The spirit of Dario Argento, spiced with more than a hint of the anything-goes vibe of Nobuhiko Obayashi’s HAUSU (1977), is evident in this British made, Italian language oddity from 2018. With a runtime of a little over nine minutes it could certainly have stood to be longer, but what’s here is undeniably impressive.
In keeping with its outre content, KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK (as of early 2019) has a highly unconventional distribution strategy. In a reaction against today’s insta YouTube viewing culture, the film’s writer-director Luther Bhogal-Jones is making the film available via MP4 files only to those who email him about it (fasterproductions@yahoo.co.uk with subject: 4KANDLES). Of any future internet or video release plans I’m not aware.
Anyway: the setting is an apartment building whose interiors are painted in a gaudy red and white art deco color scheme. There a disturbed young woman named Freya is staying. Having been severely burned during a psychotic episode, she wears a pressure mask that covers her face.
One night, after a concerned social worker, one Mrs. Stone, leaves her apartment, Freya is disturbed by a knock at her door. She answers it but finds no one there, which sets off an odyssey of paranoia and madness that sees Freya frantically crawling around on the floor of the hallway outside her apartment, traversing a hallucinatory forest, stabbing another tenant to death—or at least appearing to—and finally slashing her wrists with a shard of glass.
Knock Knock Knock Knock Trailer from Faster Productions on Vimeo.
What precisely happens is left up to the viewer to sort out for him/herself, with the filmmaker’s guiding principle being a quote by the late Lucio Fulci about THE BEYOND (1981): “It’s a plotless film…just a succession of images.” That does indeed sum up KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK, although what makes it intriguing narrative-wise are the hints of an underlying psychodrama the protagonist may be subconsciously reenacting.
The film’s main selling points are the amazing visuals created by Bhogal-Jones and cinematographer Darren Berry. Their use of color is notably pointed and audacious, with red and blue being in constant evidence (the lighting at one point flashing back and forth between the two hues). CGI imagery is also utilized quite artfully (in the constantly changing reflections seen in a shard of glass), along with varying film speeds and an animated sequence. The use of animation was apparently meant to visualize a pivotal scene that was never shot due to a scheduling conflict, yet it fits right in with the film’s gonzo spirit.
Vital Statistics
KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK
Faster Productions
Director: Luther Bhogal-Jones
Screenplay: Luther Bhogal-Jones
Cinematography: Darren Berry
Editing: Alan Santini
Cast: Natasha Lamper, Helen Ball, Luther Bhogal-Jones