “Change of Face,” his ambitious but smarmy homage to Georges Franju’s Eyes
without a Face. A serial killer stalks beautiful women to physically steal
their faces. Naturally, she is a stripper, so Danzig can incorporate stripteases
into the film, but if that is what you are looking for, an average episode of The
Sopranos would be sexier.
For
the third and mercifully final installment, Danzig rips off the Elizabeth Bathory
legend with “Drukija Countess of Blood,” who does indeed bathe in the blood of
virgins to retain her youthful appearance. Considering Danzig and his design
team cannot realize a convincing strip club locale, it should come as no
surprise the period setting is well beyond their grasp. Yet, “Drukija’s”
greatest problem in on the printed pages of the script. Danzig doesn’t even
give us a structured narrative here. He just forces us to watch endless
examples of the Countess’s brutality.
Problematically,
Danzig has no aptitude for sex scenes, clearly because he prefers to depict
horrific violence. Even the Vampira-like Morella featured in the between-segment
transitions engages in pointless cruelty. Who are these Verotik fans and
how can we maintain their social distancing post-Wuhan Virus?
Verotik
has
already garnered a reputation on the level of Ed Wood’s Plan 9 and Tommy
Wiseau’s The Room. Danzig is at their level of technical achievement,
but his film is much less fun to watch. It has played widely at fantastical
film festivals, largely due to Danzig’s fanbase (and perhaps also out of
interest in the three or four adult film stars who turn up in small parts—this isn’t
their best work), but it does not reward cult film fans’ curiosity. It’s just mean-spirited
and ugly looking. Not recommended, Verotika is now available on VOD
platforms.
