‘SEVERED Ways” is one of the oddest movies I’ve seen in a while – and that’s a good thing.
Moviegoers used to Hollywood cookie-cutter fare are going to hate the film, the first feature by
director-writer Tony Stone, whose style is off the beaten track.
He uses shaky, hand-held cameras to record the action in a mix of close-ups and long shots, and backs it with a soundtrack of black death metal music by Morbid Angel, Old Man’s Child and others.
Dialogue? There is none, or practically none.
The setting is unsettled North America (actually Vermont property belonging to Stone’s family) in A.D. 1007. Two Vikings (Fiore Tedesco and Stone) are left behind when their exploration party beats a hasty retreat after being attacked by Native
Americans.
The two spend the rest of Stone’s film getting involved in one mess or another – with the locals, Irish monks and an amorous native woman.
What more could any person want in a single movie?
Running time: 109 minutes. Not rated (sex and violence). At the Angelika, Mercer and Houston streets.