Applecart
| Title: | Applecart |
| Director: | Dustin Wayde Mills |
| Writer(s): | Dustin Wayde Mills |
| Cast: | Joni Durian, Allison Egan, Haley Jay Madison, Josh Miller, Dave Parker, Erin R. Ryan, Brandon Salkil |
| Genre(s): | Arthouse Horror |
| Release Date: | 2015 |
Dustin Wayde Mill called for reviewers to his filmic experience…Applecart. Naturally I put my hand up for this experience!
Having seen the trailer he had shared with the Underground I knew I was in for something different, an event! In Dustin’s own words he states about Applecart…
“…You need to know though that this is not an extreme film…I don’t know what it is…”
Naturally this piqued my interest even more! What was I getting myself into? I was soon to find out!
Applecart is a journey through four vignettes…
Act #1. The Sleepover. Father has an unhealthy interest in his daughter and her friend. Mother wants to fuck but instead father jacks off to his sex interests while they finger each other off. Mother catches the father and is jealous, acting out revenge!
Act #2. Caretaker. A nurse takes care of a completely helpless invalid and is quite cruel with her actions with him. After one final act of deviate cruelty this all proves too much and in a move of deception revenge is taken.
Act #3. Dad. A woman stuck in an abusive relationship discovers she is pregnant. After one last violent act she takes drastic measure to enact her vengeance!
Act #4. Let Me Show A man fancies his co-worker but she is not interested. After she does not show for work he discovers why. Because his friend has taken her to be their plaything! Revenge ends with a climax!
Apples feature throughout….Stewed.. .mashed…whole!
Perhaps apples are there as another symbol of voyeurism/sin that is seen throughout Applecart? Adam in the Garden of Eden tempted by the apple from Eve. Taking a bite of forbidden fruit!
~ Gore. Sickness. Insanity. Filth. Depravity. ~
Themes of what could be considered sexual depravity are a constant context within the storyline. A father’s unhealthy interest in his daughter and her friend.
Acts that the nurse imbibes in to torment her patent she is supposed to be caring for. Pissing, physical violence, flashing flesh, sucking and fucking!
A twisted cruel revenge for the abuse caused to a woman by her husband.
A deviate act ended just to be followed by another.
There is no gore to be shown here and to be honest it was not needed. Even this one event that could have turned into a sick gore fest didn’t require it!
Applecart is shot as a silent film including a sepia look. Each vignette starts of has a silent movie does with a screen with the title. Then we get the experience of each tale without the use of words to tell the tale. Each action is told through movement, body language and an audience.
Red is the only colour shown throughout. That is with the climax at the end of Act #4. Let Me Show. It is quite effective and conveys the feel of the whole event!
This audience cheer at signs of sex of all sorts, including the abusive kind. Booing at others. This all acts towards this sense of voyeurism.
Perhaps in the end Applecart is a sort of old style voyeurism porn. But with a very dark twist!
Masks are worn by the whole cast. These masks are plain except for lines drawn on to convey a certain aspect of each character. Masks convey another sense of this voyeurism that is a consistent theme though out Applecart? But then the tagline states, We all wear masks! A disguise to protect the self from others, or whatever other symbolisms you choice to use here!
Along with all of this, without the use of facial expressions the actors have to use body language to convey each emotion.
Thankfully each cast member was up for the task and did a great job!
Dustin Wayde Mills has provided a very different, and for me, interesting ride into what could be considered arthouse horror. Of taking the before mentioned early last century voyeurism cinema, and creating something dark.
Applecart succeeds because Dustin doesn’t shy away from the nudity, be it female or male. My own view is if he had Applecart wouldn’t have succeeded in the end!
Great work from Mr Mills and his cast of well-chosen actors! I enjoyed this ride in Dustin Wayde Mills’ Applecart!
Lastly…
Yes Dustin, Applecart IS an extreme film! Not with gore but with the dark matter within each tale! Of its perversions and the dark side of the soul in humanity….well, something like that anyway!
Voyeurism, Revenge and Apples
