Vice's latest mini-doc is a nightmarish fairy tale called Searching for Spitman. In the council block stairwells, alleyways and dark parks of West London a notorious bogeyman pays young teens and disadvantaged youths to perform deviant acts on him. From rubbing their feet in his face, to pissing over him, these bizarre rituals last three-minutes and earn the participants five pounds a time.
With the West London narration and distorted audio interviews (keeping the contributors anonymous), this is the Brothers Grimm for Millenials. Midnight filming in locations like poorly-lit garages, narrow back roads and council block corridors gives Marlon Rouse Tavares's film a neo-noir style but with gothic horror themes - urban bogeymen and twisted trysts.
It's hard to believe such a character exists until you see the camera-phone footage of feet crudely massaging a pixelated face in a small corner bathroom. It's harrowing and hypnotising in equal measure, a hard watch but well worth it.
It's hard to believe such a character exists until you see the camera-phone footage of feet crudely massaging a pixelated face in a small corner bathroom. It's harrowing and hypnotising in equal measure, a hard watch but well worth it.
