FILM GUTTER REVIEWS: VIBROBOY (1994)

Dir. Jan Kounen, 28 mins

There’s a huge amount on the Film Gutter list that I always ‘meant to get round to’ – and honestly after wrapping up in January I assumed I never would. But here we are, still in (sort of) lockdown, and hopefully our temporary return is providing a little distraction and maybe some film recs to keep you busy during this time too…

Anyway, Vibroboy has always been on said list, and bearing in mind just how short it is, it seems somehow criminal it’s taken quite this long to get to. French extreme generally has a pretty good reputation in my eyes, so it always had that going for it too.

And I can now say ‘why on Earth didn’t I watch this sooner’ because, in short, Vibroboy was absolutely great.

So, the story follows a trio of characters – beginning with Francesca, an extravagant cross-dresser who returns from an unspecified archaeological trip with a gift for Brigitte (this serves as a separate cutaway at the start of the film). The two of them live at opposite ends of a tiny trailer park, and get along well – much to the chagrin of Brigitte’s abusive, obnoxious partner Leon, who remains persuaded that Francesca is attempting to seduce Brigitte right under his nose. Leon’s character is staggeringly over the top, but then again the whole movie is – everything is deliberately exaggerated for effect, giving the whole thing the feel of a real dark, surreal pantomime. The artifact Francesca brought back is of course an immediate bone of contention, but this is no regular objet d’art – no, it’s a distinctly phallic-shaped piece rumoured to contain the captured spirit of El Vibro…

Vibroboy is one of those occasions where everything feels pitch-perfect, as though the director has smashed everything out of the park just the way they wanted it. The energy in the performances all round is incredible, the chemistry between the trio of performers is excellent, and the visual style is really striking – the use of camera angles feels very clever, and gives the whole thing a further manic and uncomfortable edge. It has almost the style of other French movies the likes of Micmacs or The City of Lost Children – although a very different type of film. It’s dark, deranged and ultimately a very strange slice of fantasy. If you’re a fan of French film you may indeed recognise one or two of the actors involved too, who has gone on to some pretty notable success since this offering.

A huge part of me wants to talk about the ending to this film, but the other side thinks that I would just be doing you a disservice in giving away the finale. Suffice to say it’s worth waiting for, and perfectly in keeping with everything that came before it. Plot-wise it goes for just the right amount for its runtime – I don’t think that you could have spun this out any longer, and there was certainly never a feature film buried in here that didn’t get out. But if you’re looking for a wild, out there, delirious half an hour, you could certainly do a lot worse than Vibroboy..

RATING: 9.5/10. It’s fair to say that this movie won’t be for everybody – it’s certainly intense, and gets right in your face from the get-go. However for me that was a part of what made it work, and you’ll probably know within a few minutes if this is not going to float your boat. What I loved the most were the bizarre visuals and the flat-out energetic acting all around – it barely drops for a second and is overblown – because that’s what works, never just for the sake of being overblown. Director Jan Kounen does have a few feature film credits to his name too, so if you’ll excuse me I’m off for a scout around to dig those out. In the meantime, a very warm recommendation for this genuinely entertaining offering – and entertaining is not something I can always say, even for movies I’ve rated very highly here…

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