• Straight to Video
• Director: Matthew Saliba, Matthew Forbes, King-Wei Chu, Maude Michaud, Peter James, Martin Gauthier
• Written by: Matthew Saliba, Matthew Forbes, King-Wei Chu, Maude Michaud, Peter James, Martin Gauthier
• Running Time: 90 minutes
• Language: English
• MPAA Rating:
• Cast: Gordon Liu, John M. Thomas, Kayden Rose, Martin Plouffe, Christophe Cecconi, Nicholas B. York, Joe Ollmann, Julie Belzile, Emily Tector, Chow Keung, Kayla St. Cartier, Anastasia Bondarenko, Jim Levesque, Luc Bernier, Martyne Dubé, James Harrington, Christina Sciortino, Brad Carmichael, Constantine Kourtidis, Danay Cragaris, Cedric Keshishian, George Tsantrizos, Stephan Seale, Peter James, Jasper Round, Aimee Davison, Elizabeth Campbell, Stefan Bitar, Trevor Aikman, Naomi Aldrich, Mimi Belanger, Sam Belanger, Rick Bel, Danielle Berthiaume, Annie Boivin, King-Wei Chu, Roberto Cialdella, Kevin Cruz, Stefano D'Alfonso, Kitty Daly, Angela Disorbo, Simon Dupéré, Abdiel Friedman, Steeve-Emmanuel Guillet, John Hislop, Konstantin Kokosopoulos, François Labrie, Lawrence Lafetiere, Martin Leblanc, Dominique Léger, Jennifer MacIntyre, Gabriel Mainville, Maude Michaud, Anne-Marie Proulx, Michel Rivet, Sophie Robillard, Matthew Saliba, Eric Thivierge, Mélanie Vendryes

Matthew Saliba first came to my attention back in 2006 when his short film, “Vampyros Lesbos”, appeared as a contribution in the “Deadtime Stories” DVD, a feature length anthology piece produced by Digger Films. Apparently this notion of releasing a feature length movie in an anthology-format struck a chord with Saliba who, in 2007, launched a project calling on various Montreal-based filmmakers to create short film works using the Frankenstein novel as inspiration. The outcome of this effort would become what we know now as “Frankenstein Unlimited” -- a compilation of six short films spanning every conceivable film genre, directed by six different people, each with their own distinct cinematic style and flavour. While the tone of the films vary, there is, nonetheless, an unrelenting sense poignancy and gloom to the piece as a whole, and even a bit of fun.

The first film on the docket is Matthew Saliba’s "Dark Lotus" and, despite utilizing marvellous black and white in place of color, an obvious throwback to the film’s German expressionist inspiration, the piece is structured very much like his “Vampyros Lesbos” and is, according to his website, the third and final entry in his self-described "Sado-Erotic Trilogy". Proving itself the hardest film to decipher, in my opinion, "Dark Lotus" props up a rather bizarre and shockingly gruesome story of a mad doctor, Dr. Orlof (John M. Thomas), who seems to be harvesting babies in his laboratory - that is until an angry mob of men arrive at his doorstep, hell-bent on sending the doctor to meet his maker. At this point the piece leap frogs forward a number of years, resurrecting itself as a sexed-up revenge story in which the good doctor returns from the grave to reek deadly vengeance on the mob’s ringleader, helped along by a beautiful woman - a woman who I assume was the mad doctor‘s harvested baby all grown up. As I said, this film is practically impenetrable, in a story sense, and I found myself consulting Saliba‘s synopsis just to make sense out of what had transpired on screen. I’m not sure if that’s a good or a bad thing. The arthouse crowd will eat it up while regular folks will just be left scratching their head.

Proving the ideal lead-in, Matthew Forbes’ “Victor” takes advantage of the ominous tenor fashioned by Saliba’s film, to tell the story Dr. Frankenstein after his creation has come and gone. And examining the lasting effect the Doctor’s work has left on the community. His feeling of ostracization is best interpreted through facial expressions, rationed dialogue and interesting cinematography, making for a rather harrowing, ultimately thoughtful, short piece.

Chinese martial arts film legend Gordon Liu (yes, of “Kill Bill“ fame), shows up to lend credibility to King-Wei Chu’s short film, "Flesh for Kung Fu" - a simplistic re-hashing of those awesome Shaw Brothers kung fu flicks we (us film geeks, that is) all grew up watching as children. Chow Keung plays a man desperate to become the world‘s greatest martial artist, and in his struggle he has taken to traveling the world, offing the nation’s various masters and stealing parts of their bodies. Things hit a snag when he challenges the one remaining master, Gordon Liu, to a duel to the death on top of a high-rise building. Ah yes, the stage is set to prove that Gordon Liu can still throw down with the best of them. I won’t lie to you, even though this piece is relatively short and not much happens, I still found myself enjoying it immensely and it made me giddy to dig out my copy of “Executioners From Shaolin” for a re-watch.

Maude Michaud’s “Reflection”, easily my favourite of the lot, seems to draw its inspiration from Tod Browning’s cult-epic, “Freaks”, as well as one particularly memorable “Twilight Zone” episode, to arrive at something akin to a message movie where the message itself remains slightly ambiguous. Haunted by her extreme facial disfigurement, Anna (Kayla St. Cartier) finds solace with a troupe of circus performers. Even though they offer her a supportive and loving shoulder, serenading her with the reality of her true inner beauty, it isn’t enough for Anna, who is ultimately biding her time until the moment arrives when she can afford the expensive plastic surgery needed to ‘correct’ her face. Sadly, with the surgery, and the mending of her outward flaws, to the forefront emerges Anna’s inner defects. Apparently a lifetime of self-loathing and social banishment has left Anna a very bitter person. And it is this ugliness and new-found sense of entitlement, that Anna uses to torment her former circus mates. In keeping with Browning’s classic, it is the freaks who end up having the last laugh as they erect a symbolic mirror, forcing Anna to reflect on the person she was and the person she has become, and forcing the audience to question; what is true beauty?

There’s a real “we’ve come so far for so very little” quality to Peter James’ “Occam’s Razor”, the next short on the docket, that kind of put a damper on the proceedings, at least for me. Exceedingly drawn out and over-acted, this crime-drama seems to suffer from its inability to arrive at any semblance of a tone. Bouncing between subtle comedy and morose gangster film, it’s nearly impossible to get a genuine feel for anything transpiring on the screen here as two grizzled detectives (is there any other kind?) investigate a Bonnie and Clyde duo, Frankie and Mary, who may or may not be responsible for a recent double-homicide. As the cops indulge in the usual good cop/bad cop antics with their respective suspects, things seem to take a turn for the bizarre when evidence on the scene reveals the blood of a serial killer -- a serial killer who was executed weeks earlier. Just exactly who are Frankie and Mary and how are they related to the dead serial killer, becomes the question. Disappointing is the answer that arrives in the short’s violent and twisty ending. Don’t worry, I won’t give it away. I haven’t the energy.

While Martin Gauthier’s “Mr. Fluffenstein” might be the weakest short of the lot, it is easily the most fun, and probably the proper choice to lead us out of the film. When child prodigy, Alice (Aimee Davison), loses her cat, Mr. Fluffy, in a tragic dryer accident, she immediately sets out to resurrect him, with the usual hilarious results. When the neighbours cats start turning up dead, the finger quickly points to Mr. Fluffy, who just isn‘t acting himself of late. “Mr. Fluffenstein” plays like a twisted children’s fairy tale, with a little Tim Burton’s “Frankenweenie” and Stephen King‘s “Pet Sematary” thrown in for good measure. I loved it.

Whether it be the sight of a baby being stomped to death, a cute kitten with blood on her paws, literally, a couple determined to avenge the memory of a dead serial killer through any means necessary, or Gordon Liu kicking serious rooftop ass, Matthew Saliba’s “Frankenstein Unlimted” is unlike anything you’ve ever seen before. Fantastic! Check it out!