Nice. I really like how director Lazopoulos has used
an old myth from his own country, Greece, to construct
this enjoyable little murder-mystery art horror. The Athens police are
investigating a series of strange cases where
mystic statues of men dressed in clothes are popping up all over Greece.
What could the answer to this freaky sort
of art exhibition be? Director George Lazopoulos has cleverly and with
great atmospheric effect used the old myth
from ancient Greece about Medusa, one of the three Gorgons and with
a head crawling with snakes.
When you saw her face you turned into stone.
Gorgons - Gorgonas: Naturally this theme has been used
in horror films since and probably also before this
1998 low budget Greek film. As in the Cambodian - Thai schlock horror
Snaker/Kuon Puos Keng Kang from 2001
One of the coolest special effects for a zero budget
movie ever?
Glueing live snakes to the head of young actress Pich Chanboramey
Or as in the Argentinian comic book writer Salvador
Sanz 14 minutes long animated short Gorgonas from 2004
(part of the Small Gauge Trauma Collection of shorts released by US
company Synapse with english subtitles and
on Youtube too, but then in spanish without subs i think)
Gorgonas short film
The Elektra Sisters
A Ultra Great and scary horror film about the popular
triplet sister pop group Elektra who changes not just
their style of music, from a light sound to a dark and mysterious, but
also their their outward appearance through
operations. And they cause The Armageddon when they turn into Gorgons
and kill their world wide audience.
It's VERY atmospheric and dark and should be known among all art horror
film lovers
.............................................
Well, that was a digression and the Greek film Medousa
was made before these movies in 1998.
The film starts with a mother and her young son (about 13 years old).
She's beautiful with long black hair and she's
going out with a man, and the boy has secretely learnt knife throwing
from a knife thrower artist at a nightclub (played
by the director). Then there's a 10 year time jump ....
.... and, the Athens police are investigating the strange
case of a missing man. A man living in a hotel room has disappeared
and there's only a partly clothed statue left in the bathroom. A middle-aged
woman dressed in black, with long black hair
and sunglasses has been seen outside the room. The Police are baffled
to hear that a whole bunch of these clothed statues
has been appearing all over Greece, and all the statues resembling missing
men. And, even more strange, these statues are
made out of a material not found in any stone known to man. Hmmm, just
what could these art objects be made of?
Pamnota
In a parallell story to the police investigation, a
middle-aged woman dressed in black, with long black hair and sunglasses,
yes she again, has visited her estate agent expressing a wish to buy
the old house in the country she has rented for many
years. 2 people working at this office, Spiro and Katia (Vana Pamnota)
and their 2 friends Mitzos and Perseus (Thanos
Amorgino) are determined to break into that house to steal whatever
they can get. Perseus, named after the ancient Greek
Hero, is actually the boy from the intro of the film and he hasn't seen
his mother for 10 years.
I liked this film, a slow and maybe a bit arty horror,
but quite effective and that sucked me in with it's atmospheric mythical
things going on in the modern day wintry Greece. Great work from Mondo
Macabro digging this gem up, thanks.
I'm not sure about the format as this isn't stated on
the sleeve, but i would've guessed 1.66:1 something (maybe 1.85:1)?
Greek audio stereo 2.0 with english subtitles. Extras: Looks can kill:
The Making of Medousa (34 minutes, made by Pete
Tombs in 2016) interview with director and screenwriter George Lazopoulos
in english, Meeting George: An interview with
Thanos Amorgino (10 minutes, made in 2016) in english, trailer and a
Mondo Macabro trailer reel (11 minutes)
