AndrewB686 Reviews

Holy Hell (2016)

The Psychosis of Adulation and The Damage Inflicted from Dependency

[8/10 · 19 June 2017]

Will Allen courageously confronts the demons of his past experiences, bolstered by the testimonies and anecdotes of his fellow brothers and sisters within the cult, in order to broadcast to an audience the horrors of misguided idolatry and to, hopefully, teach others to look optimistically at one's tribulations as a step towards achieving fulfillment in the post-trauma phase of life.

"Holy Hell" is a hellish and nightmarish documentary focusing on the cult known as the Buddhafield, initially a blissful and energetic community of people gathering together to learn and receive the wisdom of their master. This man had many names; and yet, no one seems to have known anything about him for the vast duration of their time spent under his instruction. As his demeanor and temper become increasingly dramatic and feverish; his appearance slowly shifting and morphing into something hideous; the enlightenment that was promised from the beginning seems to be gradually fading from the grasp of the enslaved acolytes.

I felt an overwhelming empathy for these people. They were lost. They were burdened by various desires and yearnings. They wanted profound answers to their far-reaching questions; unfortunately for these beautiful people, what they were given instead was a journey across immense stretches of land for nothing more than the satiation the narcissistic fancies and pipe dreams of a vile human being. Thankfully those featured in this documentary appear to be in a better place. I commend them, because I would never have survived what they had to endure for so many years. I wish you all the best.

The Act of Killing (2012)

An Exploration into the Madness of Otherization

[9/10 · 10 January 2017]

I was so thoroughly impressed by this film that I am compelled to write a review of it, a first for me on IMDb. The Act of Killing, which captures the re-enactments of the 1965-66 massacre of communists and those suspected to be affiliated with them by the men who actually committed these mass killings, embodies the purest and most elemental qualities of good documentary filmmaking. It narrows its scope to a specific time frame, identifies the events and the characters perpetuating these events, and allows the subjects to speak freely and openly in order to grasp their innermost thoughts and feelings. This film is one to behold.

The camera crew wisps around various parts of the country in order to speak and listen to these men. These gentlemen are executioners, paramilitary leaders and even government officials. They are powerful, often respected men, and yet their souls are stained with the blood of thousands of people who perished because of a gross failure by society. The Act of Killing burrows deep into the darkest regions of our most nefarious behavior as a species and begrudgingly places us in the midst of unfettered evil, forcing us to witness the filthiest and most depraved specimens of mankind. What this film succeeds in doing better than almost any other documentary I've seen is showcasing the unfiltered musings, however grotesque they may be, of its subjects without injecting an outsider's perspective. This is their story, and they must be the ones to shed light on it.

This is cinéma vérité style of documentation done properly. The camera is constantly acknowledged. It is the reason for their willingness to regurgitate the stories of their sanctioned bloodshed. They seek recognition. They desire to be immortalized. They are given free reign over the machinations and procedural mechanisms of the re-enactment process, which provides for some fantastical and imaginative sequences that require some interpretation, all for the sake of spreading the triumph of their crusade. This seems to be the most harrowing part of it all. At least in the beginning, these men are proud to be murders. They revel in their vices and cherish their lifestyles irrespective of the human cost. We must closely inspect these creatures if we are to ever learn why we are capable of such sadism. We must enlighten ourselves as to why we enjoy it. If not, this mentality will persist and fester until they will be the ones analyzing us, the last remnants of empathy and compassion.