S&Man

S&Man
Directed by	J. T. Petty
Produced by	Jason Kliot Lawrence Mattis Joan Vicente
Screenplay by	J.T. Petty
Starring	Carol J. Clover Debbie D Michelle Glick Erik Marcisak
Music by	On Filmore Darin Gray Glenn Kotche
Cinematography	Patrick McGraw
Editing by	Andy Grieve
Studio	HDNet Films
Distributed by	Magnolia Pictures
Release date(s)	March 10, 2006 (2006-03-10) (South by Southwest Film Festival)
Running time	84 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English

S&Man (pronounced as Sandman) is a 2006 pseudo-documentary film that examines the underground subculture of horror films. It combines real interviews with indie horror film makers and a scripted plot that does not immediately come into focus until the second half of the film. The film compares the aspects of filmmaking and voyeurism.

Plot

The film starts with a murder scene from the once notorious film Peeping Tom with the director's voiceover explaining what the film was originally conceived to be. S&Man exposes the voyeuristic nature of faux snuff films and the desensitizing of modern society. Some context is added about sexual deviancy and about the role of gender in horror films. S&Man is mainly focused around Eric Rost who literally stalks women for weeks for his films. If the women accept his invitation to be a part of his films, they are "bound, gagged, tortured, and eventually butchered." In order to show the motivations of people involved with these types of films, he shows gory clips that Nick Schager of The Village Voice described as "repulsive" and "absorbing". The film has a fictional subplot where Erik Marcisak acts as if he is Eric Rost in a role that tries to raise the question on whether or not Eric Rost's films are really snuff films. Opinions from experts in the field say that horror films are both sadistic and masochistic while discussing paraphilias and saying that most voyeurs may seem creepy, but are not dangerous. Carol Clover, the author of Men, Women, and Chainsaws: Gender in Modern Horror, is featured providing facts about horror filmmaking. Bill Zebulb is shown saying, "I don't shoot movies to make art; I shoot movies so perverts will give me money.

Featured cast

Bill Zebub is the director of low-budget fetish exploitation films such as Jesus Christ: Serial Rapist. Fred Vogel is the head of Toetag Pictures and works with his fiancée on voyeuristic films. Eric Rost is the main featured person in the film who directs the S&MAN video series. The actress Debbie D who stars in low-budget fetish exploitation films is interviewed along with a sexologist and her husband, a forensic psychologist. The author Carol Clover is also interviewed. Johnny Butane of Dread Central said that he thinks that J. T. Petty should have picked a bigger variety of subjects.

Production

We have to react to real violence and real snuff footage all the time, news channels show decapitations and bodies dragged in the streets.

—J. T. Petty, The Globe and Mail

The director J. T. Petty originally intended for this film to focus on a man that spied on his neighborhood and lived close to the house that he occupied as a child. Finding a camera taping his neighbor's house for hours fascinated him so much that he thought that he should direct a film about it. The footage led to an indictment towards "the peeper" who recorded 191 videotapes of the neighborhood. The indictment implied the footage should be viewed in court, but the people in the neighborhood opposed this for privacy violation concerns. J. T. Petty said of the 191 videotapes, "I admired the peeping tom; he had made movies that were frightening and titillating and real." The film was already financed by a company, but he was left without a subject since the recorder wanted nothing to do with it. The man that taped the videos is still at the same house. Petty ended up focusing his film on three directors. These directors did not direct films in the common sense of the word; they directed simulated snuff films that involve murder and sexual violation. The "snuff" directors are Fred Vogel, Bill Zebub, and Eric Rost. The director went to the Chiller Convention, a convention for fans of simulated snuff films, where he first meant the three other directors that would later become subjects of his documentary. J. T. Petty argues that horror films that most people consider mainstream "are rooted in the same voyeuristic leanings which sell such freakish fetish videos". The film's title comes from Eric Rost's S&MAN video series.

Film references

The film references other films, including Peeping Tom, The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer, Kill the Scream Queen, and the Crucifier.

Release

Home video

The DVD and Blu-ray Disc release includes two commentary tracks; one with a conversation between J. T Petty and Erik Marcisak and the other one with Bill ZeBub. There is also deleted scenes, extended scenes, The Complete S&Man – Episode 11 in its entirety, a clip from the underground horror film August Underground's Mordum, and film trailers.

Film festivals

S&Man was shown at Toronto International Film Festival's "Midnight Madness", South by Southwest, and UnionDocs, a film festival in Brooklyn. The film's release at the Toronto International Film Festival caused controversy including online.

Reception

Jeannette Catsoulis of The New York Times reviewed the film calling it "a queasy glimpse into bargain-basement sleaze." Adam Tyner of DVD Talk said that he was indifferent about the film while he was watching it, but he ended up thinking that the film is "pretty brilliant". Gordon Sullivan of DVD Verdict said that the film is ambitious and offers "interesting insights into the modern consumption of horror." Joe Leydon of Variety described the film as an "uncomfortably close look at underground horror", but continued saying that it may some day have a cult following. David Harley of Bloody Disgusting said that the film is a "must-watch" for anyone that has been scared while watching a horror film without being able to describe why. Johnny Butane of Dread Central said that the film's ending "will fuck you up, plain and simple" with a positive meaning.

Allan Dart's review for Fangoria was mixed. While he described the film as "thought-provoking", he did not like the focus on whether Eric Rost's films are actual snuff or not. Despite Casey Broadwater of Blu-ray.com having a problem with the fictional account of Eric Rost, the reviewer said that "S&Man delivers an occasionally insightful dialectic about the psychological nature of horror.

Meg Hewings of Hour Community described the film as "a doc that flails in a dark, nihilistic pool" and went on to call people that like this type of film "geeky", "twisted", "unstable", or "delusional". "A TMZ article stated that S&Man "impolitely asked horror genre aficionados to question just why they so enjoy watching human suffering so much."

External links

• S&Man at the Internet Movie Database