Strangeland (1998)

Director: John Pieplow

Leading Actors: Kevin Gage, Elizabeth Pena, Dee Snider

Reviewed By: Kashiko Black
Review Date: October 6, 2011
Category: Horror, Thriller, BDSM
Fetishes/Kinks Found Within: Play piercing, Spirit & Flesh

Back Cover Summary:

Fifteen year-old Genevieve Gage and her best friend Tiana Moore are frequent visitors to an internet chat room. They strike up a chat with Captain Howdy, who behind an electronic veil, seems like a typical high school student. Attracted by his self-description, Genevieve jumps at the chance when he invites both girls to his house for a party. When Genevieve doesn'ts come home, her father, Detective Mike Gage beings to investigate her disappearance. In search for his daughter, Detective Mike Gage finds himself on the event horizon of horror and at the nexus of technology and tribal ritual. To find Genevieve he must be resourceful. To stop a madman, he must walk the razor's edge of his own guiding principles

Reviewer Comments on Rating:

This movie is meant to be a horror movie and in that regard it does succeed fairly well. It is entertaining and the acting is great but this film sincerely depicts BDSM in a negative and threatening light. Despite the main character's obvious mental imbalance, the movie does do a good job of portraying other people in the scene. There is one scene in the movie where the detectives go to a club to look for the suspect and there are various BDSM activities occurring. This depiction is a mix of safe and unsafe practices which I feel is consistent with the reality of the scene; also, given the time in which this movie is made some of the practices shown would have been fairly standard even though they are not what we would consider safe today. This movie also did a good job of doing some research into the scene that they were attempting to portray. At one point, the lead detective speaks to a person about body art and piercing and this character relates some of the chief principles of Fakir Musafar, who is considered to be part of the foundation of modern piercing. The film also shows some interesting portrayals of Spirit and Flesh BDSM.

Watch the Trailer