DVD: Abnormal - The Sinema Of Nick Zedd
Starring Annie Sprinkle, Nick Zedd, Lydia Lunch
Directed by Nick Zedd (Rubric Records)
Reviewed by John Sekerka

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Nick Zedd is unquestionably the king of New York's independent cinema, delivering his primitive cinematic vision in true DIY form for a quarter century now. Shock film-making certainly has its appeal, but it is limited, and if not generally frowned upon, then diligently despised. Zedd has inexplicably managed to survive long enough to become the Andy Warhol of the post Velvet Underground generation - able to reel in New York's cream of the mondo crowd (Lydia Lunch, Annie Sprinkle) for his perverse little vignettes. This DVD package collects eleven such titles which range from the legendary "Police State" (a black and white piece in which Zedd gets brutally attacked by various cops) to "The Wild World of Lydia Lunch" (which follows Lunch around under dim lights whilst she reads her prose over top - and is really not so wild at all). There's plenty of shock tactics too, but those get tiresome after a spell, making the DVD work best as a retrospective overview, or a curiosity barometer rather than a sit down viewing.

DVD extra innings:

This is the real payback. Like many of his contemporaries, Zedd is a more interesting character than his movies, and the DVD extras offer up good clues as to what the hell this guy is all about. Out-takes, interviews and Zedd on stage in his music persona, show the filmmaker as a serious, witty, charming, well respected man about town - not quite what is expected of the fiendish revolutionary of shock cinema, but a driven artist infatuated with breaking taboos for the sake of breaking taboos. And it's always fun to see actors preparing to be sexy and shocking, when in reality they are trudging through another mundane day on the job.

© 2003 - John Sekerka