Spike (2008)
Described as "Angela Carter rewriting La Belle et la Bête as an episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer", the story follows, through a tapestry of dreamlike images, a girl (Sarah Livingston Evans) and her three friends—the characters' names are never revealed—as they find themselves stranded in a dark and surreal forest by someone—or something (Edward Gusts)—who has obsessively loved, watched, and waited for the girl ever since childhood.
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This Movie Can Only Be Described With One Word.
Highly Overrated But Still Good
everything you have heard about this movie is true.
The storyline feels a little thin and moth-eaten in parts but this sequel is plenty of fun.
I LOVED IT! I really did. Started as a typical horror film with a small group of friends stranded then we meet Spike! I mean yes, it is a just another slasher film but one that surprised me. The characters were typical fodder and that's alright in my book.So glad I bought the DVD! Wondering if it ever came out on blu ray.
It's been a while since I saw Spike, but I retain a lingering memory of the awful terror with which it begins -- long before the beast appears -- like Jaws, but much scarier. Spike's cinematography and direction are superb, but its strength is the story's poignant beauty, which reminds me of a Russian fairy tale -- think Baba Yaga. In a Russian fairy tale, even the Princess may die.The back-story's development without excessive flashbacks is inventive, and the delineation of a convincing rough homestead in a few sketched Picasso-like strokes a dark delight against the backdrop of a luxuriant wilderness.It's not been often that a love story has married fear, fantasy and psychology in a movie that takes such pains to conform to scientific reality -- for example, the difference between a person's two eyes.To summarize, though it may perhaps not be to everyone's taste, it is no surprise to me, on the basis of its plot and production quality, that Spike has been winning "Best Of" awards. It has a lot to like. I liked it enough to rate it "Excellent."
I recently saw Spike in Los Angeles and thought that it was an absolutely beautiful film. Robert Beaucage creates an entire world that both the audience and the characters can get lost in. I think it was an inspired love story that showed both the best and worst of its characters.I particularly enjoyed Ed Gusts performance as the title character. I think that he showed real sensitivity and heart ache through out the movie.The best part comes at the end. I won't completely give it away, but it was a tender moment that would move the hardest of hearts. Because it does have touching moments and is essentially a love story, the film is far more complex than a typical horror. It has blood, certainly, but it also has heart.
Director Robert Beaucage has impeccable vision. His monster romance film, Spike, is one of the most visually gorgeous films I have ever seen. A BEAUTIFUL monster romance film - now that's something viewers rarely get a chance to enjoy. Unexpected, touching and filled with visual art. Spike proves that direction and design are non contingent upon funding. After seeing Spike, I'd be interested in seeing what Robert Beaucage does with any script. His visual direction will surely define his future film projects.There were two exceptional actors in the film. "Spike", played by Edward Gusts, was given difficult, prose-inspired dialogue - an educated monster, if you will - and he handled it with ease. The most touching moment of his performance was what I perceive to be his improvised lamenting at the end of the film . And "His Sister" played by Anna-Marie Wayne, was passionate and so adept at creating her side of the lesbian relationship she was in, I believed every utterance she offered to her girlfriend. These two actors did wonderful jobs and I look forward to seeing their work in the future.