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Released by: Unearthed Films
Released on: 8/15/2006
Director: Andrey Iskanov
Cast: Alexandra Batrumova, Andrey Iskanov, Svyatsolav Iliyasov, Irina Nikitina, Alexander Shevchenko
Year: 2003
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The Movie:
A professional killer employed by the Russian government retires to a small, desolate town somewhere in Siberia. A happy place this is not, it's gray, dreary, and almost lifeless. He lives in his dank and colorless apartment where he slowly starts to go mad. He begins to hear voices in his head that no one else can hear and in order to cope with this he decides he should start trying self-trepanation - that is, he starts putting holes into his head.
As the man begins to put more and more holes through his skull and into his head his perception changes and he becomes more cognizant of what his life is all about and what his surroundings are really like. His world becomes more calm despite the fact that what he starts to see is nothing short of repulsive, his newfound tranquility brought on by the truth that he has exposed himself to. The people around him begin to change, as does his environment right down to the food that he eats.
For those who don't know, trepanation is the medical procedure in which a surgeon drills a hole into a patient's head in order to expose parts of the brain. It's not a common procedure anymore and when it is used it's primarily for neurosurgical reasons - it's not something anyone should ever practice on himself or herself even if they do have a nice new drill handy, as is the case in this film. That being said, people have been putting holes into their heads for centuries, for both medical and religious purposes and it's this strange principal that Nails bases itself on in that what we're watching is a modern man attempting to see with his third eye using a very primitive method to do so.
The results are weird, bafflingly so at times. This is a head-trip and a half and it'll likely alienate a lot of viewers before the ten-minute mark. That being said, if you stick with it and get past the rather innocuous beginning the movie gets pretty interesting, particularly when it switches from black and white to color as the plot progresses and certain events unfold and therefore change the landscape on which the movie takes place. It all unfolds against an industrial soundtrack and a few nasty gore set pieces that, strangely enough, don't seem out of place at all in the context of what is going on in the movie.
Writer/director/star Andrey Iskanov has got some talent, this much is obvious as the movie plays out. While the signs of inexperience are evident throughout Nails (which is his first feature), there are definitely moments in here that point towards great things to come. While a little more structure would have made for a better storyline, one thing that he really does nail (pun intended) with this movie is ambience and atmosphere. The movie definitely wins points for originality in terms of the visuals and the cinematography and even if in spots he seems to be borrowing a little bit from David Lynch or on a different level Stan Brakhage, he's able to put a fairly unique spin on it that very much makes it his own work.
That's not to say that the movie is without flaws, however, as at times it feels very self indulgent and over done and the story gets thrown to the wayside in favor of a few too many 'weird for the sake of weird' moments. Even with those faults laying plainly in front of us Nails still manages to be interesting enough to be worth a look for those who want something different from the norm, something way out of the ordinary.
According to their last newsletter, Unearthed Films has got a few more projects from Andrey Iskanov slated to hit DVD in the not too distant future. Hopefully with a little more control over his form and some stronger story ideas he'll be able to produce a great film, until then, Nails is a really interesting first attempt that shows serious potential for this Russian filmmaker.
Video/Audio/Extras:
Unearthed Films presents Nails in its original fullframe aspect ratio and for the most part things look pretty good on this DVD. The source material shows its limitations in that there's some softness to certain scenes and some mild motion blurring here and there but for the most part we're left with a pretty sharp and very colorful image that does a fine job bringing the material to life.
The Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo track is in its native Russian language and comes complete with optional English subtitles. Channel separation could have been stronger and more distinct in spots but otherwise the audio is fine. There are a few spots where some distortion creeps into the mix but it's obvious as you watch the movie and encounter these scenes that this was done no purpose. Other than that, everything is fine here.
The two main supplements on this release are the Making Of Nails documentary featurette and a video interview with the writer/director/star of the film, Andrey Iskanov. The documentary is fairly comprehensive and it's got a lot of great behind the scenes and effects footage in it, while the interview does a good job of explaining Andrey Iskanov's aesthetic and motivations as a filmmaker. These are both fairly extensive and they add quite a bit of value to the package in that they'll give you a better idea of what Iskanov was trying to accomplish with this movie and how he set about trying to do it.
Rounding out the extra features are two still galleries (one focusing on production artwork the other containing still photographs), an Unearthed Films trailer gallery featuring promo spots for Nails and a few other films they have available or coming soon, and an isolated soundtrack option. Chapter stops are provided for the feature and some keen menus are also included.
The Final Word:
Nails will likely be one of those love it or hate it films in that it'll really appeal to fans of surrealism and psychedelic but not to those who want a linear, straight forward horror film. This one takes some getting used to and some thought on the part of the viewer is required in order to get anything out of it but if you're able to put forth that effort this ends up being a pretty interesting and completely off the wall film. Unearthed Films' DVD release is up to their usual standards in that it looks good and it sounds good and it's got some interesting supplements as well.