To see why the independent film scene remains at the vanguard of cinematic innovation, just take a look at the magnificent arthouse vampire film Love Wants Us Dead, written and directed by the new major auteur Israel Perez.
Out in the California desert, Anais (Wendy Zhuo) wanders through empty rooms of abandoned houses, left behind to one day be swallowed by the sands. She is constantly filming with a camcorder, capturing all the desolation she walks among. Meanwhile, Rose (Lindy Jones) works day after day at Lancaster Plumbing Supply with Pablo (Pablo Santiago). While waiting for customers, Pablo goes over the latest reports of a series of murders that have been occurring in the area. Rose pays little attention, as she is obsessed with film art and dreams of higher stimulation than what she gets, stuck in Lancaster.
Anais shows up at the shop, making a secret deal with Pablo to rent out an unused room in the back. Anais seems very mysterious to Rose, and she is drawn to her. After looking at the film footage Anais has taken, Rose feels like she has met someone who finally can understand her passion for visual experimentation. What Rose doesn’t know yet is that Anais has an uncontrollable addiction to human blood that she cannot fight. The trapped join in a dance with the doomed that will rise higher than can be imagined.
“Out in the California desert, Anais, wanders through empty rooms of abandoned houses…”
In his feature debut, Perez establishes himself as a laudable new force in international cinema; he is a white-hot meteor of talent that is now just making its descent upon our planet. Love Wants Us Dead is independent filmmaking with a capital I, as Perez displays a deep understanding of that old arthouse magic conjured up by the underground greats. Upon first blink of Perez’s outstanding frame compositions, I realized I was dealing with a master cinematographer as well as writer/director. Perez knows what to shoot and how to shoot it. He has developed an incredible ghost town aesthetic with loving detail to desert deterioration, one that has no real equivalent in cinema, as it more resembles some of the best high art photography. Seeing these characters existing in this decayed landscape brings home their feeling of reaching for the stars while sinking in quicksand.
Perez also includes the best tutorial on appreciating avant-garde film legend Maya Deren I have ever seen in a film (or in a film class, for that matter). Deren’s methods to her movie madness are explained nicely and clearly, with a gorgeous-looking faded paperback on the subject being used as a reference onscreen. Then the filmmaker, in what may be a perfect climactic scene, puts the Deren methods to work, showing the power of the experimental techniques she developed. Love Wants Us Dead emotionally ripped my ribcage open like butterfly wings.
For more information, visit the Love Wants Us Dead official Instagram page.
"…emotionally ripped my ribcage open like butterfly wings/"
