John Carpenter's Cigarette Burns

100 Movies in 100 Days
Movie 21 Day 21
John Carpenter's Cigarette Burns

I'm mixing things up a bit. I love finding movies that no one has ever heard of. It's my hope that all my readers will hop on Amazon and rent them immediately after reading. I know that's not the case but it's fun to pretend. Side topic, thank you to all my loyal readers. It means so much to me to see the little counter go up with views. Sometimes I write and wonder if anyone else is reading. It's a wonderful feeling to come back and see people are enjoying the little movie reviews. Any who, let's crack on with Cigarette Burns.

I found this little gem when I went on a Norman Reedus kick last winter. It was part of a series called Masters of Horror. This is one of the short films that came out of that show and it's creepy!!! Norman Reedus stars as Kirby, a recovered heroin addict who owns and lives a movie theater. (Owning and living in a vintage movie theater is my dream!) Kirby paid for the theater with a loan by his deceased girlfriend's father. He hates Kirby and wants his money back. Kirby takes side jobs finding rare movies for rich people. (Another dream of mine!)

Kirby is hired by this eccentric millionaire Bellinger, played by Udo Kier. Bellinger wants a film called La Fin Absolue du Monde, an urban legend film. At the premiere of La Fin Absolue du Monde, the entire audience became violent and killed each other. Everyone claimed the movie made them do it and the film, the only copy, was destroyed. Bellinger believes the film is still out there and wants Kirby to find it.

Ok slight spoilers ahead because it's too good!! Bellinger's source of the film's survival is an angel he has chained up in his mansion. The angel tells Kirby the film still exists because he is stuck on earth. It's a total WTF moment and it's in the first 15 minutes! What the heck is on this movie?!?!? Kirby becomes obsessed with finding it. The closer he gets to the film, the more his demons start to appear.

What are Cigarette Burns? For those of you not in the film industry, Cigarette Burns are in 35 MM film reels. They were put in the corner of the film to let the reel operator know when to change the reels. In this film, Kirby starts to see Cigarette Burns in real life. The closer he gets to finding the film, the more he starts to see things. He sees ghost of his past.

Why this film? I love the idea of movies having power over people. I love to think that films can leave a lasting impression. Cigarette Burns poses the question what if a film is evil, pure evil. Will the darkness follow you? What if a movie is demonic and you open up a darkness inside of yourself? Gives you chills doesn't it?!

If you are in the mood for something twisted but brilliant, check out this film. I promise, it will stay with you long after the credits roll.