The premise of this new fright-flick might be a well-worn one but it takes a bit of a gamble by making its theme both contemporary and highly contentious. On the one hand we have an apartment in New York which obviously has something more than a little sinister about it and has ghosts of the past possessing its very fabric. On the other, as we learn, it used to be a party pad owned by scumbag Jeffrey Epstein and was used to host his depraved orgies and perhaps even worse deeds including torture and murder.

We enter its doors via a smarmy estate agent showing around the main leads of the film Noelle and Addie (Madeline Quinn and Betsy Brown). One would assume they are good friends, after all they are looking at sharing living space but once they move in that veneer is quickly peeled away. They seem different people and their relationship is fractious with plenty of sniping at each other and all manner of insecurity becoming apparent. Cue the eventual appearance of a character whose name is never properly revealed. ‘The girl’ is played by director and co-writer (along with Quinn) Dasha Nekrasova. I can’t say that I was familiar with this Belarusian – American previous works but she has played various roles in a variety of shows and has been quite forward about left wing and socialist ideologies. You can easily see her hatred of the whole Epstein affair and although the film does have a certain amount of conspiracy theories introduced into the plot-lines she has a platform here and along with the character of Noelle whom she befriends quickly and intimately with, they have no problems in espousing them very loudly and clearly.

Naturally whilst all this is going on the evil influence of the building is having an effect, mainly this is on the insecure Addie whom it has no problem infiltrating leading to her having sex with her somewhat ineffectual boyfriend and getting into roleplay wanting him to pretend they are on a Boeing 727 and he is “fucking her like a 13-year-old” oof. It’s probably not surprising that she is quickly kicked both out of bed and to the curb. But Addie was already described as having mental problems and her flatmate and new friend are too busy sleuthing to notice her sporadic outbreaks of masturbation and increasingly demented behaviour. With Satanic subplots and allusions to CIA mind-control experiments the whole plot hangs together on a thread but somehow pulls things off thrusting the viewer into a strange and sinister metauniverse, where working out what is real and what is a figment of the imagination is just part of what is going on.

The shocks here are not in the blood and gore side, in fact there is very little, nor is it in the sex and nudity particularly. It is however found in the vehemence of the language and loathing of the surrounding true-life drama (and probably quite rightly so). There is no escape for others that were caught up in the whole rigmarole and if this film lands in the player of a certain person it is going to cause a right royal sweat. The UK monarchy takes a massive mauling via the dialogue and obviously with current events the timing of this release is going to really peeve any Royalists watching it. In fact, it’s going to split audience response right down the middle and could well vilify many watching it. Not me however and I cannot help admire the sheer bravado and balls of those involved.

The influences here are quite interesting. Obviously, we go back to Polanski and Rosemary’s Baby with the whole malevolent Manhattan apartment scenario (the underage sex thing being somewhat ironic with mentioning him too), then there are things that fans of Kubrick’s equally divisive Wide Eyes Shut will pick up on. I had noted that the word giallo had been tagged with the press blurb and was cynical about that, it’s getting trendy to do this these days. However, as the movie played there were certain points where the colour scheme and cinematography did make me somewhat change my mind. Another sub-plot here is to do with some tarot cards found at the apartment and our detectives discover that it is one of five buildings that were owned by Epstein forming the points of a pentagram. This and a scene where they visit a magical healing shop, strange apothecary could almost be straight out of Dario Argento’s supernatural giallo Inferno. You can’t dismiss any of this and this gave the film a sense of respectability to its knowledge of source material that couldn’t help but endear me to it, despite its somewhat exploitative nature. Speaking of which I also couldn’t help thinking what a great double bill this would make with Ruggero Deodato’s usurpation of true crime Ballad In Blood.

There’s some overacting, the leads seem too intent to get their loathing of what they are saying across, so at times it seems forced (apparently some of this was improvised). On the plus side though Eli Kezler’s score is exceptional and right on the very heartbeat of the action. Whether you love it or loathe it the film certainly leaves you with a very bitter taste and its not one you can shrug off after seeing. Even a hot shower isn’t going to wash the underlying grit and grime away so for me this has ultimately succeeded as bit of an unexpected shocker.

With this in mind, naturally I was interested in dipping into the extras which apart from 2 commentary tracks we get just over an hour’s worth of assorted interviews. First up Betsy Brown has a brief chat and says that she likes going places others would basically fear to tread and knew that “masturbating in front of Jeffery Epstein’s house” was a thing that she knew she was here to do…ok. Obviously, a tough part to play and one that would not have suited everyone, Betsy found it cathartic and perhaps even empowering and fun. Challenges of filming during Covid was something else that had to be confronted too. Her description of the film being “perverted and confrontational” cannot be denied. Dasha Nekrasova is up next and the whole true life and questions raised over Epstein’s arrest and incarceration inspired a mania in her to explore the concept that “earthly evil had metaphysical repercussions.” Producer Mark Rapaport who also plays Addie’s boyfriend Greg talks about the narrative and the fact that someone was destined to make a horror film on the subject matter, filming techniques and playing a self-described douchebag.

Finally, we get a half-hour Q&A at Beyond Fest 2021 with Dasha, Madeline & Betsy which is both interesting and fills in some gaps. Dasha talking about being on ketamine whilst buying Andrew and Fergie memorabilia and stealing Epstein’s real mail just goes to show that she ain’t backwards in coming forwards. The close bond between the three comes out here as well as the collaborative effort that went into making the movie and this made me intrigued on what all involved will come up with next. “What are the prospects for a UK release,” is asked? Dasha replies, “the people in the UK all agree with me and everything we said.” I think that remains to be seen… Full kudos for producers Vinegar Syndrome for providing subtitles on all these extras.

The film is out in the UK on October 3rd via Fractured Visions complete with collector’s slipcase, booklet and art cards in a limited-edition of 2000 copies.

(Pete Woods)

PRE-ORDER: The Scary of Sixty-First (Limited Edition) [Blu-Ray]