Storytelling in all its forms is skewered in The Catechism Cataclysm. In this divinely bizarre and funny tale, wild characters infuse stories within stories until the lines between the Bible, Mark Twain, and campfire tales are hilariously blurred.
Father Billy (Steve Little), an eccentric young priest, is forced to take a sabbatical by his superiors when he is discovered telling inappropriate parables to his flock. Billy tracks down his high-school idol Robbie (Robert Longstreet), who begrudgingly agrees to a canoe trip. On the water, the two men reminisce about Billy’s days as the keyboardist in a Christian band and Robbie’s as a guitarist for a metal band. When night approaches, they realize they have lost their way–and that’s when things get weird.
I personally can’t make heads or tails of this film hence my need to copy the synopsis. My own plot summary wouldn’t make sense to anybody but I gave it a shot and the following is my breakdown of the film. This may sound politically incorrect, but I felt as if I was watching a mentally challenged adult pretending to be a priest while a pissed off acquaintance babysat him until his boiling point was reached. In essence, that’s what the film boils down to. Father Billy wore a lifejacket and a helmet almost the entire time, couldn’t hit one correct note while singing and was also completely loud and obnoxious despite his good intentions. Writing this comparison to the stereotypical mental retard just sounds cruel but that’s what you’re actually witnessing when you watch Steve Little in this picture.
The movie itself is only 80 minutes so if you want your mind to feel like someone just fucked it then you may as well do yourself a favor, grab a bong and start ripping it half way into the film because it’s in the final 15-20 minutes where everything starts going haywire. That finale was a head trip I thought I’d never experience again after seeing both Natural Born Killers and Kaboom for the first time. It became impossible to figure out what was fantasy and what was reality and as those lines began to blur it left me, and will probably leave you, in a state of awe for about five minutes once the credits begin to roll.
One of my favorite parts of the movie was watching Steve Little run around like an idiot for three minutes while screaming at the top of his lungs. He was having a panic attack and his lack of intelligence just told him to go batshit crazy, but at least it was funny to watch. The other part that made it all worthwhile was the song that played during the ending credits titled “God Will Fuck You Up” by the John Butler Trio, which you can listen to below. If you take anything away from this review or movie, please make it this song as it validity should bring a smile to your face.
Now let’s turn our attention to the special features on the disc. Firstly, the disc comes with commentary from director Todd Rohal and the leads Steve Little and Robert Longstreet. There is a short film titled Sasquatch birth Journals 2 which is four minute short in which we spend three minutes watching a constipated sasquatch standing on a tree only to find out in the final minute it’s giving birth. It’s incredibly stupid but kind of funny at the same time. The disc also contains the original trailer, an insane Japanese trailer, and four minutes worth of outtakes, half of which are just Steve Little screaming and running.
Overall, The Catechism Cataclysm is one of those cult films that people will either love or hate. Unless you’re a huge cult or genre fan, I’d suggest passing on it as you’ll probably say “what the hell is this shit?” and turn it off 20 minutes in. I may watch it again just to try and figure out what the hell was going on but it will require a lot of patience on my end since Father Billy is such a frustrating character to deal with. The Catechism Cataclysm was released on DVD today thanks to the midnight indie lovers over at IFC.
Movie Rating: A F’d up and confusing way to spend 81 minutes; watch it if you dare (5?/10)
DVD Rating: 5/10
And here is the happy folk song I promised”
Recent Comments