Post by petrolino on May 7, 2023 23:52:08 GMT
'Thrust!' (2022 - Directed by Victor Bonacore)
The post-apocalyptic fantasy horror 'Thrust!' (2022) is the debut feature of documentarian and short subject filmmaker Victor Bonacore. It tells the story of Aloe (Erin Brown) and Vera (Allison Egan) who must negotiate an arid landscape controlled by rival gangs that's under threat from a small group of marauding invaders. A merciless serial killer driven by his own twisted form of vengeance is also on the loose.
'Thrust!' was filmed primarily on location in and around Dayton, Ohio in the United States of America. The screenplay was co-written by Victor Bonacore, Erin Brown and Hannah Neurotica and was inspired by the latter's unpublished prose piece, 'Sh*tf*cked : A Vile Love Story'. The seeds for this story were planted by the activities of the punk band Thrust who performed music in the 1990s using industrial articles like coils, springs, washers and metal sheeting. Thrust played some gigs at legendary New York punk club CBGB's. Hannah D. Forman (aka. Neurotica) was a writer for the magazine 'Ax Wound' and a contributor to the radio show 'Zinecore' which featured guests from the "no wave" punk movement like photographer Richard Kern, singer Lydia Lunch (Teenage Jesus And The Jerks) and filmmaker Nick Zedd.
Director Victor Bonacore is a member of the theatrical troupe Chainsaw Kiss and plays Punk Kid in the movie. There are other members of Chainsaw Kiss among the cast and Bonacore adds a wrestling angle to the story that befits Ohio. Impact! Wrestling champions Ace Austin (from neighbouring Pennsylvania) and Jessicka Havok (of Massillon) appear in character roles and hardcore legend Sami Callihan (of Bellefontaine) does voice work - wrestlers on set also had a hand in choreographing some of the action. Special praise should go to the charismatic Queen Aminata for her ferocious turn as Summer Eve (Aminata has worked as a trainer at the Ohio Pro Wrestling Academy and is currently signed to All Elite Wrestling).
'Thrust!' makes intelligent use of landscape to enhance themes explored by the writing. The industrial carcass of Ohio's decaying plains looks like an apocalypse has hit it and the gates of hell are recreated in Columbus. The crew utilise remnants of a closed chemical waste factory to mine gang territory, recalling the visual design of David DeCoteau's post-apocalyptic creature feature 'Creepozoids' (1987). Symbolism pits nature against modernisation, with punk icon Linnea Quigley as Mother Nature controlling a rabid railroad gang seen hovering ominously on the outskirts. Arresting lighting experiments and imposing camera angles create a strange symbiosis with evocative colour skylines, as interior sets burst forth with day-glo fusions. These interior neon spaces include a luminous hot pink toilet that stands in stark contrast to the steel, iron and lead weighing down Ohio's hellscapes. Screeds of graffiti enhance the tribal ambience as an avalanche of gang warfare takes its toll. A roller derby skater girl gang uses tyres and pallets with a purpose to mark out its territory, while a rogue wrestling gang roots its territory within the squared circle.
The blu-ray release of 'Thrust!' is an exceptional package bursting with extras that comes courtesy of Culture Shock, which is either a subsidiary arm of Vinegar Syndrome, or a partner label. It's suggested on the commentary track that conservative horror filmmaker Jim Van Bebber turned down a role because he considered the script "too woke". To put this in some kind of perspective, there's a fascinating sequence built around retro footage shot in stonervision that depicts a progressive political rally and satirises a speech delivered by Governor Mike DeWine in response to a shooting in Dayton (his old stomping ground Yellow Springs provided filming locations for 'Thrust'). Among the extras is a featurette with the character Scary Mary that's connected to the main feature, similar to Wes Anderson's 'The Darjeeling Limited' (2007) and its accompanying featurette 'Hotel Chevalier' (2007).
Needless to say, 'Thrust!' isn't a film I'd recommend to just anyone. It's subversive, transgressive guerrilla filmmaking, at times cruel, that lifts the lid on eerie Ohio, a state known for its gallows humour. There's ingenious special make-up effects (the bleeding bottle is a knockout), provocative costuming and a mixed soundtrack that includes punk, new wave, coldwave, darkwave and synthwave compositions. The eclectic cast includes several members of filmmaker Bill Zebub's stock company; Erin Brown, Ellie Church and Scarlett Storm, though Chainsaw Kiss member Ruby Larocca doesn't appear (I hope someone will find a way to release Victor Bonacore's short subject film 'Blood Wings' with Larocca and Linnea Quigley to dvd). Also, members of Scott Schirmer and Brian K. Williams company; Church, Brian Papandrea, Sadie Tate. The final word must go to Brown who's simply terrific in dual roles, confirming her status as one of independent horror cinema's most enigmatic performers.