Frisk (1996)

I make it a general rule to dismiss any comment by someone using "trangressive" somewhere in the review.Folks I braced myself for a horrible, bloody, unredeeming movie and came away underwhelmed. Frankly, there is no gore and there is less blood in the entire movie than one sees in the first 3 minutes of any slasher film.The only reason to rate this movie low is because it is a B-movie with cheap production values and some wooden acting. Other than that, it managed to keep my interest throughout the entire film.I cannot believe people would boo this film. That is absurd. If the characters were straight, no one would have a problem. But the main characters are gay and all of a sudden, we now have "social commentary" instead of just mindless entertainment.Except for some male frontal nudity, this movie could be shown on network TV, although late-night.For those that believe all gay movies should be affirming, this movie is not for you. For those that are looking for yet another gay romantic comedy with lots of eye candy and bad acting, well there is some eye candy and bad acting, but not much romance or humor.It's not the greatest movie, it has flaws, but I didn't come away feeling as if I totally wasted my time watching it.Ignore the prudes. See the movie. Make up your own mind. You will be shocked at how mild this movie is given the strange plot and subject matter.

I watched this movie on a bet. I hated every minute of it. Why?1. Bad acting (except for Parker Posey, who can make a telephone book seem interesting...and should have done so instead of taking this trash on).2. Insipid script filled with self-important dialog and voice-over that sounded like fake high-school ennui laced with a dash of faux philosophy 101.3. A-B-C directing.4. Pseudo-stylish editing flashes that even MTV would find silly.5. Nothing sets.6. 1-2-3 style lighting.7. A loathing of all things homosexual and the fag-hags who adore them. Not one normal person was allowed to counterpoint the non-stop anti-gay depiction of gay men as self-mutilating drug abusers into kinky anything so long as it winds up with them ejaculating at the end.8. The wimpy non-stop suggestion that it's all in Dennis' mind. Maybe. Except it might not be. Or might be. Maybe. Sort of. Except it isn't. Or is it? And on and on and on, ad nauseum.Edgy? Avant guarde? A whole new genre of in your face "I don't care about anybody" sort of movies, with this being a prime piece? Give me a break. At best, this is limp- wiener porn gussied up with occasional flashes of male genitalia and a low-rent idea that self-destruction and serial murder are part of the queer gene.That this homophobic piece of trash was (supposedly) shown at Sundance and the Berlin Film Festival only shows how second rate those venues have become. You want to see a real serial killer movie full of "I don't care about anybody" done right? Rent "Henry, Portrait Of A Serial Killer" or "Monster" or even "Citizen X". Anything but this garbage.

Frisk is one of a number of films by new film-makers (such as Todd Solondz, Tom Kalin, John Hewitt) who are for no-one. I love this disturbing new genre. Neither guided by morality nor restricted by the reality/fantasy divide, these films don't seek a wide audience. Instead, these films explore the underground, less explored territories of desire in its darker manifestations. This film isn't simply about sex and power, it concerns being gay in the era of AIDS and the insistency of desire. Frisk plays into the gay=death equation but this is only natural when being gay still remains for some blind people a lifestyle choice if not an aberration. Its a film about killing lovers, put blankly, and about experiencing the forbidden reaches of passion and obsession. Its a cold film and relentlessly reminiscent of De Sade's writing. Transgression and shock rule here but there's no easy comfort zones. A film of lust, decadence, cruelty and annihilation. Be warned.

This film is very disturbing, and it took a strong stomach to tough it out to the end. It brought to mind stories I have heard about Mexican porn "snuff" films, because the audience is treated to squirm-inducing sado-masochistic rape/murders. Characters murder victims on-screen for sexual pleasure, and unless you enjoy watching that, there is no other value to the movie. There was little, if any character development or plot. I had to wonder if Parker Posey knew what she was getting herself into when she did this movie. I read the other review, which referred to this as a "black comedy", but if it is, I must have missed something. I am also dumbfounded by reference to this as a "coming-out" movie, as it is a deeply sick depiction of the edge of any sexuality (Parker plays a hetero-sex murderer), and only fits the most outraged homophobe's stereotype of what gay life is about. Utterly horrible, and to be avoided.