I can't give FIRST TRANSMISSION a "proper" rating. As listed on here, it is made up of several short films that I received on 3 discs (thanks STREEBO...) apparently culled from the "works" of the cult group, THEE TEMPLE OV PSYCHICK YOUTH - though I'm not positive that all the material on the 3 discs is strictly from THEE TEMPLE. As these are compilation discs, there is some material that appears to be related, but not from the group itself. You'll see what I mean later...
The little bit that I've researched this group gives me the same impression that I get from any "radical" religious or anti-religious sect - and that is - that THEE TEMPLE is made up of wayward and confused young adults that are screaming out for attention and acceptance by searching for answers and meaning in a world that can really provide them with neither. As is common with most of these subversive groups - it appears that drugs and sex are their "gateway" to enlightenment, along with strange and unintelligible rituals and beliefs that really make no sense. Don't believe me?...check out their official website (www.TOPY.net) and tell me what you make of it. Anyway - here's the films I saw - I'll give a short description of each and my thoughts...
DISC 1: The "film" starts with a monologue from a spokesperson for THEE TEMPLE basically spouting nonsensical rhetoric about the power of busting a nut...not very interesting - just strange.
Next we have THEE RITUAL OV PSYCHICK YOUTH. I have to admit - this is a pretty powerful short film that shows some rough material. It's shot very art-house style with dark lighting and some strange interspersed editing - but it works on a shock-value level. It starts with a bound man being whipped by some others. Later on we see this same person laid on a mattress and along with others of the "group" and drugged and ritualistically cut with a knife. This stuff is real. There are obviously no special FX involved here. There are some strange brief scenes edited in of some sort of sex rituals and other weird visuals. Eventually - the guy on the mattress is p!ssed on and given what appears to be a blood enema. All of this isn't quite as horrible as it sounds, but it is semi-disturbing and not recommended for the average film viewer. There is no "story" involved in this short-film - just more of an "artistic" documentary of the events taking place. The strange ambient music makes the whole thing that much stranger...
Next comes THANK YOU DAD - which is just a bunch of stock dialogue from notorious suicide cult-leader Jim Jones with some very grainy film stock thrown in.
Next up - DREAM MACHINE which is just some weird logo that spins around on a fuzzy background. This lasts a minute or two...
Finally we have some more rhetoric in the form of INDIVIDUAL OV POWER - nothing to really comment about this nonsense...
DISC 2: Contains the "infamous" castration film that is thought by some to possibly be real snuff footage. Two big misconceptions about this film - Number 1: it's not snuff - no one is killed in the film. Number 2 - it's not a castration film as castration designates having your nuts removed. That's not what happens. This kid is de-penised - maybe just a matter of semantics, but I thought I'd mention it. This short is very weird and very real. I believe that the footage contained herein is completely authentic. Watch it and judge for yourself. It basically shows some "doctor" who is experimenting on seemingly willing young adults (I hope for legalities sake that they're adults...) by attaching some weird electrodes to them. This whole thing culminates with the last boy - where the doctor removes his penis on film, sews it up, and then attaches electrodes to it. I have no idea what's actually happening in the film as the only audio is what sounds like television noise - but it appears to be 100% real. The production values are too low for any sort of special FX - and there are no "cut-aways" - this is some weird sh!t...
After this is a documentary about Satanism in the UK that I don't think has anything to do with THEE TEMPLE, except for the fact that the video of RITUAL OV PSYCHICK YOUTH is used as an example of possible "proof" of ritualistic torture...
Disc 3: Is a bunch of footage from PSYCHICK TV - a band who at the time was the "propaganda arm" of THEE TEMPLE. It has some live performance footage mixed in with weird intercut visuals. There are a few more shorts on this disc too - nothing noteworthy, especially the horribly named PSYCHOPORN which sounded really promising, but is just a bunch of out of focus crap with weird music behind it...
Overall - this is a very "interesting" set of films. I can't say that I liked them...but RITUAL and the de-penising film are strong material for those that thrive on underground sleaze. If you're like me - you'll want to check these out. Although pretty rare - they are available if you hunt for 'em...
The little bit that I've researched this group gives me the same impression that I get from any "radical" religious or anti-religious sect - and that is - that THEE TEMPLE is made up of wayward and confused young adults that are screaming out for attention and acceptance by searching for answers and meaning in a world that can really provide them with neither. As is common with most of these subversive groups - it appears that drugs and sex are their "gateway" to enlightenment, along with strange and unintelligible rituals and beliefs that really make no sense. Don't believe me?...check out their official website (www.TOPY.net) and tell me what you make of it. Anyway - here's the films I saw - I'll give a short description of each and my thoughts...
DISC 1: The "film" starts with a monologue from a spokesperson for THEE TEMPLE basically spouting nonsensical rhetoric about the power of busting a nut...not very interesting - just strange.
Next we have THEE RITUAL OV PSYCHICK YOUTH. I have to admit - this is a pretty powerful short film that shows some rough material. It's shot very art-house style with dark lighting and some strange interspersed editing - but it works on a shock-value level. It starts with a bound man being whipped by some others. Later on we see this same person laid on a mattress and along with others of the "group" and drugged and ritualistically cut with a knife. This stuff is real. There are obviously no special FX involved here. There are some strange brief scenes edited in of some sort of sex rituals and other weird visuals. Eventually - the guy on the mattress is p!ssed on and given what appears to be a blood enema. All of this isn't quite as horrible as it sounds, but it is semi-disturbing and not recommended for the average film viewer. There is no "story" involved in this short-film - just more of an "artistic" documentary of the events taking place. The strange ambient music makes the whole thing that much stranger...
Next comes THANK YOU DAD - which is just a bunch of stock dialogue from notorious suicide cult-leader Jim Jones with some very grainy film stock thrown in.
Next up - DREAM MACHINE which is just some weird logo that spins around on a fuzzy background. This lasts a minute or two...
Finally we have some more rhetoric in the form of INDIVIDUAL OV POWER - nothing to really comment about this nonsense...
DISC 2: Contains the "infamous" castration film that is thought by some to possibly be real snuff footage. Two big misconceptions about this film - Number 1: it's not snuff - no one is killed in the film. Number 2 - it's not a castration film as castration designates having your nuts removed. That's not what happens. This kid is de-penised - maybe just a matter of semantics, but I thought I'd mention it. This short is very weird and very real. I believe that the footage contained herein is completely authentic. Watch it and judge for yourself. It basically shows some "doctor" who is experimenting on seemingly willing young adults (I hope for legalities sake that they're adults...) by attaching some weird electrodes to them. This whole thing culminates with the last boy - where the doctor removes his penis on film, sews it up, and then attaches electrodes to it. I have no idea what's actually happening in the film as the only audio is what sounds like television noise - but it appears to be 100% real. The production values are too low for any sort of special FX - and there are no "cut-aways" - this is some weird sh!t...
After this is a documentary about Satanism in the UK that I don't think has anything to do with THEE TEMPLE, except for the fact that the video of RITUAL OV PSYCHICK YOUTH is used as an example of possible "proof" of ritualistic torture...
Disc 3: Is a bunch of footage from PSYCHICK TV - a band who at the time was the "propaganda arm" of THEE TEMPLE. It has some live performance footage mixed in with weird intercut visuals. There are a few more shorts on this disc too - nothing noteworthy, especially the horribly named PSYCHOPORN which sounded really promising, but is just a bunch of out of focus crap with weird music behind it...
Overall - this is a very "interesting" set of films. I can't say that I liked them...but RITUAL and the de-penising film are strong material for those that thrive on underground sleaze. If you're like me - you'll want to check these out. Although pretty rare - they are available if you hunt for 'em...