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Bernard Rose favours horror movies with a twist ( Paperhouse, Candyman) and Snuff-Movie has more twists than a truckload of corkscrews. He also loves trailing enough movie-buff in-jokes to furnish Film Appreciation 101. Jeroen Krabbé plays horror-movie director Boris Arkadin (thanks, Orson) who quit the industry after his home was invaded and his pregnant wife murdered (a tasteless nod to Polanski). Now he’s casting a new movie, but gory history seems to be repeating itself...
Rose chucks everything into the mix and shuffles the illusion-versus-reality cards till your eyeballs spin. Narrative logic’s in short supply and it’s all angling a little too blatantly for cult bad-movie status, but those with a taste for over-the-top Grand Guignol will enjoy it. Plus, Krabbé gives the best megalomanic-director performance since Peter O’Toole in The Stunt Man .
