Faust: Love Of The Damned
Trimark Home Video
Cast: Mark Frost, Jeffrey Combs, Andrew Divoff
Extras: Audio Commentaries, Trailer
Rating:
You know a movie is going to be weird when Jeffrey Combs plays a fairly normal person. ’Faust: Love of the Damned’ is based upon a very violent and bloody comic book, and has yielded a very bloody and violent film. Mark Frost stars as John Jaspers, a man who has just witnessed his girlfriend being murdered. Distraught, he considers suicide, but is stopped by the mysterious M. (Andrew Divoff) and his cohort Claire (Monica Van Campen). M. offers Jaspers the ability to gain revenge, in exchange for his soul. Jaspers agrees, and becomes a murderous monster, killing anyone who gets in his way. Psychiatrist Jade de Camp (Isabel Brook) and cop Margolies (Jeffrey Combs) become involved in the case, trying to help Jaspers, and stop him, respectively. Unbeknownst to all, M. has a sinister plan to bring about the end of the world, and all of these characters play a role in that plan.
’Faust: Love of the Damned’ plays as a cross between ’The Crow’ and ’Spawn’, but is much more violent and twisted than either. The movie is probably too violent for casual viewers, but may not be graphic enough for fans of the comic. The movie does have some exciting action sequences, and it is refreshing to see a movie where the red-stuff flows so freely. But, the story feels rushed and cliched at times. Director Brian Yuzna gives the film a nice look, but the scene where M. tortures Claire shows that he still doesn’t know the difference between horrific and silly. Horror fans looking for a quick fix will enjoy ’Faust’.
Trimark brings ’Faust: Love of the Damned’ to DVD in a non-anamorphic transfer. The film has been letterboxed at 1.85:1 and looks pretty good. There is some noticeable grain in places, but the image is clear, and the colors (particularly, the reds) look nice. The framing appears to be accurate, but you may notice the boom coming into the shot at the 44:32 point. The Dolby Digital 5.1 channel soundtrack is adequate, offering clear dialogue and some nice surround sound effects. But, I did notice a lack of subwoofer response.
The DVD contains two audio commentaries. The first, with director Brian Yuzna, is somewhat informative, but boring, as there are many silent pauses in his speech. The second, with actor Andrew Divoff, cinematographer Jacques Haitkin, and special FX designer Screaming Mad George, is much better, simply because its conversational and fun. The trailer for the film is also included, in a full-frame format.
