‘Cradle Of Fear’ is a video-film based around Dani of Cradle Of Filth and available on the ‘Net only

Cradle Of Filth is that dark underground secret of Brit Metal creating music that hovers between morbid fantasy and horror imagery. Its songs show Mr Hyde’s side to Dr Dani Filth and the band’s half-a-dozen albums, all on indie labels, are the testament to the unbridled creativity. (What future holds is a big question as the band has signed to a major label…) ‘Cradle Of Fear’ is a self-produced and financed film that was two years in the making. Started around the time of the CoF’s album ‘Midian’, its director, Alex Chandon, claims it to be ‘a labour of love’, and it looks it. But, it is also ‘a labour of vivid imagination.’

‘Cradle Of Fear’ features Dani Filth in the title role of The Man who (believes he) is a vampire, killing and torturing beings of all sexes. Directed by Alex Chandon (of ‘Chainsaw Gut-F**k’, ‘Bad Karma’, ‘Pervirella’ and the CoF’s extended vid ‘PanDaemonAeon’), it is available only on the Internet because the censorship doesn’t apply and – be prepared for some sights unseen! It deals with all the human emotions, functions and actions, it is evil-looking because it reflects and is a product of dark forces that govern violence in societies.

“It is going to be amazing,” Dani enthused during the filming, “a top film in comparison to the shite like the ‘Blair Witch Project’, which I thought was utterly boring. I’m playing a character they call The Man but he has no name and there are four stories, inter-connecting. It’s in a way like ‘Pulp Fiction’ and the one about the Internet is total Hammer Horror style, it really freaks you, and it is horrible. There are parts that are really gory, horrific and disturbing. It is psychological but sick in places.”

This is a horror film of limited budget but you wouldn’t deduct it from the eye-feast it offers. It contains all the horror elements but it toys with the clichés, it doesn’t try to slip you a dummy like Hollywood’s full-on predictability. Intriguingly shot with impressive make-up and special effects on par with the high-budget movies, it is edited funkily and expertly told. Its visuals are well augmented by musical works of Cradle Of Filth, The Dark Poets, Slacker and Rugged Vinyl, among others, although there is not much time to notice with all the imagery overloading your visual receptors.

“It’s a full-length feature,” Dani expends on 120-minute epic-gore,” and we hope that there are going be some cinema showings somewhere in the world. The most amazing thing is that is done very cheaply, made possible by all the team working for nothing. All the FX crew are from the ‘Nightbreed’ and ‘Hellraiser’ series that will get paid after the costs are recouped. Alex, who did our video ‘From The Cradle To Enslave’, got inspired and wrote a screenplay and I only told him about few things I didn’t like in the script. I’m so pleased and it is going to be massive, not huge commercial success, but becoming cult among the people who really appreciate the genre.”

Very dark, menacing, sexed-up and extremely watchable. It might have had a basement-level budget but it’s big on imagination. Cult-dom guaranteed for this ‘vile blues’, but the cradle of fear remains... ignorance.

‘Warning: Unrated Directors Cut! For Adults Only’ is a note on the cover and, if you qualify, grab it!

8.6/10