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The cult of the Sleeping God is on the rise. Mr. Moon is dealing with the current emergency using methods imitated by the Night Scholars (methods that he does not fully understand).
When a Dreamer on a South London housing estate performs the ritual sacrifice of her two young children, Mr. Moon closes down the subsequent police investigation and has the Dreamer quickly interned at a secret location. Moon and his silent assistants deliver a grotesque sculpture found at the scene of the crime to Kenneth Reece Warren, a man who already knows too much. Warren was a psychiatrist and a former Night Scholar who now owns The Outsider Art Gallery in Hoxton.
Moon wants to discover more about the occult Sigil that can be used to restrict the influence of the Sleeping God on the Dreamers. He uses an experimental truth drug on Warren and proceeds to interrogate him about his experiences during the Falklands war and his knowledge of the Sigil.
Warren tells a disturbing tale: he was working for the Ministry of Defense on a covert mission to study the liberation forces in action, part of a large scale psychological profile of the modern British fighting man. Warren’s unit, led by Colonel Shaw, were instructed to establish a temporary command and control centre in an abandoned army hide on the south side of the islands.
They dispatched a five-man team, Delta Three, to an isolated farmhouse in search of an Argentine patrol. However, the unit members returned traumatized by what they experienced there. When Warren’s psychiatric skills were required his mission was compromised and Colonel Shaw decided to lead a night march to secure Cairnstone Farm. Inside the walls of the dilapidated farmhouse, Warren encountered Mr. Wilson, who was possessed by a soul of some entity from Earth’s distant past. Wilson reveals to Warren the origin of the Sleeping God and gives him a shield against its influences – the Sigil.
Moon is shaken by the chilling implications of Warren’s narrative. However it strengthens his conviction to reunite the Night Scholars and resume the Rough Magik initiative.
Contents:
Featured: Rough Magik, 2000, England, 49 mins, Color, 16x9, written and produced by Stephen Parsons, English Subtitles, English commentary with Stephen Parsons
Shorts:
-Terrible Old Man, 2001, Canada, 33 min, Color, 16x9, directed by Bob Fugger, English Subtitles
-From Beyond, 1999, Canada, 22 min, directed by Bob Fugger
-Experiment 17, 2005, USA, 4.5 min, 4x3, directed by Christian Matzke
-Experiment 18 - The Hexenhammer Projekt, 2007, USA, 10 min, 16x9, directed by Christian Matzke
Bonus:
-Interview with Scholar S.T. Joshi, 2004, 13 min, 4x3, interview by Andrew Migliore
-Interview with the crew of Terrible Old Man, 2004, 17 min.
-16x9, interview by Andrew Migliore
| Catalog Number: MC-802 |
Type: Feature |
Genre: Horror / Bizarre |
| Copyright: 2004 |
Length: 130 minutes |
Format:
DVD Region: 0 (All) |
| TV System: NTSC |
ISBN: |
UPC: 892586002024 |
| Label: Lurker Films, Inc. |
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Films In Compilation
Rough Magik directed by
Stephen
Parson
USA,
Science Fiction,
2004,
B&W/Color,
Magnetic Stereo,
00:00:00
The cult of the Sleeping God is on the rise. Mr. Moon is dealing with the current emergency using methods imitated by the Night Scholars (methods that he does not fully understand).
When a Dreamer ...
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2008-06-11 Curled up with a Good DVD
By Trent Daniel
The Rough Magik pilot, written and produced by Stephen W. Parsons and directed by Jamie Payne, was created in 1999. Though not picked up as a series by the BBC, its premise is promising: a top-secret organization called The Night Scholars have uncovered that an ancient Sleeping God is invading the dreams and controlling the will of unsuspecting humans (called Dreamers) in order to create chaos and anarchy in the world. According to the liner notes, the Night Scholars, led by a Mr. Moon, were effective at hunting down dreamers, but stepped on the wrong bureaucratic toes and were disbanded. However, after a disturbing increase in Dreamers and evidence that the Sleeping God is awakening, the Night Scholars are reunited, and it is up to Mr. Moon to control the situation before it is too late.
The featured episode has a genuinely creepy and disturbing opening as a female Dreamer nonchalantly sacrifices her two children to the Sleeping God. After investigating this event, Mr. Moon brings a bizarre sculpture made by the woman to the studio of former Night Scholar Kenneth Warren. Mr. Moon then interrogates Warren, and the rest of the film primarily revolves around Warren (heavily drugged) recounting his experience while serving on patrol in the Falkland Islands War, in particular the gruesome and bizarre encounter his patrol had at an isolated farmhouse on the island.
Unfortunately, the film does not build on the momentum of its opening. Though there are some particularly gruesome moments at the end of Warren’s story, it does drag a bit in the middle and certain moments seem in need of further explanation. This problem is likely to due to this being a pilot for a proposed The X-Files-type series; it seems that at various points, the foundations for key points in the main story arc are being laid down, with the intention of more and more information to be presented as the series unfolds. Thus, while the film has some strong moments and would be of interest to fans of Lovecraft, it again does not build on its strong start and there is a sense of incompleteness about it.
My personal favorite film on the disc is The Terrible Old Man by Bob Fugger. Unlike the labyrinthine Rough Magik, The Terrible Old Man is a short, complete campfire horror tale. The simple premise: three crooks on the run stop in a small diner, where they see a rather hideous looking old man paw at a waitress then tip her with a gold coin. After seeing the coin, the head thief decides that the old man’s house would make for an easy score on the side. Needless to say, the crooks get more than they bargained for. The film does not start strongly; set-up scenes involving the crooks are rather poorly acted. However, the story effectively builds in suspense as it advances and rides the momentum to a solid “Boo!” ending. In particular, the interior of the old man’s house is genuinely nightmarish (the director was clearly much stronger at lighting and set design than in coaching acting).
Fugger’s other short film, From Beyond, is not quite as strong. This tale revolves around a scientist meeting with a former colleague whom he believes has gone insane. However, he makes an amazing discovery: the colleague has created a machine that reveals dimensions just beyond our five senses. From Beyond takes itself much more seriously yet lacks the narrative drive of The Terrible Old Man. Furthermore, the film features special effects that are rather poor and somewhat of a distraction.
The other two shorts are by Christian Matzke. To be honest, I was not impressed with the two films by Matzke in Volume 1. His Experiment 17 included here is much more effective and disturbing than his previous films. He sets up the climactic scene beautifully - a mix of real archival footage and staged photographs set up the premise: in the early days of WWII, the Nazis have obtained The Necronomicon and have ordered a small team of scientists to uncover the book’s secrets. The short film builds to a brief but shocking scene as Experiment 17 is attempted but goes haywire (and this scene really does look like top-secret footage). Unfortunately, Matzke’s follow-up film, Experiment 18 (in which a Nazi private is ordered to attempt a follow-up spell from the book), is not effective in trying to build on the storyline established in the first film.
Overall, the centerpiece film in Volume 2 is not as strong as the centerpiece films of Volume 1 (Cool Air) or Volume 4 (Chilean Gothic). Again, the fact that it is a TV pilot rather than a film gives it a sense of incompleteness. More effective are two of the short films, particularly The Terrible Old Man, followed by Experiment 17.
Extras:
* Scene selection ad commentary track for Rough Magik
* An informative interview with Lovecraft scholar S.T. Joshi
* An eight-page printed booklet (almost entirely devoted to Rough Magik)
* Interviews with the crew of The Terrible Old Man
| 0000-00-00 The Horror Channel
Lurker Films has done an outstanding job of providing Poe devotees with an abundance of information about the man they hold in such high regard, and I am quite hopeful that, much as they have with their Lovecraft collections, we will soon see Volumes 2 and beyond filled with more of Poe's works.
| 2008-02-28
By Guillermo del Toro
The DVDs are astounding!!! Thank you, thank you, thank you very much.
| 2008-02-28 SONY PICTURES
By Dario Falzon
Your products are great and as a Lovecraft fan I was well impressed with the attention to detail taken in the layout and design of the booklets. Keep up the great work.
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