![]() Ballard’s book, which recounts a psychological breakdown through a series of fragmented vignettes of increasing carnage. Already we hear echoes of the track, Atrocity Exhibition that begins Joy Division’s final album, Closer, it begins: “This is the way/Step inside.” borrowing its title from J. The introduction to Mr Self Destruct sets the tone of violent imagery driven by the application, and abuse, of power.įrom the first line of the song Reznor’s narrator emerges alongside the ‘hidden’ voices, the “bad parts” of himself, long-suppressed, now unleashed, interrupting thought and barking directives to command absolute control. ![]() The beating sample that opens The Downward Spiral comes from George Lucas’ first film, THX 1138 the film is set in a dystopia world, a prisoner is being beaten, the listener shares in the torture, the blind spectator to almost 30 seconds of physical attack before the song explodes into the punishing rhythm of a new information overload. ![]() A swarm of chainsaw guitars are driven into acceleration by a TurboSynth heaping sound upon sound, driving the track into overkill, a voice cries out, blurring pain and ecstasy, there is as much a sense of release as falling into a greater, unknowable depth. Then sharper, faster sequencer throbs thrash against the pummelled skin of a kick drum, echoing the beating. ![]() The beating begins slow and measured each strike hitting its target as it seeks a rhythm like a pounding heart - the sound within a sound - it becomes increasingly frenzied speeding-up and vigorous a blow upon a bruise one repetitive note upon note merging into a constant drone, pulverising already damaged flesh we hear the guard’s exertion huffing and puffing but relentless pushing towards an ending that never seems to come beating the victim for its own sake beyond violence. It accomplished this working for and against its fusion of transgressive themes and ideas, such as depression, obsession, addiction, BDSM, violence, atheism, and self-loathing-ideas that remain shocking today, still court controversy, and are, for some, highly offensive, directly challenging societal norms through freedom of expression and confronting middle America with itself, the harsh truths that many would prefer to ignore. Instead, though, we’re offered a fairly weak bash at police procedurals, as Zeke begins to be sent mysterious packages from a Jigsaw copycat killer, and cops start being picked off, one-by-one at the same time, we learn about the history of Zeke and the department’s dodgy past.Released on March 8, 1994, to immediate critical acclaim, Spiral went on to sell over 5 million records in the United States alone. Nothing wrong with that set-up on the face of it, and in some sense it’s refreshing not to be pummelled with the series’ signature torture porn across the entire running time. Chris Rock - whose love of the franchise initially sparked this film into being - plays Serpico-esque police detective Zeke, alone in a department full of rotten apples, while the killer’s identity plays out like a knotty murder mystery. Kudos must be given for the impulse to switch templates, from straightforward horror to more of a gritty crime thriller. But this is now the second stab at a reboot since the increasingly inaccurately titled Saw: The Final Chapter, and the first that seems to genuinely want to at least try something different. The series, like its killer, seemed better off dead.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |