Aaaaaaaah! (UK Blu-ray)
Gareth Jones
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Starring Julian Barratt, Lucy Honigman, Tom Meeten, Julian Rhind-Tutt, Toyah Wilcox, Steve Oram
Directed by Steve Oram
Distributed by Icon Home Entertainment
If there’s one thing that can be said with complete confidence about writer/director Steve Oram’s Aaaaaaaah!, it’s that this film is unlike anything you’re likely to have seen before.
Like a Ken Loach social realist drama tripping on shrooms, Aaaaaaaah! tells the story of Smith (Oram), a man on a mission to return to his community and regain the control he once lost. Accompanied by his beta friend, Keith (Meeten) – whose lower position in the hierarchy is cemented in the opening scene as he gently dabs the final drops of urine from Smith’s post-piss penis with a tissue – he re-introduces himself to the particular tumultuous household over which he wishes to hold sway.
Within this household stands leader Ryan – a laddish arsehole of a bloke who has ousted previous patriarch Jupiter (Barratt), who now resides in a ramshackle corner of the garden outside. Throughout the film, Oram allows us to watch over the denizens of this community as they eat, drink, shit (on the floor), laugh, fight and push towards their own ends.
All of this weirdness is brought together by one major factor of the film: While these people are undoubtedly human, the world itself is a twisted land of apes. From the television shows presented on-screen to the crazy popular music and general behaviour, society is constructed entirely of grunting, ooh-ing primates in homo sapiens form.
And yes, that extends to the dialogue – formed entirely of ape-like vocalisations.
But what makes the film so remarkable is that despite this apparent disconnection from what we understand of modern humanity, following along with the total craziness on screen isn’t a challenge by any stretch. In fact, you can almost imagine the utterances coming from each character’s mouth as your native tongue – forming an intangible script in your head that’s as funny to you as you wish it to be, spurred on by the insanity of the actions taking place.
Outlandish activity rules the day, from a crab-infested female pouring vodka onto her burning crotch to a lecherous store owner depositing his money shot onto a photograph of Prince Harry and “The Mighty Boosh’s” Noel Fielding suffering a suitably painful (and graphic) type of dismemberment. Law and order appears to be non-existent in this intellectually bereft society who, when they aren’t beating each other to death, of course, enjoy watching topless cooking shows promoting mountains of salt on top of food and guffawing over bottled laugh-laden comedy shows that contain absolutely nothing approaching humour.
These elements of satire and hyperbole are where Aaaaaaaah! lands its punches so harshly, leaving a certain amount of disturbing introspection an inevitability once all is said and done. Having sat through such insanity and – more surprisingly – understood and, indeed, been entertained by it… are we really as far removed from our baser instincts as we’d like to think? With his film, which ekes out comedy, drama and genuine tragedy amidst the grunting, gurning, yapping and savagery, Steve Oram puts forward a very good case for the notion that no, we most certainly aren’t.
Aaaaaaaah! won’t be for everyone – not by a long shot – but it’s more than deserving of a try. Obviously made on a low budget, its combination of basic visual approach and unorthodox narrative land it squarely on the cusp of the avant garde. Incredibly weird, yet disquietingly poignant, here’s a film that you really ought to get your hands on if you’re looking for something completely outside of the box.
Special features on Icon’s UK Blu-ray release (under the “FrightFest Presents” banner) include a full audio commentary with Steve Oram, which proves a worthwhile listen as he spills the beans on just about every aspect of the film’s guerrilla-style creation, a featurette composed of some very entertaining cast interviews (given the outlandish nature of the project itself, they obviously would be!), a 10-minute version of the topless cooking show (“Carolla Cooks”) seen in the film and the full version of the comedy show “PUB!,” also seen being enjoyed by the characters in the main feature.
Finally, in a nice touch, you have the option of navigating the disc’s menu in either English language or the ape language constructed for the film.
Special Features:
- Audio commentary
- “The Cast Speaks”
- “Carolla Cooks”
- “PUB!”
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Film
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Special Features
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