A Black Heart in White Hell

 
Director - Dustin Mills (Her Name Was Torment, Easter Casket)
Starring - Dave Parker (Headless, Applecart), Reagan Root (Invalid), and Jeremy Ryan (Bath Salt Zombies, Slimy Little Bastards)
Release Date - 2015
Genre - Horror
Format - DVD (Personal Collection)

Rating (out of 5):

     Dustin Mills is a man of many talents and has made a name for himself in the indie horror scene with films like Her Name Was Torment, Kill That Bitch, Skinless, and so many more.  Mills has been releasing experimental horror flicks the last year or so under his Crumpleshack Films label.  These films are usually crude, raw, and full of sexual energy.  Mills recently released a new experimental short titled A Black Heart in White Hell starring the beautiful Reagan Root.  This looked like another solid release from Mills so I ordered the film and when it arrived I wanted to watch it so fucking bad but I had other films to review first so I placed it on the stack where I was tempted to move it to the top of the pile.  Well, I moved it to the top of the fucking pile. 

     The film follows a blood covered young woman who gets in the bath with a loaded gun and shoots herself.  She then awakens and finds herself in a white room with a television.  She finds some clothes and then turns the T.V. on.  She then begins to feel a pain in her lower stomach followed by a violent fit as blood pours from her vagina.  As the blood pours, she goes into a vision as a small, unborn child is floating through the heavens.  She then passes a fetus that is dead and then strangles herself with her shirt.  We then find her coming to in the same room but this time the blood has been cleaned and we follow her as she turns the T.V. on to find a man as he  is being bludgeoned to death by a hammer by the young girl.  She once again kills herself and awakens in the same room where she watches a third video in which a young man is gunned down by her hand.
     Dustin Mills is a filmmaker that will throw everything he can at his fans and is always mixing it up to keep them on their toes so when he announces he is making an experimental horror flick his fans have no clue where he is going to take them.  Mills has made a severe distinction between his Crumpleshack flicks and his DMP films.  His DMP films are more polished and have fun stories that are full of visual effects that take inspiration from Sushi Typhoon.  However, his Crumpleshack flicks are surreal adventures that take the viewer through sex-depraved worlds with a raw look that is still awe inspiring.  A Black Heart in White Hell is no exception.  This film is very story rich for a short and deliver on the trademark Mill's look and feel.  The acting in this one is great by indie newcomer Reagan Root.  This beautiful young lady commands her role and delivers a very demanding performance that deserves praise.  Her role is very strenuous considering everything this role called for.  This young lady is one to watch for!  The remainder of the cast, Dave and Jeremy, do a great job at dying.  Their roles were small but they dedicated it all to them and it shows.  The story for this one is yet another one I did not see coming from the warped mind of Mills.  The film follows a young lady who finds herself in death reliving the sins she committed.  This has been done before but never done like this.  The film begins with an unexpected turn when we learn the film's main character has an abortion and then followed that up with two murders.  Once again, I did not see this coming and Mills rubbed my face in it.  I would love to see an expansion of this one.  Finally, the film has several kill scenes ranging from a fetus dying to two men dying at the hands of a beautiful murderer.  The fetus is very explicit and bloody which is something you "underground" horror fans will fucking love.  The other two kills are on and off the camera to better pull the effect's gag off.  Though I would have preferred to see them both on camera, I can understand why they were not.  Overall, A Black Heart in White Hell is another hit from Mills and Crumpleshack.  The film is beautifully shot with several images that will soon become iconic in indie film making.  I often find myself going back to the phrase "a work of art" when I review a Mills flick but that phrase fits perfectly for all his films.  Check this one out if you enjoy sexually charged thrill rides.