Sea Of Dust (2008/Cinema Epoch DVD)
Picture: B- Sound: C Extras: B Feature: B
Young
medical student Stefan Christoph came to the village of Heidelberg
ask for the hand in marriage of his sweetheart Elizabeth, but instead, he is
rejected and finds the people to be in a strange trance. Joined with Dr. Maitland he soon learns there
is crisis at hand, that somehow a mythical Christian
King Prester John (Tom Savini) has returned and taken over the minds of the
villagers. One by one, Stefan finds the
villagers turned into murdering humans without souls, and he must somehow cross
the Sea of Dust and stop Prester
John.
Welcome to the quiet village
of Heidelberg, a remote
village with beautiful mountains, rivers and forest... except with the occasional
dead body turning up. As Stefan enters
the Black Forest, dark forces beckon him to
the other side, he finds himself questioning reality. He finds the villagers are either torturing
one another or trying to kill him, then learns of Prester John and his quest to
cross-over to reality with pain and torture in order to give 'salvation' to
humanity. Stefan must somehow stop this
madness from infecting the rest of the world.
Ingrid Pitt also stars.
If you like blood, guts, and dismemberment, then this film has a lot. It has beautiful scenery and an interesting
story, based loosely on a mythological Christian character, Prester John is
said to be an individual who lead people to untold treasures and even salvation
in heaven. However, in this case it was
through pain, suffering and torture was how salvation achieved, that the people
must suffer as Christ did in order to be saved *funny how that never applied to
those preached it* and Prester John's resurrection is built on a sea of blood
and bones. The main character Stefan
finds himself at battle with his own dark desires as he confronts Prester John,
as the borders of dreams and reality begin to fade so does Stefan's sanity. Extras include trailers, audio commentary,
behind the scenes, deleted scenes and a slideshow of the film.
- Ricky Chiang
