It's an exciting time for indie film fans: some of the best examples of independent features are coming out, showing that fresh ideas aren't as endangered a species as we thought. While Hollywood is busy churning out sophomoric "comedies" and sodomizing classics with unnecessary remakes and increasingly unrelated sequels and prequels, the underground filmmaking community is producing works of higher quality than has been seen before. Brian Clement, the director of Binge & Purge (review here) has outdone his previous efforts with his risky, but excellent anthology film Exhumed. It's an important work not only for being an incredible independent film, but pushing the envelope for anthology horror as well. Whereas many anthology films fall prey to a sort of sameness, in both storytelling and visual style, Clement raises the bar by giving us not just three tales, but three completely different film styles! Even more amazing, he deftly stitches the trio together with a thread of Lovecraftian mythology that relates events across the stories in a logical fashion.

The first segment, Shi No Mori (The Forest of Death) is the story of a samurai named Zentaro on a quest for two things: his missing brother, and a mysterious artifact. His master has sent him for the artifact, so as to raise an unstoppable army of the undead. In the forest, the samurai meets Ryuzo, a monk who seeks the same artifact, so as to bring it to the safety of his temple and prevent its improper usage. Despite their polar opposite goals, they are forced to team up against a horde of zombies already resurrected by the artifact. However, the tables are soon turned, as the monk, corrupted by the seductive power of the artifact, desires it to begin his own rule of the world. The samurai sees the error of his ways and now wants the artifact to be destroyed after seeing the uncontrollable, mindless nature of the zombies it creates.

Easily the strongest segment of the anthology, Clement's almost obsessive attention to detail gives Shi No Mori extra style and class. Photography is simply gorgeous, especially the beautifully silhouetted swordplay flashbacks. Hell, these scenes could easily be used in a video for the tourist board for Canada! The makeup and gore effects are awesome, with blood not just flowing, but spurting, gushing, and spraying. Everyone else has compared this to Shogun Assassin, and I don't disagree. Coupled with the fact that his actors are Japanese, speaking Japanese (right down to the specific dialect of the 19th century. Nice touch!) and the subtitles have that peculiar "doesn't quite translate directly" feel (you'll see what I mean), and you've got a VERY authentic samurai film. Hell, he even gives us the classic delayed sword effect, where the blade cleaves the flesh, only to have it explode into a geyser of gore seconds later. Great stuff! It also shows Clement's trademark resourcefulness: using creative camerawork and a fog machine, the Canadian park he filmed in became a moody Japanese forest almost as convincing as big Hollywood productions.

The next segment, Shadow of Tomorrow, switches gears from samurai drama to campy film noir. Set in 1940's Hollywood, it follows Jane Decarlo, a tough-as-nails dame running her own private investigation business. She avoids the sexism of the era by setting up a clever front: she talks to clients as the "secretary" for her nonexistent male "boss," then takes the cases herself! Very forward-thinking Mr. Clement! She takes a case from a down-on-his-luck stuntman who wants a tail put on his lady-friend Vivian. The private dick (ironic word choice, I know) is led on a chase where she encounters a nutty actress, a burlesque house, crooked cops, mad scientists, and a certain artifact with resurrecting properties...

While not a full-on film noir, Shadow of Tomorrow has enough elements to make it feel authentic. It's got deep shadows, convoluted plot twists, our heroine's metaphor laden narration, and plenty of foxy ladies! The burlesque house scene features one of the raciest stripteases committed to film (if you've got a less-is-more attitude) performed by the gorgeous Kitten Coquette. The dialogue is suitably kitschy with playful exchanges ("What do you need the gun for?" "To shoot people with, sweetheart." Brilliant!) and I was stunned at just how genuine the whole affair came across as. The whole black and white scheme is used for more than novelty as well: contrast is used to great effect, with the opening backlit, fog shrouded graveyard scene evoking images of The Exorcist and Father Merrin's arrival at the MacNeil house. Very eerie.

The final (and most fun) segment of the three, appropriately titled Last Rumble, rounds out the pack with a style most familiar to Clement fans: a virtual wall of visuals and sound that bitch-slap you into submission. In the future, there are two wars going on: a WWIII-level battle between neo-Fascists and the rest of the world, and a street rumble between the vampiric Mods and the lycanthropic Rockers. The two battles intersect when a member of each gang is captured by the uber-Nazis for "training" against zombies brought to life by that goddamn artifact! The two prisoners, the werewolf Zura and the vampire Cherry (the excruciatingly lovely Chelsey Arentsen) team up to make an escape attempt, leading to some incredibly creative kills against the dozens of biohazard-suited shock troops (think Romero's The Crazies) with some rather juicy results. Unfortunately, they are recaptured, where they learn the ultimate secret of the artifact and how they are tied into its use, as well as how all three of the tales are tied together.

I'm going to get one thing out of the way right now: don't bother trying to compare this to the recent vamp/werewolf flick Underworld. There is no common ground between the two outside of the vampire/werewolf conflict, and even then that shared thread is VERY thin. Last Rumble's West Side Story/Quadrophenia style conflict between the Mod vampires and rockabilly werewolves is very refreshing and original. The werewolf makeup by Jason Ward is very well done, conveying a ferocious nature with a minimum of appliances. The only downside is Zura's somewhat annoying "shh"-ing of her S sounds due to her dental appliances. Of course, that's one of the only sore points in the whole damn movie! The neo-fascist angle (complete with three-pointed swastika) is interesting, and their zombie army goal is somewhat plausible considering the creepy occult obsession of Heinrich Himmler during WWII. Also worth mentioning again is the beauty of Chelsey Arentsen. She is simply one of the most gorgeous things I have ever seen, as well as an effective actress. Plus, there's something inherently sexy about a woman punching a guy's face clean off...yowza!

This is what good independent film is all about, people. Once again, Clement amazes me with his ability to make movie look so effective on such a meager budget. This kid's like freakin' MacGyver for chrissakes! His ability to use a camcorder like a "true" camera gives his movies extra class. Couple that with Jason Ward's great effects and Justin Hagberg's simple yet effective score, and you've got a movie that, like the Lovecraftian creations it borrows, simply should not be (under its budget, that is). In a world of Hollywood budget glut and self-imposed minimalism from the indie scene, Clement draws on the creativity of years gone by, using what he has around him to maximum effect. The scope of this project is simply massive, and it actually lives up to its lofty ambitions. I applaud Frontline Films for pushing themselves further than ever before and branching away from their previous resume of gut-muncher movies. Despite the extremely different film styles and content of the three shorts, they are all very well done and cohesively tied together. Not only that, but why are there so many cute girls in his movies? A lot of indie flicks feature the ugliest women on the face of the Earth(*cough*Chickboxer*cough*) but Clement's movies are loaded with good looking girls who, thankfully, are just as strongly written and acted as their male counterparts. Sure, the ending of Exhumed, which explains almost everything, is a little bit confusing (especially with rapid cuts between color and B&W) and some of the acting is a little hammy, but overall the film is simply phenomenal.

Presentation for Exhumed is excellent as well. Picture quality is gorgeous for an SOV feature, with clean edges and bold colors. Some of the darker scenes are grainy, and the occasional digital mastering glitch pops up from time to time, but it doesn't detract from the overall quality. Audio is a clear stereo mix, with easy-to-understand dialogue and bold sound effects. Extras are plentiful, and include two trailers, a making-of featurette, and two still galleries including a cheesecake pin-up gallery. Saucy!

If it seems like I'm overly excited about Exhumed, it's because I am. It deserves every word of praise I have given it, and it deserves your attention. Do yourself a favor and hop on over to www.frontlinefilms.net and pick up a copy. It's sixteen bones well spent.