Federico De Caroli
Ectoplasm Flesh

Completed and released only in 2008, in an absolutely underground way, after a very long and troubled production, this "Ectoplasm Flesh" is one of the most hallucinatory and mind-bending films I have ever seen. Despite all the flaws of low-budget independent productions, the visionary and chilling prophecies of the author (known mainly in the music world) manage to make their mark thanks to a dreamlike, almost subliminal narrative, and an abundance of erotic and esoteric suggestions of strong originality.

We are in the realm of Lynch and Tsukamoto, with a blend of surrealism and industrial culture that turns into science fiction without the slightest use of special effects. Here at the center of the futurism is an alien invasion that almost completely exterminates humanity, attacking and devastating with invisible electromagnetic waves, saving only a specific category of individuals (revealed in the pessimistic ending). The story is narrated by the female voice of a survivor who retraces - first confusingly, then with a spirit of revelation - her initial contacts with the invaders and the discovery of the reason why she was left alive.

Dirty images, cross-cutting editing, and a poverty of technology to which the director makes up with the strength of the sequences and dialogues, exploiting his skills as a sound manipulator and some of his experimental musical compositions. The result is a film of about 20 minutes in which one delves into the most astonishing and provocative of hypotheses about extraterrestrial colonization. A hypothesis that, if expressed in a mainstream film, would certainly have sparked a sea of controversy and opposition. Whereas here it is an interesting point of reflection staged with industrious creativity, even though a higher production budget would probably have helped.

There are numerous erotic allegories, with dreamlike memories of seduction by the aliens. And then a variety of distorted inventions that are almost never seen in wide-release productions.

The regret remains that this work is difficult to find, to see. And that especially in Italy, insufficient attention is paid to works endowed with originality and innovation. I was lent a duplicate, which I went to great lengths to obtain.