Larva Mental © TetroVideo

    TetroVideo reached out to me last week to see if I would be interested in reviewing one of their titles. Well of course I was. TetroVideo has put out some extremely haunting films in the past. So you can imagine my excitement when I received my screener and found out I had been given the task of reviewing Larva Mental. Now I am not familiar with this one bit. This is me going in blind more or less because aside from a few teaser posts on Facebook, I know nothing about this other than the few screen grabs that were shared. I do, however, know of Mikel Balerdi a little bit through his Instagram and Facebook page. So I know that I am in for a blood filled, terrifying mind fuck. I also know that this movie will end up staying with me for a long time, such as most TetroVideo releases do. Their releases tend to frighten beyond the physical. Most of their releases mentally scar you. So are you excited to forever ruin your psyche? In the immortal words of Tanner James, I know I am, lets do it.

    The movie has a rough runtime of 61 mins. Its in, I believe, Spanish and my copy has no subtitles. Now while there is very little dialogue in the film, there are a few times where i feel they would be very helpful, mainly with the note that the female character writes. This is a mainly visual storytelling experience though. It's a graphic tale of loss, sadness and ultimately a beautifully downer ending. The director is widely known for extreme body performances, and its on display in this film. Fans of outsider art will definitely want to check this out, Mikel mixes real body performance with practical special effects and 99% of the time I can not tell what's real and what's effects. Its glorious, it's seamless, it's hauntingly disgusting. More than anything though it's very sad. I found myself really feeling sorry for Mikel's character. He obviously is unable to cope with the loss he endures in the film, that being the loss of the female character after she discovers a video of the lead playing around with a metal crucifix in a pig mask, its part due to drug use and part just madness. With a mixture of shame, drugs and rage at himself, he descends deeper into his world of self mutilation and horrifyingly disturbing hallucinations. The man's inability to deal with his loss, or his choice to feel the loss in such a visceral way, leads to his ultimate undoing and he is last seen laying next to our decomposed female character after having overdosed on drugs and a deep all consuming regretful sadness.

    Now while i sit here and say this is a sad story, don't get me wrong. This is brutal to sit through. I found myself trying to follow the sad story line of loss so as to not focus so much on the self mutilation our male lead does to himself. There is plenty onscreen for the fans of cock mutilation, self cutting and other forms of body performances to keep you glued to the screen. However, there is a lot more to this film than just a gross out or 'what-the-fuck-did-I-just-watch' factor. Its a real emotional journey that made me ask myself, if put in a similar position of loss would I punish myself or would my demons make me punish myself?

    The score is wonderful. Really sets the melancholy mood that is present during the films runtime. There is nothing that takes you out of the overwhelming sense of dread and nervous sadness that is tangible in this film. This is a great character study of a depraved person who is unaware of what exactly his world can do to people he cares for.

    TetroVideo, as I said at the start of this, puts out some projects that will stick with you for a long time. This is certainly one of them. Visually and mentally disturbing, Larva Mental is a film that will have you wondering what escaping your reality truly costs. Be on the look out for the release date of this from TetroVideo and don't be shy about checking out all their other releases. Trust me. I'm Some Guy.