Video Vision

The fascination with old VCR/Betamax tapes and machines is a lot more understandable than the mini resurgence of music cassette tapes. There are still many films that are only available in those formats whereas with the music cassettes there was a simultaneous release with the other formats.

Polemic over Video Vision is in some respects an homage to that old tech that as clunky as it is, possess a tangible sense of place and time. Here Kibby (Andrea Figliomeni) and her manager Rodney (Shelley Waifer) work in an old video rental store collecting and fixing old machines and transferring tapes to digital.

They take possession of an old VHS player, as well as forced to do a job for a person called Creepy Phil (Christopher Bligh), transferring tapes of his public access shows to digital. Into this comes Gator (Chrystal Peterson) who is looking to transfer tapes of their father’s band.

When Kibby hurts her hand on the old VHS the resultant blister bursts in her eye causing her to faint. The next morning is disorientating as she now sees through VHS fuzzy vision and vomiting video tape. At the same time, she’s attracted to Gator who is a trans-man. To complicate matters further Kibby’s incident with the VHS has released the malevolent Dr Analog (Hunter Kohl) from a dark dimension.

This is an interesting film in which writer and director Michael Turney tries to delve into complicated trans issues through Kibby and Gator’s mutual attraction. There’s also the horror element with Dr Analog being a product of its age and possessing Kibby to further his own nefarious ends.

Unfortunately, the two narratives don’t quite blend. In particular the didactic if well intentioned dialogue between Kibby and Gator. Those exchanges come over like a training film. The horror element with Dr Analog and his possession of Kibby and subsequent effects on Gator and Rodney then appear crude and bolted on. It has the appearance of two stories fighting for supremacy and could possibly have worked better as two short films.

Video Vision had its International Premiere at London Pigeon Shrine FrightFest, 24 August.