Standing out among the glut of indie horror films is never an easy task. A strong trailer is typically a safe and effective way to grab audiences’ attention and build buzz, but every film has a trailer. It’s hardly unique. Perhaps that is why I was so pleasantly surprised to hear about the upcoming film Excess Flesh not from a trailer, but a music video.
Music video tie-ins to films were prevalent throughout much of the 90s, garnering frequent airplay on MTV and showing off a hard-to-ignore tune folks would find in the film once it was in theaters. In that tradition, Patrick Kennelly, the director of Excess Flesh, and the film’s composer Jonathan Snipes teamed up to create this excellent video for the track “I Don’t Race” featuring the film’s star Mary Loveless.
They certainly got my attention. The throwback quality aside, the juxtaposition of the colorful dancers and the horrific film clips create something that’s hard to ignore. It doesn’t hurt that the song is catchy. Of course, I’m a little biased. How could I not be a complete sucker for “Jennifer and the Filthy Cunts”?
The video provokes the questions, “What is this and how do I see it?” Of course I then sought out the trailer, a bit of a nastier viewing that let’s everyone know what they’re in for. Jill (Bethany Orr) doesn’t quite fit in with her environment, the hot LA Fashion scene embodied by her new roommate Jennifer (Loveless). She grows infatuated with Jennifer. First she wants to be just like her. But when Jill realizes she can’t achieve Jennifer’s beauty, she might just have to destroy it. Sign me up, please.
The film is Kennelly’s feature debut. You may already be familiar with Snipes’s music if you’ve seen last year’s horror standout Starry Eyes or the documentary Room 237. Excess Flesh opens at The Downtown Independent in Los Angeles on October 30th. Tickets can be purchased here. Here’s hoping for an NYC release soon after.