Suggested Audio Candy

 

 Nouvelle Vague featuring Julie Delpy “La La La”

 

As you should know by now, I’m a sucker for a worthy cause, and commit myself willingly to a project which I believe in wholeheartedly from the offset. Once in a while, a concept surfaces which makes me go weak at the knees, and the past few months, I have adopted the balance of a newborn fawn on account of a film which is currently looking to enter the next stage in its metamorphosis from page to screen. The movie in question is Trauma Dolls and will be directed by a lady who we will be hearing rather a lot about in the coming years, the incandescent Emilie Flory.

Some of you will be very much familiar with Ms Flory from Twitter and will know of the positivity that radiates from her every single time she interacts. She is supportive in the extreme and, I’m sure I can speak for anybody who has brushed shoulders with Emilie, in stating that she is a true lady and very dear friend to many. Recently, heads have begun to turn, and this is because she has something brewing which is set to take the independent scene by storm and make significant waves globally also.

Originally titled Doll in Trauma; Trauma Dolls is a concept which Emilie has nurtured from its very first seed and currently she is setting the wheels in motion to ensure that it moves on into production very soon. Truth is; she had me at Trauma Dolls. The very first time I heard the title I had an inkling about this particular movie. Upon watching the promotional trailer attached to her IMDb page I began salivating and the slobber has only thickened since I can assure you. Right now I am simply ravenous and ready to devour this piece of art like an under-nourished dingo the moment it steps out of the shadows.

Everything about this screams quality and, having now become one of precious few afforded the opportunity of reading Emilie’s breathtaking screenplay, I can confirm that Trauma Dolls is set to come good on its pledge. Of course, if there is one thing you know about Keeper, then it would be that I will remain tight-lipped over details as I believe this piece of art, and I use that word with every last drop of conviction I possess, deserves to be experienced first-hand to truly maximize the effect. I will however say this; her attention to detail is meticulous, characters beautifully crafted, the story exquisitely paced, and the pay-off tremendous.

Instantly Trauma Dolls calls to mind the work of two of the finest horror directors of our time. David Cronenberg has always had a fascination with transformation and infection, both bodily and on a more cerebral level as well as mankind’s fixation on perfection as enforced by the society we live in. Dario Argento, on the other hand, paints his canvases with a mixture of broad and fine brushstrokes, ensuring that gore be a thing of great beauty and often offsetting against a pallid backdrop to allow the blood to animate vividly from his lens.

Emilie’s screenplay hit me on two levels simultaneously. Firstly, no character is superfluous, everyone and thing is necessary and integral to her plot. I may possess a particularly lurid imagination but it wasn’t required to work hard to visualize each key detail so painstakingly woven into her intricate treatment. At no point did I not have a clear mental image of every solitary scene and development as it played out on the page. Secondly, it explores the deepest, darkest recesses of the human mind and encourages that we do the exact same thing. This will undoubtedly be an experience which will nestle underneath our skin long after the final credits have rolled. However, it does so without a whiff of pretentiousness, and highlights Emilie’s command of every last one of our senses while telling her tale.

By the time Trauma Dolls reached its immensely satisfying conclusion, I could taste the bitter tang of blood on my lips, smell intoxicating perfume in both flared nostrils, and feel her story teaming through my ventricles. I chose to peruse just before bedtime and, bizarrely enough, last night I had a particularly vivid dream. That, right there, is a particularly positive sign and the prospect of having my phantasms perpetually plagued by her Doll in Trauma is one which excites me to my very core.

French horror film-makers have been on the upsurge in recent years and if you asked me for my ten favorite movies from the past decade then Alexandre Aja’s High Tension, Pascal Laugier’s Martyrs and, my personal darling, Julien Maury & Alexandre Bustillo’s Inside would all effortlessly make that shortlist. Having explored Trauma Dolls in more depth, and having the pleasure of watching her marvelous short Process 5 which offers further tantalizing proof of her aptitude for storytelling and prowess behind the camera, I can now state with absolute assurance and every last ounce of integrity that the current upturn in fortunes is set to continue.

Emilie Flory is many things: a dear and treasured friend for life, kind and generous soul, graceful in the extreme, and clearly a horror fan through to her marrow. She is also a visionary and the genre has been crying out for flag bearers such as she to drive us forward as horror continues to purge forth towards the next decade, which I believe wholeheartedly is going to be momentous. Trauma Dolls will soon be upon us Grueheads; currently she is chomping at the bit to make this dark contemporary fairy tale a reality and I, for one, will be frothing from the mouth akin to a rabid hound as that becomes so.

Click here to watch Process 5

 

 

Truly, Really, Clearly, Sincerely,

 

Keeper of the Crimson Quill

Copyright: Crimson Quill: Savage Vault Enterprises 2015