The 1980s VHS nostalgia wave is showing no signs of slowing, with a number of recent horror (and other genre) films employing synth soundtracks, neon fashions and fond media memories to great commercial and often critical success. More specifically within horror there has been something of a resurgence in the ‘giallo’ film subgenre. The attraction of filmmakers to it is perhaps no surprise given the form’s ample opportunity for lurid scenes, pulsing soundtracks and the fact that young, upcoming filmmakers likely took at least some of their film education from their earlier viewership and it has informed their work. Videoman both embraces and critiques this current movement.
Synopsis: Ennio, a VHS collector with a drinking problem, finds a valuable movie that could save him from eviction. When the movie gets stolen he starts a desperate hunt for a perpetrator and meets an alcoholic woman obsessed with the 80s. These outsiders, joined by nostalgia and broken dreams, initiates a romance while Ennio’s life starts turning into an Italian horror film.
For me, the above synopsis is a little misleading and does the film a slight disservice. While there are certain segments which invoke the mystery element of some Euro-horror, the film is most comfortable and effective when exploring the relationship between Ennio (Stefan Sauk) and Simone (Lena Nilsson). Their characters are focused on their obsessions for collecting VHS films and the 1980s respectively and the film highlights how their passions have isolated them, leaving them out of step with the world they find themselves in. Rather than films which seek to exploit this nostalgia by setting the action in the 1980s, Videoman has a modern setting, offset by the interior worlds of the characters. Ennio’s basement video shop location evokes the lighting trends of the films he hoards, in contrast to the other spaces within the film. Similarly, Simone’s heavy makeup turns her into an anachronism in her workplace.
Director and writer Kristian A. Söderström clearly has a great deal of knowledge of the films the characters reference and there are some stylistic choices which clearly echo the subgenre. There is also some exploration of how the fetishisation of old media and the process through which it is cleaned and re-released on new formats does something to take away the romance and illusion of the original versions. This is handled somewhat crudely in terms of the study of a hardcore insert which reveals a body double, but demonstrates the depth of study that Ennio and his associates undertake in terms of these films, but how easily this care and attention to detail can morph into something much darker and obsessive. Similarly, a scene in which Ennio denies a VHS to a customer until he proves he has had his player cleaned points to the oxymoronic nature of the format as durable, yet fragile. A few references to chemical addictions are slightly too heavy-handed to say anything particularly meaningful that isn’t already expressed. Similarly, the thread of an older woman struggling with the demands of feeling validated by social media isn’t groundbreaking, but offers more in terms of keeping the setting a modern one.
During the film, Ennio receives an opportunity to sell a highly-valuable VHS to a mysterious figure called Faceless. Faceless offers high prices for sought-after titles and so the sale means he will be able to pay off his debts. However, when he loses the video, his paranoia drives him to some dark acts. While it feels like the loss of and search for this title is what should drive the film, it almost gets lost in the shuffle of the far more charming and interesting interplay between Ennio and Simone. The film meanders, rather than drives and a few non-sequitur ‘visions’ further slow the pace. The pursuit of the VHS is almost entirely forgotten at times, which feels like a misstep in terms of how important it should be to the central character. However, Sauk and Nilsson’s interactions are just charming and diverting enough that you would rather spend time on their relationship and inner motives than the wider Faceless story.
Overall, if you want to watch a reference-heavy, fast-paced recreation of 1980s Euro-horror, Videoman will offer very little. However, if you’re willing to spend some time meditating on the nature of isolation and the elements that drive us to that then you’ll almost certainly find something here.
Videoman is released on Digital HD & DVD 18th February 2019 from Frightfest Presents.
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