Well...where does one begin with a film like this? Obviously one I'm compelled to bring up, however, and get a discussion going about. You certainly couldn't discuss a flick like THE JAR (1984) with the closed-minded drones who post at a place such as the IMDB. Nope, they're havin' none of THE JAR over there. And that's what makes Cinema Nocturna special. We encourage it!
THE JAR is "experimental" to say the least. It's THE KINDRED on crack...somewhat. Directed by one Bruce Toscano (whom we've not seen hide nor hair of since), my girlfriend and I stumbled upon THE JAR one Summer afternoon; much like the central loner happens upon the title macabre giant jam mason nightmare in the film. I almost felt perplexed just holding the damn thing (a rarely seen pre-record on the Magnum Entertainment label).
Appropriately, coming courtesy of Nocturna International Limited Productions, THE JAR is for the most part a one man show - starring unknown Gary Wallace as central oddball, Paul. Unfortunately for him, a motor vehicle accident involving a delirious old timer carrying around a bulbous jar in a brown paper bag will be a random moment in time that becomes a literal mind-fuck of possession. Inside 'The Jar' lurks something not of this Earth. An almost parasitic alien possessor, immediately turning Paul's plain existence into a psychological attack coming straight out of the ghastly glass creature container itself and right into his psyche. Twisted hallucinations and unaccountable violence soon follow, as the visions forced into poor Paul and out for the viewers to see take us through most surreal depictions of war, sex, murder, unearthed decapitations, religious sacrifice and more unexplainable strangeness. THE JAR is a trip within a trip within a trip!
I'm definitely curious to see who else among the Nocturnites has seen this one? As I said, it was directed by Bruce Toscano, who didn't do anything following, leading one to believe that it quite possibly could have even been a student film.
However, leave it to yours truly to really dig deep into these obscurities and the wonderfully intriguing tales behind making them, as I intend to find out the answers to the above and more. I'm in the very early stages of planning something special surrounding THE JAR, in the possible form of another Devin Double Whammy EXCLUSIVE! I have vowed that 2010 WILL be the year of the exclusive here at Cinema Nocturna, and all eyes are focused from my end suddenly and happily on a hopefully soon to be, one of a kind piece profiling this Fellini-esque horror fantasy brain-spin - THE JAR.
In the meantime, as I work on tossing another iron into the red hot fire for the readers of CN, and to get those exclusive up close answers and inside looks we all enjoy - lets get some interesting conversation going here regarding the film itself. THE JAR is a picture, that if nothing else, evoked many things. From inevitable critical attack, to thought-provoking questions surrounding the ideas the film presents that some may be missing, and what it's all about; right through to the bizarre technical aesthetics, or lack thereof.
This is what Cinema Nocturna truly exemplifies; getting to the root of and at times entirely unearthing, uniquely one of a kind cinema like THE JAR and breathing new life into such films via discussion and behind the scenes investigation, as well as simply talking about what we did or didn't like about the viewing experiences themselves. I hope such will be the case with Bruce Toscano's THE JAR here.
