Ink

 

 

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Every night, people are visited by the dream-bringing Storytellers and the nightmare-producing Incubi. And caught between them is Ink.

That's the concept behind "Ink," a surreal, eerily-filmed movie clothed in haunting questions about life, death, dreams, nightmares, good and evil. Jamin Winans' second full-length movie has a pretty weird vibe -- think Neil Gaiman directing "It's a Wonderful Life" -- but it ends up being a dizzying, beautiful journey through a strange other world.

A creature named Ink appears in the bedroom of a girl named Emma, and kidnaps both her and a Storyteller named Liev. Ink hopes to become an Incubus, and Emma is his one chance. Emma falls into a deep coma, and her father John refuses to go see her because his in-laws snatched custody of her away because of his alcohol and drug problems.

In the meantime, the Storytellers set out to rescue Emma and Liev from Ink, and must get some help from a blind Pathfinder who can change reality as he wishes. And as Ink drags his prisoners to Drifters who hold a code he must claim, Liev begins to sow seeds of doubt about what he is doing -- and his true nature and horrendous past come to light.

"Ink" is the sort of movie that people like to hold up as an example of independent cinema -- unique, groundbreaking and cool. It's filmed in that luminous grey-toned style that "Sin City" was, and Winans fills it with a sense of neo-urban surrealism -- the goth Storyteller, trash-filled warehouses, electric-tape on Jacob's eyes, and tattered pockets with weird Drifters dwelling in them.

Winans both directed and wrote this movie, and both show a lot of care. His story jumbles time, space and dimensions, playing tricks with your mind; and he crams it with slightly off-kilter scenes that are brilliantly simple (Jacob finding "links" on an urban street). And he has a knack for horror -- the Incubi are depicted as terrifyingly, artificially cheerful screens in front of faces. You don't SEE their true faces, but you know it's horrific.

But he also shows that he can pluck at your heartstrings in rare style, particularly as we find out what Ink did to become the tattered, crowlike figure we see. The latter parts of the movie are a haunting, painful celebration of love's power, without any sappy platitudes.

Well, it would be giving away too much too much to say who/what Ink is. So I'll just say that Christopher Soren Kelly is brilliant at conveying Ink's tortured emotions from inside a shell of rags and a beak-nose. Jessica Duffy comes across as artificial when talking to Emma, but does a decent job otherwise; Jennifer Batter is simply brilliant as a warm-hearted goth Storyteller who is determined to save Emma. And Jeremy Make is just FREAKING BRILLIANT as the delightfully eccentric, infuriating Jacob.

"Ink" is a near-seamless blend of horror, action and fantasy -- and while Jamin Winans does brilliant things with film, he's also an excellent storyteller. Just not the butt-kicking kind.

Can't write a complete review, but this movie is just awesome.

You MUST see it, and tell the people you know to watch it. The picture is insanely pretty, the story is great, the soundtrack is awesome and the finale just epic. A MUST WATCH FOR EVERYONE !

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