DVD REVIEW . Vermillion Pleasure Night [Series]

by Chris   ⋅   December 19, 2006   ⋅   Comment now   ⋅    RSS

So Lost, Heroes, and the like are quite popular with the Gen-Y crowd these days, but I’m betting some of you elitist hunters of strange are hankering for some interesting hour long entertainment that doesn’t require a season long investment to appreciate. For you, I perscribe the weird world of Vermillion Pleasure Night.

Vermillion Pleasure Night is a sort of late night gonzo-art-house variety show of the type that should make fans of the eclectic and strange smile with delight. In fact, variety show would be a bit of a misnomer. Vermillion Pleasure night is more the pan-media carnival, a rambunctious mix of high and low brow sensibilities, featuring crazy experimental animation (clay, paint, sketches),flygirl dancing, and random skits featuring a wide range of sadistic music making nurses, mannequins, zombies, creepily plastic housewives, and much much more. An average 50 minute episode bombards you with scenes of hyperactive hilarity, raw sexuality, art school pretension, and just plain uncategorizable weirdness.

Although ADV is doing their best to play up the “sexy” of the series, by far my favorite portion of the show would have to be the spot on sendups of cult films, and cult film iconography. Of these, I have two particular favorites. The first, “Lynch’s Cigar Store,” an homage to all things David Lynch, complete with red curtains, severed ears, wobbly faced men, jazz, and white out transitions. The second is a femme fatale face off, called “Quickgirl”, featuring heavy nods to cult heroines Meiko Kaji (the floppy hatted Sasori) and Miki Sugimoto (any one of her girl gang roles), as well as The Matrix’s Trinity and a possible Zero Woman. It features a hefty amount of gunplay, and a non-sequitur ending that must be seen to be believed. Both of these should prove quite fun for fans, as the skits provide knowing treatments of their subjects, rather than a mocking know-it-all takes a la Saturday Night Live.

But, as with any show, Vermillion Pleasure Night has it’s share of off episodes. Furthermore, being a variety show, there are quite a few instances where sketches fall flat. Many of the alien apartment sketches, and the Fuccon Family episodes (as delightfully oddball as they are) become grating before they actually reach a close. But, thanks to chapter skips, these annoyances can be severely reduced, and even returned to at a later time should the mood strike you.

Vermillion Pleasure Night is definitely not for everyone, but it definitely deserves a greater audience then it is currently receiving (heck, the DVD’s are receiving price drops at Best Buy and a cursory search of IMDB reveals it doesn’t even have an entry). If you have an appetite for avant garde, or just a hankering for screwball hijinks, Vermillion Pleasure Night is well worth a look.

About the Author

Chris Nelson has been a film fanatic since age six. A former film and English major, he is now a Software Engineer and contract Technical Writer living in the Silicon Valley.

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