UNSPEAKABLE: BEYOND THE WALLS OF SLEEP (2024)

New On Demand from Breaking Glass Films!
Directed by Chad Ferrin.
Written by Chad Ferrin, H. P. Lovecraft.
Check out the trailer here!!

Dream Specialist Ambrose London (Edward Furlong) is assigned a new patient at Arkham Asylum, James Fhelleps (Robert Miano). Fhelleps doctor, Dr. Barnard (Susan Priver) claims that Fhelleps has a very unique form of schizophrenia where he turns into a completely different, distinct personality named Joe Slater. Using a controversial technique which links him to a patient in order to visualize their dreams, Ambrose himself is touched by the cosmic forces that seem to inhabit Fhelleps/Slater and driven to the brink of madness. Meanwhile, Fhelleps/Slater shepherds in a new age of man controlled by both aggressive and sexual urges and pushes the world towards annihilation.

You never know what you’re going to get with a Chad Ferrin film. Are you going to get a neon soaked/saxophone laden detective noir like NIGHT CALLER? Are you going to get an offbeat and violent, yet surprisingly poignant story of a mentally challenged kid trapped in a building with a bunny headed killer like EASTER BUNNY, KILL, KILL? Or maybe a half-hazard attempt at serial killer bio pic with a street fighting social worker like PIG FARMER? You never know. Sometimes the guy delivers something worth watching, other times, not so much. The only guarantee is that it will most likely star Susan Priver and Robert Miano and most definitely will star a bitshit crazy Bai Ling. Priver, Miano, and Ling all show up in UNSPEAKABLE: BEYOND THE WALLS OF SLEEP, the third in a Lovecraft trilogy of sorts after THE DEEP ONES and THE OLD ONES, who films that really didn’t do much for me.

UNSPEAKABLE: BEYOND THE WALLS OF SLEEP is another story all-together. While it is a low budget movie, UNSPEAKABLE goes for it big time. Ferrin doesn’t have the budget, but really reaches for the cosmic stars with all kinds of body horror, weird tentacles, and lots and lots of penis monsters. While it does hit all of the story points of H.P. Lovecraft’s original story, it adds a whole lot of wrong and it makes the film all kinds of right. This is a practical effects lover’s dream come true with elaborate tentacle creatures and strange metamorphosis of the body and soul. Expect all kinds of blood and gore from this one and while other low fi practical effects make the mistake of lingering on the effect too long and killing the mystique of it, Ferrin makes it all the more unsettling with rapid edits, strange angles, and out of focus shots leaving you wondering what was it you just saw and did I just see what I think I saw?

Now, don’t get me wrong. This movie is not a technical marvel and it’s not an acting class in subtlety either. The actors Ferrin chooses to assemble around him in every movie add to the cheesy aspects of all of his films. While Susan Priver and Robert Miano are not bad actors, they tend to overact every time in front of the camera. This works for Miano’s benefit in UNSPEAKABLE as his character is the harbinger of a new age of cosmic chaos, so some scene chewing is in order. Priver, not so much. She can carry drama, as seen in NIGHT CALLER, but her casting just seems strange here. Of course, Bai Ling gives another fascinating performance as a doctor who suddenly becomes overcome with lust. Ling is nutty as squirrel squat and at least Ferrin has the good sense to wind her up and let her go and keep the camera rolling, because it is simply trainwreck fascinating to see her do what she does.

The real surprise is Edward Furlong who gives a really solid performance as Ambrose London. The large bags under his eyes and tussled hair seems to be his go-to real life look these days, but here the look fits as the character himself suffers from sleep deprivation and sleep disorders. He really sells his character and does a great job of carrying this movie. It is definitely the best he has been in a very long time.

UNSPEAKABLE: BEYOND THE WALLS OF SLEEP is a low fi nightmare that deserves the recognition is it getting. It’s imaginative within its boundaries of budget, yet still stretches that to its breaking point. Yes, it is a good bad movie with all kinds of wrong like incest, penis mutilation, sex monsters and stars that may have seen much better years. But it’s one of those guilty pleasure films that is all kinds of wrong and will make you wince and scream at times. It’s not cinema at all, but it is the type of schlocky horror that would make 80’s horror meisters like Hennenlotter, Gordon, and Yuzna smile from ear to ear.