Everything I've seen so far by Iskanov has pretty much been boring or awful, with the exception of the director's cut of Visions of Suffering (a huge improvement over the original), which has some compelling visuals and atmosphere on a low-budget. Nails, however, isn't far off from dreck like Philosophy of a Knife. It starts off in black and white with the main character in the middle of a hit on a crime boss of some sort. The setting seems to be that of a dystopic sci-fi, with the interesting element of his gun stating that his daily ammunition allotment has been used up part way through the scene. This forces him to dispose of the boss's female companion with a knife; in a strange turn of events, she seems... almost turned on by what transpires and the whole scene is rather fetishistic. The effects and gore are also laughable.
From this point on, the film is hopelessly directionless. He mills about in his room while haunted by visions of those whom he has murdered. And that's... pretty much it. The name of the film comes from the main's bright idea to hammer nails into his head as a cure for all that ails him, resulting in an oversaturated, hallucinatory world in color and tripped-out visuals. It's fairly inventive in the tricks that it employs on a shoestring budget, similar to something like Shinya Tsukamoto's Tetsuo, Sogo Ishii, Shozin Fukui, etc, but it's ultimately wasted on a one-note gore premise and a so-so descent into madness.
He doesn't do much except try to fix himself dinner with an arrangement of nasty jello-caked critters. It's not clear if these disgusting assortments are a result of his unraveling mind or the dystopian world he inhabits. Now all that's left is for him to spout a bit of philosophy in a typically cryptic Russian art cinema style and have his "hitgirl" girlfriend over for a bit of conflict. The atmosphere and visuals peak sometime around this point, but Iskanov has no restraint whatsoever, so it's to be expected that film connoisseurs will be pleased one moment and cringing in disgust in the next moment.
The cinematography and effects are a mixed bag. Certain detailed close-ups are very effective, and the saturation and odd visuals help to obscure the limits of the budget. But certain shots simply look awful. There's far more of a kitchen sink approach than there is meticulous craftsmanship.
The script is the main problem. I don't really have much of an issue with the dialogue or themes, but there's just not much happening at all. Even having the main character contracted for another hit and breaking down along the way in a nightmarish world would have been a conventional angle that would have worked better than the next to nothing we got for over an hour. Perhaps what they had would have been okay with better pacing or some cuts for time, but it's debatable. The ending is rather nasty, but will likely leave most viewers scratching their heads or shrugging their shoulders. Meh.
It has a bit of an "insane" feel and has the touch of an auteur, albeit one who is on the lowbrow, z-budget side of the spectrum. It's a somewhat effective example of creating a unique visual style and atmosphere on a low-budget for an aspiring filmmaker, so I'd recommend it for film students who like genre films, but if you want a truly GOOD movie, you can probably safely avoid this.
From this point on, the film is hopelessly directionless. He mills about in his room while haunted by visions of those whom he has murdered. And that's... pretty much it. The name of the film comes from the main's bright idea to hammer nails into his head as a cure for all that ails him, resulting in an oversaturated, hallucinatory world in color and tripped-out visuals. It's fairly inventive in the tricks that it employs on a shoestring budget, similar to something like Shinya Tsukamoto's Tetsuo, Sogo Ishii, Shozin Fukui, etc, but it's ultimately wasted on a one-note gore premise and a so-so descent into madness.
He doesn't do much except try to fix himself dinner with an arrangement of nasty jello-caked critters. It's not clear if these disgusting assortments are a result of his unraveling mind or the dystopian world he inhabits. Now all that's left is for him to spout a bit of philosophy in a typically cryptic Russian art cinema style and have his "hitgirl" girlfriend over for a bit of conflict. The atmosphere and visuals peak sometime around this point, but Iskanov has no restraint whatsoever, so it's to be expected that film connoisseurs will be pleased one moment and cringing in disgust in the next moment.
The cinematography and effects are a mixed bag. Certain detailed close-ups are very effective, and the saturation and odd visuals help to obscure the limits of the budget. But certain shots simply look awful. There's far more of a kitchen sink approach than there is meticulous craftsmanship.
The script is the main problem. I don't really have much of an issue with the dialogue or themes, but there's just not much happening at all. Even having the main character contracted for another hit and breaking down along the way in a nightmarish world would have been a conventional angle that would have worked better than the next to nothing we got for over an hour. Perhaps what they had would have been okay with better pacing or some cuts for time, but it's debatable. The ending is rather nasty, but will likely leave most viewers scratching their heads or shrugging their shoulders. Meh.
It has a bit of an "insane" feel and has the touch of an auteur, albeit one who is on the lowbrow, z-budget side of the spectrum. It's a somewhat effective example of creating a unique visual style and atmosphere on a low-budget for an aspiring filmmaker, so I'd recommend it for film students who like genre films, but if you want a truly GOOD movie, you can probably safely avoid this.