A group of young experimental subjects are isolated in a monolithic sanitarium by the 'Canadian Academy of Erotic Enquiry' in the hope that they will link together in a telepathic state of group consciousness. Likely best known for being David Cronenberg's first film, this talky, low-budget obscurity has little to offer beyond good B/W cinematography and an interesting venue (the newly built Andrews Building on The University of Toronto's Scarborough campus). Presumably the story takes place in a future society (otherwise the costumes are ridiculous) but the budget doesn't extend to any futuristic gadgetry other than the University's state-of-the-art (in 1969) close-circuit television system. Supposedly the whir of the camera precluded use of the sound recording so the film is completely silent other than an emotionless voiceover that is so pretentious and full of pseudo psycho-babble jargon that it borders on parody. Not much happens as the film's brief 65 minutes crawls by, with only a bit of nudity and some nice footage of classic cast-concrete brutalist architecture (a style all the rage for Canadian institutions in the 1960s) to punctuate lengthy periods of silence or tedious exposition. What puzzles me most is how much of the meagre budget was spent on helicopter time and landing permits for the opening shot of a chopper dropping off one of the research subjects (who is dressed like Sir Christopher Lee in one of Hammer's lesser vampire outings). I doubt that anyone but fans and students of the famous Canadian auteur will value the time spent sitting through this minor opus.
Review of Stereo
