Sometimes we come across a work of cinema that leaves us stunned and motionless when the credits begin to roll. With Hotel Poseidon, an official selection of the 25th Fantasia Festival, first time director Stephan Lernous takes us on a nightmarish journey into the depths of madness, seduction, the absurd and possibly hell itself. The surrealist imagery and the mental cartwheels your mind must do to make sense of what was witnessed, will leave you with questions that will keep you up at night.
Waking up in the ruins of what was once, we can assume, a functioning hotel we meet Dave (Tom Vermeir) whose complexion and movement give the appearance of a ghoul rather than human. Left to him by his late father and kept afloat by the pension checks of his Aunt Lucy, the place has seen better days.
As the ever-moving camera lingers over every surface, the imagery conjures up the feeling of Buffalo Bill’s lair in Silence of the Lambs. Every surface has a layer of grime designed to make your skin crawl and yearn for a bath the more we descend into the dilapidated building.
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Although closed now to the public, a young woman by the name of Nora (Anneke Sluiters) knocks on the door looking for a place to stay for the night. Her charm and alure gets the best of Dave and he reluctantly rents her the room. Meanwhile in the remnants of what used to be a ballroom, Jacki (Dominique Van Malder) begins preparation for an epic event he plans to throw at the hotel.
As the day continues, we’re introduced, in what I can only describe as a series of vignettes within the film, to an ever-growing crowd of eccentric and outlandish characters. A mortician and her assistant, Dave’s mother and his stepfather, even Nora’s disrespectful company are all unsettling in their own way.
Each encounter only adds to the growing anxiety and spiral that is becoming Dave’s existence, as he navigates his day within the walls of his own personal Overlook.
His only reprieve is to escape to his bedroom and put on his headphones. But this triggers a series of visions and flashbacks that are beautiful in their confusion and unsettling in their bizarreness. I can only equate it too being both moved and disturbed by a piece of art that haunts you long after you’ve taken your eyes off it.
From discussions of the hotel’s future, past romantic failures, a live autopsy and a series of strange encounters all culminating to a fever pitch as the party rages on. The ghost like figures vying for Dave’s attention begin to overwhelm our guide and his anxiety and panic reaches its boiling point. I couldn’t help but squirm in my seat as the claustrophobic nature of what I was experiencing reached its crescendo. I had to pause to just a moment of silence to catch my breath.
Learning that director Stephen Lernous came from the theater made me appreciate Hotel Poseidon in a different light. The set and production design are incredible, you can smell and feel the grime on every surface. The makeup gives each character a look of a mime, whose returned from the dead for a night of debauchery. There are even in camera set changes creating the illusion you are watching this horror unfold live on stage. The fluidity of the camera as it explores its environment only give glimpses of the chaos going on in the background and you find yourself dizzy trying to take it all in.
The use of color throughout Hotel Poseidon reminded me of the films of Jean Pierre Jeunet(A Very Long Engagement). The vividness of the palette in one scene contrasting to the stark muted tones in another only aided in creating the sense of despair, lust, life, death, decay and rebirth. This tonal change from room to room harkens back to scene changes in a darkened theatre as a new gel is added for each curtain rise.
Adding to the atmosphere is the ever-evolving soundtrack. From violins that sound like furniture being dragged across a floor, to heavy metal, a live band and my personal favorite, a skeleton man playing a Casio keyboard to a room full of dancing Christ like figures. The sound design does an exceptional job adding to the emotion and absurdity of what’s being experienced visually.
Hotel Poseidon is an example of fearless filmmaking that can only come from the bravado and naivety of a first-time filmmaker leaving everything they have on screen. This non-narrative driven tale of a man descending into madness is cinema that is meant to create a mood rather than a story. Avant-garde filmmaking at it’s most artistic and stylized, I will be following Mr. Lernous’s career closely to see what he will unleash next. 3.5/5
Hotel Poseidon from director Stephen Lernous is now streaming as part of Fantasia’s 25th International Film Festival. You can check out the trailer below and as always be sure to follow ScaryNerd for more of all things horror, sci-fi and more.
K.B. O’Neil is an artist, writer and musician living in Cincinnati, Ohio. He loves movies, books, video games, snuggling his two pups and all things Horror. When not working he can be found getting into adventures with his wife and their new daughter.