Salome (1973)

"Salome" is a British black-and-white short film from 1973, so this one has its 45th anniversary this year and it runs for approximately 18 minutes and was the first filmmaking credit by Clive Barker who went on to have a successful career afterward and who was around the age of 20 when he made this. The basic story is from a play by Oscar Wilde (that Barker adapted), but I must admit I really had no clue what was going on here at all. Quite strange. Some nudity in here too, so not for young audiences, but they probably would not be interested in this anyway given the plot, tone and general take by Barker. It is somewhat disturbing this comes from such a young man. Anyway, I guess the last decades show that he managed to step things up. Back to this one here, the audio side, i.e. the music, was maybe slightly better than the video, but nothing special either. I can only say I was quite underwhelmed by this one and it is even worse than the mediocre "The Forbidden" Barker made a few years later and these two are often shown together. Anyway, I must give this one here a huge thumbs-down and I am glad it was this short. Only good thing is you can watch it without subtitles in any case as nobody's talking regardless what languages you speak. But why would you? It's the opposite of an aesthetic means and it also is never as shocking as you want a horror film to be. Skip this one and go for one of Barker's later and better works instead.

I have to disagree that SALOME and THE FORBIDDEN are for Clive Barker fans/completest only. I'm not an CB fan. I haven't even seen HELLRAISER - although I have the original soundtrack by COIL. I am a fan of art films done on a shoestring. These two films would certainly fit into that category. Barker does a good job of creating another world while filming in the basement of a flower shop. The use of only one lighting source is also no doubt an inspiration to film students and aspiring filmmakers. In fact, a film student gave me a copy of this. I would have never discovered it otherwise. I do have a problem with how this was packaged by it's distributer. The strip orgy wraparound stuff is totally unnecessary. These early Barker shorts should be shown at art houses, art museums and shown to film students. 10 out of 10 for the films, not the distribution company.

Grainy 8mm black & white short film, without any dialog. (An ambient-type soundtrack has been dubbed in.) Basically a filming of sections of Oscar Wilde's "Salome" but without audible dialog it's a little tough to follow. The cast are quite young and the main actress appears in contemporary garb. Although the film is made quite cheaply, the elements of macabre eroticism that would figure in Clive Barker's later work are evident. Recommend for fans of Clive Barker, this is not a feature-quality production but has it's moments while it lasts.As a note, the DVD version of this film also contains another weird Barker short ("The Forbidden") with graphic and bizarre content that seems like an early rough draft for "Hellraiser". There is also an extensive Barker interview, as well as a ridiculous promotional into with an Elvira-type topless vampire hostess drooling blood all over other unclad ladies. For value to Barker fans and the fact that it sticks in one's head, 6/10 Non-Barker fans would likely find it a 3/10

Seen several times (what it takes, I think, to get used to the strange mood of the movie), it never gets rid of its inherent "malhabilities",but one cannot deny that it gives a very strong insight in what the director/writer would do once famous. Visually and narratively weird and unsettling, it has a violent and memorable visual identity, which makes it instantly recognizable. This does not make it good (I don't think anything can), but it is nevertheless a must-see for any Barker fan. Treat yourself, it is available on video and DVD !