Cinema Abattoir is a very small independent short film company; located in Quebec. I have been following this company ever since their first DVD release, and was ecstatic when I heard they were planning to release a new collection of shorts; À Rebours.
FILM-This section is broken down by film.
Washing Machine- This short is a black and white, super stylized short about the effects a washing machine has on two people. This short is very gross and dirty; containing everything from authentic deification, close ups of people devouring some kind of dessert, and several very brutal swirlies. A very unusual short, it sets the tone for this collection VERY quickly. 9/10.
Man Spricht Deutsh- Still images of a man on a payphone; digitally edited and distorted. This short is just that; short. At about two minutes, there's not much to say about. It was interesting however, and almost hypnotic in some points. 7/10.
Sacré-cœur de Satan- Here is where this collection takes off. This short is a digitally altered sequence of a woman masturbating with a rosary. Combined with this are many still or stop motion images of "Satan". Very off beat, sexual, and wacky; this short will stand out among the rest as one of most interesting. 9/10.
Yellow Fever- This short is just stop motion shots of pictures (everything from anatomy diagrams to school portraits); all manipulated or altered into looking bizarre or insane. You can tell these alterations were done by hand, and really add to the madness. 8/10.
J.- Scenes and images of several people; all shown in very dark black and white. The grainy look of this adds to the surreal vibe tremendously. I found the soundtrack on this one to be perfect; and complemented the images on the screen seamlessly. 8/10.
Passage- Two men and two women arrive at a motel and precede to fool around. Suddenly, one of the women gets cold feet, and flees into a field nearby. This short is silent (but includes a soundtrack), and the settings are perfect for creating the very uneasy and tense atmosphere. 8/10.
Hymn To Pan- Black and white stop motion short featuring a woman dancing in a dilapidated basement. She is filmed by a very shady cameraman, all while the lights cast odd and oblong shadows. 8/10.
Dream of Samara- Easily the craziest short on the disk. This is one minute of several clips of a tower. The tower is crawling with people, and looks remarkably like a wedding cake. The picture looks like it was taken from a TV with horrible reception, and there are numerous beautiful and haunting colors that radiate from the tower. 10/10.
Satan Bouche un Coin- Two woman pose, dance, and caress one another in what appears to be an old French dressing room. Inserted are pictures of everything from flowers to faces to bleeding dolls. The film then make an unexpected turn and begins to show bloated, rotting corpses. Highly artistic and abstract, this one is my favorite short on the disk. 10/10.
Dead Man II:Return of the Dead Man- This one is the grossest of the collection. A man sits at a bar, only to have women and men flock to him. They begin to preform all sorts of depraved and perverse acts; to his great enjoyment. Soon, disgusting clips from his life begin to play, and zombies show up at the bar. This short, while gross, is strangely beautiful. I can't really find a reason to like this short, but I really, really did. This and Dream of Samara tie for my second favorite short on the disk. 10/10.
(sans titre)- Really nothing more than slides, this short is probably the dullest of the disk. Just pictures of two women that flicker and move around alot. It looks good, but is overpowered by the style and ferocious nature of the other shorts. 5/10.
The Other American Dream- The home movie of a Mexican man and a woman discussing sex and drugs. The conversation soon turns violent, and the girl is sold into slavery. This is a very important reflection of the world, and is as scary as it is true. 8/10.
OVERALL- Cinema Abattoir is a juggernaut in the world of independent short films. All their collections are top notch; however this is by far their best. 9/10.
PICTURE/ AUDIO- I really don't want to break this down like I have in the past, because it will be very repetitive and boring for the readers. Overall, EVERY short had great picture and audio. While each short looked and sounded different, they all were amazing. These shorts were an experience to watch; and the sounds and visuals were one of the largest factors in making these such a jewel. 9/10.
EXTRAS- While there are no actual features on the disk, there is a pretty bizarre little thing it does. The shorts are broken in half; and when the first section is done playing, it "rewinds" it's self back to the main menu. You then can watch the other section, or repeat the one you just saw. The final section ends with footage of a gravestone. I have never seen anything like this before, and it really impressed me. These DVDs are very limited; only 500 were pressed. A booklet of liner notes are included that look splendid. Another thing is the DVD comes wrapped in chicken wire. This is one of the craziest things I have seen; and I utterly love it. 8/10.
My Personal Copy
I love how the wire gives the spine of the DVD texture!
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