Movie Review: "The Archivist" (2021)

The Archivist Movie Review

Written by Stuart D. Monroe

Released by Last Highway Films

Directed by Eric Hand

Written by Bo Gardner and Eric Hand

2021, 109 minutes, Not Rated

Starring:

Eric Hand as Caulder Benson / Lazarus

Dale Shumate as Angus

Butch Thompson as D.B. Cooper

Emmett Corbin as Colonel Boaz

Craig Hand as Levi Man of God

Jennifer Giles as Mother / Agent Pope

Kendall Moody as Hoochie

Sam Hand as Sam McBain

Steve Aaron as Dr. Quatermass / His Excellency

Nico Johnston as Young Tim

Trish Kurowski as Dig Reporter

Review:

Have you ever run across one of those movies that takes a stack of elements you love and throws them all into a blender? Sure you have. We all have. That means we’re all familiar with the entire spectrum of critical success- the good, the bad, and the ugly. Sometimes you get a hot mess that’s full sensory overload. Often, the result is a film that looks hypnotizing while confusing you to the point of gibbering madness. Every once in a great while, however, the result is a film that takes multiple genres and styles, throws in old-school cinematography that deeply respects the art of film, and coats it all in a slimy grindhouse ooze that understands the violence and grit are of paramount importance.

I’d like to introduce you to The Archivist.

Caulder Benson (Eric Hand) is an archivist, a government thug whose job is to destroy all the remnants of America’s past. The new world is totalitarian and oppressive as hell. “The past is forbidden, and memories are treason.”- that’s the mantra in this bleak near-future. Agent Benson’s next target for archival is a 1970 Monte Carlo SS 454, a pristine white dream machine that roars out of control. He can’t go through with the destruction and soon finds himself blasting through the open desert, remembering what freedom truly is. He’s pursued by The Sheriff, the mysterious assassin in black leather and a mirrorized motorcycle helmet. He’s also in the sights of Angus (Dale Shumate), a face-painted madman from the wastes who drips insanity. Benson gives zero fucks, however…he’s going to change the world his way!

Writer-director Eric Hand has birthed something that I’m going to need to see more than once. That’s not meant as a backhanded compliment; I just want to appreciate the layers. The Archivist is equal parts road movie, spaghetti western, French impressionist, social horror, dystopian nightmare, and a celebration of the 1970 Monte Carlo SS 454. The overarching style is a deft blend of arthouse and grindhouse. To throw all that into the pot and not have one ingredient greatly overpower the others speaks of skill and passion that’s unusual in someone so new to feature films.

There’s serious dedication to the arthouse here, as well. The movie is filmed on restored Techniscope 35mm Arriflex cameras and lenses used on films like Vanishing Point and The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly. It’s a film meant to fully look like it was made in 1972, and it damn sure does. Filmed in southwest Georgia and across Nevada, the locations are a treat as well. Plain and simple, The Archivist is not just smartly made but lovingly thought as well. You can’t hide passion, folks. It’s the magic ingredient.

Angus has a real Class of Nuke ‘Em High quality that I couldn’t get enough of. . The whole aesthetic is a rich, 35mm treat that’s paired with a sensibility that hits that perfect note of being just cooky enough. The occasional Looney Tunes-esque musical cue doesn’t hurt, either. The underpinning is all Fahrenheit 451. You can take it as a road movie as metaphor for wanting to get away from the modern, connected world and regain your freedom, or you can take it as a statement on the dangers of the thought police and the slippery slope of censorship. Or you can take it about a dozen other ways. There are many directions you can go here.

The Archivist is the kind of flick where a man in a ski mask and sunglasses wields a chainsaw against and old dude in an even older plane. Yes…a man fights a plane with a chainsaw (badly, I might add). It’s a surprisingly tense action scene that’s nowhere near being the craziest thing that’ll be burned onto your retinas during 109 minutes you won’t forget.

Put another way, it’s the kind of flick that’ll make you NEED to watch it a drive-in on about three hits of Liquid Jesus.

Grade:

5.0 out of 5.0 stars