Executscan Expected more

TrueHello Fun premise, good actors, bad writing. This film seemed to have potential at the beginning but it quickly devolves into a trite action film. Ultimately it's very boring.

Bumpy Chip It’s not bad or unwatchable but despite the amplitude of the spectacle, the end result is underwhelming.

Fleur Actress is magnificent and exudes a hypnotic screen presence in this affecting drama.

tinybookworm I watched the film at home. All by myself, in darkness and with headphones on. What an extraordinary experience. Strange Factories draws you into the story, it feels like a dream, something you cannot escape without going through it. The sounds and images creep into your soul. It shook my very own reality, left me in awe and in tears, searching for my own truth. It only scratched on the surface during watching the film. Afterwards it worked through me for weeks, questioning myself in a positive way. It awakens something, something that has been buried inside me a long time ago and wants to get out. I'm not going into the story as I think everyone should experience this incredible piece of art on its own. I've seen the film multiple times now and every experience is different and opens another door. Thank you FoolishPeople! I can't wait to see what more is to come.

Brian Shaughnessy Some commentators seem to find the fact that John Harrigan wears so many hats in this production problematic. Because of the particulars of this film I find this critique problematic. The film's mysterious 'Stronheim' is undoubtedly a hat tip to the auteur Erich von Stroheim. The way von Stroheim's idiosyncratic creative process dominated his films is a hallmark of his brilliance even if at times it was arguably gratuitous.Strange Factories is a film about the process of creation, these moments of faux-gratuitousness are deliberate stylistic choices important to the theme of the film and not things that should have been left out. The initial introduction to the Society Of Vandals serves to underscore this point early on. To be clear I'm not calling anybody a philistine, when I was a young man there were books, paintings and films which I did not appreciate because of my lack of exposure to and experience with those art forms. It's no sin to be ignorant, only to be willfully so. What I do find troubling in two of these reviews is that while acknowledging they were attending an immersive (read participatory) event, each in their own refused to participate. I was reminded of Foolish People's 2007 production of Dead Language, where some in the audience thought it was terribly clever to point out a fictional drug in that story handed out to the audience in the form of a sugar pill was a "sham". These tangible invitations into the narrative are not part of a Vegas illusionists act where part of the fun is figuring out the con. When you don't get something out of an experience because you refuse to engage it you are the problem, not the film. There's nothing wrong with enjoying a film like Teen wolf (as one reviewer seems to) but not every film is meant to be consumed in that way. Disliking a film because it's not the film you wanted to watch is not only irrelevant as a piece of criticism, it's the intellectual equivalent of a tantrum.I screened Strange Factories in my home for an audience chosen specifically because they were not as immersed in the arts as I am, and who were also unfamiliar with Foolish People's work, because I was interested in seeing how this film would be received by an audience that wasn't primed for the experience Strange Factories advertised. I must confess I was skeptical that FP could achieve with film what they do with live theater. The only thing my audience was told about the film was that they should not be expecting the kind of film they are used to experiencing, and that they should feel free to focus on those things in the film that grabbed them and to not worry about "getting it" on their first viewing. I was correct in thinking the bias I brought would dramatically impact my experience. For example my body started mimicking ticks I have experienced when experimenting with amanita muscaria in my younger days: excessive salivation, compulsive rubbing of the gums, and twitching. I also experienced mild auditory and visual hallucinations. The rest of the group did not experience these things. They all had a very unique experience of the film never the less. Some were very focused on The Society Of Vandals, others on Punch or some other character. There was confusion on their part, and on mine, I don't pretend to have instantly understood everything, it is after all a very dense film. I've watched it five times now and am still finding new experiences. That density however is necessary not an example of pretension or slavishness to a single vision. Harrigan is on record as having gone through several screenplays before arriving at Strange Factories. My audience is proof of how this payed off. Each experienced the film in their own way and in talking about it afterward were delighted to see how each of them had missed something the others had not. The film's density is how immersive and audience specific experience is created.This is a monumental achievement, not a failing, considering that unlike live theater every viewer will technically witness an identical performance. Not to say the film is flawless: certain scenes are lit very darkly, the note and contract handed to Victor are difficult to read, some dialog is difficult to ascertain, etc. I must confess I found it difficult at first to ascertain whether these were flaws in the physical process of the film, or problematic style choices. In trying to suss that out I re-watched those scenes repeatedly. This forced me to engage more actively with the film, which is thematically relevant. However, rewarding as the process was, it is a high bar to set for the average viewer. I do think of Joyce's 'Finnegans Wake.' Though an unapologetically difficult read, Joyce's choices were important both to his narrative, and as a challenge to the constraints of the modern novel. Given how vast and meticulous this film is both on its own and as part of a larger transmedia experience I'd conclude, however imperfect, these aspects of Strange Factories are intentional, worth hurdling, and present important challenges to a modern cinema totally colonized by the Hollywood formula. I don't mean to draw a 1:1 comparison between Joyce and Harrigan, either. Finnegan's wake in many respects represents a pinnacle, whereas I suspect that Harrigan's best film work is yet to come.I never fault people who don't find 'Finnegans Wake' rewarding, provided they've done due diligence with the novel,likewise I wouldn't automatically fault those who, take similar issue with Strange Factories. This conflict between experimentation, and accessibility is one many artists struggle with. Even so, Strange Factories is impressive and important. A difficult piece of cinema, to be sure, but as Victor notes in the film, some stories are the product of difficult births.

Rose Weaver Strange Factories is sublimely surreal. A good film experience will skirt the surface of what 'reality' may be which provides the audience a some leeway to allow their own subjectivity and imagination ample room for playtime. An escapist film simply tells the audience what the writer/director thinks 'reality' is. Strange Factories does neither. It challenges the conventional storytelling narrative and allows each individual member of the audience to become a part of the dream-like landscape, a silent watcher drawn into the film without a choice. It allows the audience to fully participate with complete wonder, both during and after the experience. You are left, not only to play with the elements of the story created by the writer/director, but actually questioning the nature of 'reality' itself. And that is it's strength. It is bold and unrelenting. It forces the viewer to think and it does so naturally, though it may feel somewhat jarring as most dreams do. But as with dreams, Strange Factories dredges deeply within standard archetypes to discover and portray their elements in a uniquely magical way. The black and white film format suits Strange Factories perfectly, for the very name of the film format is a misnomer. Work with black and white film long enough and one learns there are no true blacks, nor true whites. This becomes an important factor as the film unfolds.Victor is a storyteller in search of an ending for his story. He encounters an odd settlement populated with people who seem to be expecting him, as well as the audience. He seems confused by this, and so do we. The dialog may also seem confusing at first, but allow your mind to settle into a deeper level, for this is where this film works best. This is nothing superficial. This is The Fool's journey and all that implies.Journey with Victor as he searches for an ending to the story he carries with him, still unfinished, and you may discover you carry within yourself the seed of something within begging to be created. Perhaps still germinating, or once destroyed and begging to be recreated once again.

sastewart-836-397093 Review of Strange Factories Live Cinema event at the Cinema Museum, London, UK as published in Londonist (http://londonist.com/2013/10/cinemamuseum.php )Go down a dimly-lit side road to a doorway where you are greeted by silent, masked Chaplinesque characters. They inspect you, and after much furtive gesturing and whispering, you are ushered inside. You are invited to drink a small glass of an oddly viscous liquid, and you might be fortunate enough to peruse some pages from their manuscript — secretly, of course. You are taken to your seats within the red-velvet-curtained theatre, and the show commences.Dark forests, a terrible, unfinished story which develops a strange life of its own, a tormented writer, a mysterious, horrific fire in an old theatre, a tragic clown, a binding contract, a beautiful, yet doomed dancer, sacrifice, Mr Punch, a play within a film, a vast Kafkaesque country estate from which there is no escape. Above it all, the ominous, throbbing hum of the Factory. What is it? Most of all, how does it end? This is what you may discover upon entering the darkened corridors of the London Cinema Museum for FoolishPeople's production of Strange Factories.Immersive theatre pioneers, FoolishPeople have manifested a live cinema production that takes you deep into the heart of a horror film, albeit a surreal one. Their work is a unique alchemy of film, live theatre, artwork and location-specific dance and lighting to create an ambient experience which, in this case, is one of mystery and suspense. The intimate, spooky setting of the Cinema Museum contributes to this state of haunting, with its many antique film cameras, and posters. Look carefully among the exhibits on display, and you might also find some of the artefacts of Stronheim's Settlement and props from the film itself.The film, written and directed by John Harrigan, is a labyrinthine story of madness, and your perceptions of reality start to blur as the evening progresses. What is happening on the screen and around you as the characters from the film come to life? Is it all just the imaginings of Victor, the tormented writer?The suspense is drawn out over the course of the evening, until it reaches a powerful crescendo of drama and dance, immersive theatre at its best. One even begins to suspect fellow audience members of being part of the theatre, particularly as the intimate setting within the Cinema Museum and silent interactions with the characters encourage this. Definitely a performance for the curious and those who wish to explore. Be brave and venture within. Only beware of the machines