Voodoun Blues DVD-EP

Rating:
Summary: Misty's most devoted fans should get this while they can
Review: Voodoun Blues is something of a Misty collectible DVD EP that Misty's most devoted fans will definitely want to own, but I think it is important for the potential buyer to know exactly what he/she is getting here. Take heed of that DVD EP classification; this is not your typical movie-length DVD. The whole disc has about 50 minutes of material, and the actual film Voodoun Blues has a running time of roughly six minutes. Wait a minute, stay with me now. It may only be six minutes long (but don't forget all the extras), but this is an important artifact of Misty's career. It is basically a student film, and student films are often quite short. Misty made this film during her 2003 fall semester in film school, and it claimed the prize of Best Short Film in the school's short film competition.

The short film is actually a rather haunting piece of work. Shot on 16mm black and white film, Voodoun Blues is an avant-garde film featuring a classic retro, somewhat expressionistic style. Stop-motion cinematography gives the film a surreal look that hearkens back to the early days of cinema. The film features no dialogue whatsoever, casting the visual presentation against an aural backdrop of original music from composer Tim McBride. Katie Bourdeaux plays some sort of voodoo practitioner who puts her dark skills to work against a young lady (Misty Mundae). According to the plot summary, Misty's character is supposedly an ex-lover of the voodoo lady, but I just don't see it (largely because Katie Bourdeaux strongly resembles Kathy Bates). The stop-motion quality of the voodoo lady's hoodoo theatrics gives her an effectively disquieting look - this is not someone you want to meet in a dark alley (or in the daylight, even in the middle of a huge crowd, for that matter). There is an element of blood and slight gore here - voodoo hexes have a habit of doing ugly things to victims - so this can rightfully be called a short horror film. Personally, I was captivated by the black and white images of Misty; it's Misty as you've never seen her before, and she exudes a commanding presence and truly classic form of beauty in the visual context of this strikingly unusual format.

Let's talk extras. The DVD comes with two short films by Misty's colleagues and fellow filmmakers. Joe Miller's Sour Milk features Misty in an uncredited role; I thought this film was really weird until I saw Katie Bourdeaux's Night of the Whorror Hoppers. Surreal barely begins to describe these oddly contrasting bonus short films. My favorite part of the DVD is actually a 2004 interview with Misty Mundae in which she describes the making of her short film from conception to final editing. Just wait until you hear the actual event that served as Misty's source of inspiration for the film's conception. This discussion gets slightly technical as Misty explains the positives and negatives of the film techniques she used - film vs. video, reversible film vs. negative film, double splicing, etc. The upshot of it all is that Misty really made this film the old-fashioned way, even in terms of creating the stop-motion cinematography. In addition to the revealing interview, you get a look at Misty working with the musicians supplying the soundtrack to the film. Misty originally planned on using Screamin' Jay Hawkins' recording I Put a Spell On You, but she couldn't get the rights to use it. The original music composed for Voodoun Blues, though, seems to work beautifully and adds depth to the overall presentation. The DVD also comes with a Voodoun Blues postcard and five trailers for current and upcoming films starring Misty: Screaming Dead (which is an excellent horror film, I must say), Bite Me!, the eagerly-anticipated Lust For Dracula, and two films I had not yet heard anything about - Sinful Wives and Chantal (both of which look very promising indeed).

Basically, Voodoun Blues is a DVD EP that may well disappoint the casual Misty Mundae fan (especially if you don't realize how short the short film is before you buy it), but I think all of my fellow Misty devotees will treasure it because it gives us a fascinating insight into Misty's development as both an actress and a filmmaker. Don't wait too long to snatch this one up; as of now, it has only been released in a limited, numbered edition of 5000 copies.