The word ‘bold’ has been used to describe Chad Ferrin’s Lovecraftian-inspired trilogy of films, a trilogy that thankfully concludes with Unspeakable: Beyond the Wall of Sleep. Perhaps it is a bold move from the producers to have allowed this incomprehensible series to reach a third entry as once again Ferrin has created something so nonsensically incomprehensible as to be all but unwatchable. With clunky, banal dialogue delivered with zero conviction, a story that vaguely references Lovecraft as opposed to embracing the intriguing bizarreness of the source texts, and with Ferrin’s ongoing obsession with weird and frankly obnoxious sexual deviancy, one can only hope this finale releases us from our suffering.
The story, such as it is, focuses on renowned oneirologist Ambrose London (Edward Furlong), who is called in to Arkham Asylum to study a curious case of dissociative identity disorder in patient James Fhelleps/Jow Slater: cue freaky dreams, masturbating psychotherapists and huge red penises with teeth. Many of Ferrin’s regulars make an appearance, including Bai Ling (the aforementioned psychotherapist who appears to be doing some sort of performance art) and Ginger Lynn, who once again acts largely with her ample breasts.
To give credit where it’s barely due, Ferrin does deliver largely on what you’d expect from him, and his cult fan club will surely be happy with the abundance of grossly conceived set pieces. But this is low-brow filmmaking, creating an end product designed to shock and gall while catering for an audience that is in addicted awe of the fetishised action. If this is your thing, good luck to you, but we’re struggling to understand why.
