Eli Roth Releases “Woman Being Hit in the Face with a Hammer for Two Hours”
Horror director Eli Roth, the visionary behind the recent Hostel film series has revealed details of his new masterpiece, entitled Woman Being Hit in the Face with a Hammer for Two Hours.
Roth claims it will push the boundaries of the shock horror genre even further than the previous works in his oeuvre whilst remaining true to the artistic vision that guides him.
The plot remains largely linear - a young American woman is tied to a chair in a single room, after which she is repeatedly struck around the face and head with a hammer. Almost every second of the film’s 122-minute running time is focused on this endeavour, apart from a brief three-minute interlude halfway through featuring bankrupt 90's rap star MC Hammer performing a variation of his seminal chart topper – rechristened "Can't Stop This" – in what has generously been described as "comic relief".
Preview screenings have divided critics - some claim it is "an artistic vacuum", "totally without any discernable merit" and "the cinematic equivalent of the Hindenburg". However some were more positive. Paul Ross said “Woman Being Hit in the Face with a Hammer for Two Hours totally redefines the entire genre of women being hit in the face with home improvement tools. TWO THUMBS UP!”
Myriam Henry, a critic for a leading French arts magazine, viewed the film as "a brave treatise on sexuality and relations between men and women in this post 9/11 world. Brutal cinema verité, it is one of the most important pieces of art of this century." She then laughed and followed up with "I am of course, how you say, taking the piss? C'était merde, vraiment merde."
Despite the opinions of others, one person remains convinced of the quality of the finished piece - starlet Mindy O'Connor, making her feature film debut as the eponymous woman in Woman Being Hit in the Face with a Hammer for Two Hours (WBHITFWAHFTH).
Of her role she said, "It really challenged me. WBHITFWAHFTH is a very complex character. She is a woman, and a strong one, but there is also a conflict as she is being hit in the face with a hammer for two hours. It's a very challenging role and I'm proud of Eli for giving me the opportunity to show my diverse acting range. I scream, I cry, I beg, I plead, I go catatonic and then I scream some more.
“It was a really fun set to be on, we all had a blast. Once we played this great joke on Andy (Jones, appearing in a special guest role as Brutal Assailant No. 6). I was meant to look him in the eye and scream "WHY ARE YOU DOING THIS TO ME, WHAT HAVE I DONE, STOP IT, STOP IT PLEASE!" and then break down in tears, but instead I squirted him with a water pistol - you should have seen his face! Good times, good times."
When asked about the accident that took place on the last day of filming, Mindy is surprisingly cheerful. "So yeah, the stunt hammer got switched for a real one but it's not like anyone died! And now I have this steel plate in my head for the rest of my life. It's almost like a souvenir! And being paralysed just gives me more roles in the future really - tons of films have quadriplegics in them, just look at Patrick Stewart in X-Men! The future’s definitely looking up for Mindy O’Connor, even if I can’t actually physically look up any more.”
Woman Being Hit in the Face with a Hammer for Two Hours goes on general release next Friday (Certificate 12A).
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