Aftermath

AfterMath directed by Nacho Cerda. Starring Dead bodies (real and fake) 1994.

            There is a lot of controversy attached to this short film by Spanish director Nacho Cerda and criticism by Chas Balun calling it out as pure gorenography. Is this a misunderstood gem, an ahead of its time film that should be re-evalutated? I’m not sure myself and for all the years I watched Last House On Dead End Street I regarded it with confusion and distain for it’s methed out, speed freak thieving director who conned everyone into thinking it might be a genuine snuff film. Last House review is coming soon. Even though it was never a snuff film, it carried a stigma of that controversy and the myth is often more powerful then the truth. After I learned that Roger Watkins made a genuinely scary film with zero funds (at least nothing recorded) I gained all this reluctant respect for him posthumously.

            So back to Nacho Cerda’s Aftermath, he is making a statement that gore hounds are kind of psychotic in the way they gravitate toward Mondo Films (like Faces of Death, Jacopetti/Prosperi films) and have an unhealthy fixation on the macabre. Is he trying to piss off and alienate his own demographic? In a way Yes! because Aftermath is set up like a porn but in an autopsy room and like all myths we’ve heard the necrophilia ones.

            But did we really need to see a morgue attendant perform sex acts on a corpse?, not really but here it is immortalized on film! I actually found it really tedious and not hard to watch like Cerda intended (read his perspective HERE!) I’m also going to include the backlash critique that Chas gave at the screening with Jim Van Bebber (who defends the film). It is doubtful I will revist the film and I guess I have closed my mind to this journey, but then again why would I want to respect a basic corpse fucking porn (and I am a huge fan of Nekomantik). Aftermath divides horror fans and forces them to search within and determine why they watch these types of repulsive realistic snuff movies and in that respect it is an important statement.  I saw this originally on Netflix instant but it has since been removed. You can still rent it though.

Chas Balun Opinion