SKINAMARINK is the sort of film that askes more questions than it dare answer. For some it has proven a boon to their fears where horror is headed, to others it is a radical, self indulgent dive into the emptiness of the genre.

To me, well, we will get to that.

First the story. Two young kids wake up one night to find their world of father and home, have imploded. To cope with the strange situation, they create a fort of pillows and blankets and settle in. Finding comfort in videotapes of cartoons that are fraying at the seams, they sit down in the comfort of the space for a night of viewing. As the house becomes awash with slapstick sounds and comic bounces, it seems normalcy returns. But the night wears on and signs of grown-up intervention seem far and few. The space becomes claustrophobic and things begin to take a turn for the surreal.

SKINAMARINK divides audiences and so is catnip to both Blu Ray labels and producers.  In a world where you need to get bums on seats and importantly, cash in the till, this word of mouth angst and joy, gets ears wagging. For me, the film is self indulgent. It vacillates and intimates. We all understand it needs to do much of this due to financial constrains. Though it also needs to define things. Like A GHOST STORY, it expects a lot and both films fail to get to their relative points. This plays at being a psychological dive into childhood fears and perspectives. Failing to be, as that magazine which is not as esteems as once was, Empire called ‘A Rorschach test’. More it is a litmus test for the patience of viewers expecting their interpretations to be utilized. By this I mean, the film offers up questions but never seems to deliver on the answers. We all get that childhood is a time of fears in space and self, but why must we then experience it with such slow driven zeal. The dark is primal, it is the core of Humanity relationship with fire. We know this. Comfort and safety are key. So I understand the VHS and the familiar but the issue is that the home space is already more hostile than this. The commentary sheds some light of these topics but in the end, the branding and sales will have a lot of disappointed people watching…

Special Feature
Commentary with Writer/Director/Editor Kyle Edward Ball and Director of Photography Jamie McRae