a review of 毁灭的发明

2021 CULT MOVIE CHALLENGE WEEK 26: PSYCHOTRONIC ENCYLOPEDIA WEEK Having never heard of Karel Zeman or his work before, there were moments watching this one where I wondered if it were all some kind of hoax, and that this was in fact a movie that had been made using modern compositing and rendering techniques instead of what would have been available over 60 years ago to Czech filmmakers. But it's all miraculously real, and the effects work is genius on the level of all the masters I grew up knowing about like Harryhausen or Melies, which makes this both a delight to see and also a stunning indictment of my film education. There are effects shots here that I would not have thought possible before the advent of computer-generated FX, done fully analog and with enough flair to distract from their own unrealness.