Honourable Mention: Acid Babylon

I previously looked at Cosmotropia de Xam’s earlier film Phantasmagoria 2: Labyrinths of blood, yet despite that being earlier than this 2020 release, that film is shown as a ‘coming soon’ at the beginning of this. The trailer to P2 actually worked better for me than the actual film did, being genuinely off kilter without highlighting the performances that would kill that vehicle.

This film is even more arthouse than the previous, with less of a narrative (a degree of narrative is offered in some scant, French language narration). Early euro-horror has again inspired the filmmaking but, rather than the very Franco-centric inspiration of P2, this has a range of inspiration (and used a range of their filming locations). These are listed as Rollin, Argento, Anger, Kumel and Herzog. The lack of narrative and, though the central character is described as half vampire and half human, the lack of vampire imagery/activity, has led me to give this an honourable mention.

the woman

The film consists of images, actors in movement, psychedelic overlays, filters and negatives with a soundtrack that had elements of drone and almost an ambient industrial quality. Together with the visual effects this makes for a darkly meditative piece that is arthouse with no discernible mainstream hook. This means, of course, that you will likely find yourself liking or disliking it.

another dimension

As I mentioned, there is no real narrative thread. The narration tells us that when the rivers ran red the vampires left Babylon, leaving one woman who was immortal – being half vampire (the daughter of Nosferatu, it is suggested). The second half of the film sees the world filtered heavily with negative photography and I got a feel of passing into the other dimension that occasionally is referenced in Rollin’s films.

blood on fingers

We get quotes from the book of Revelations on screen – specifically from Chapter 17 pursuant to Babylon. But, at this point there is little else to say – from a filmic sense there is little to put into synopsis, from a vampire sense there is little lore communicated and no vampiric activity/tropes to relay (bar some blood on fingers dripped into a mouth). As mentioned, you will either like or dislike this.

The imdb page is here.