Holy hell, HEAT OF MADNESS looks like a seriously twisted ride. The latest film from MEGALOMANIAC director Karim Ouelhaj opens with the look and feel of a gritty crime thriller before taking a sharp turn into something far darker, with graphic violence, disturbing imagery, and a descent into what looks like pure psychological chaos. There’s unfortunately no information regarding premieres or screenings for the film here in the U.S., so if you can catch this one, we say do it.
The film makes its world premiere today, October 14, at the Sitges International Film Festival, but it’s the trailer that has our attention.
WATCH THE TRAILER FOR “HEAT OF MADNESS” BELOW
FROM THE PRESS RELEASE: HEAT OF MADNESS stars Olivier Picard as Scola, a criminal on the verge of becoming a father who hopes to secure his future with one final heist. Things go south when his accomplices betray him, setting him on an obsessive mission to recover his stolen loot. His pursuit of revenge soon takes him somewhere unexpected, pulling him into a supernatural world where reality becomes increasingly difficult to separate from his own unraveling state of mind.
Along the way, Scola encounters Petite Pomme (Julie Carroll), a mysterious figure who attempts to open his eyes to what’s happening around him. As the journey unfolds like a trip through purgatory, Scola must decide whether to confront reality or surrender completely to madness.
If the trailer is any indication, Ouelhaj isn’t interested in making this an easy ride. The film’s grim atmosphere and brutal imagery give it the look of a crime drama that has wandered into a psychological nightmare, with the line between what’s real and what’s happening inside Scola’s head becoming increasingly blurred. The result looks disorienting, violent and downright unsettling, exactly the sort of genre curveball that can make a horror fan curious.
Written and directed by Ouelhaj, the film also stars Claudio Dos Santos and Louise Moor. Production comes from Florence Saâdi and Ouelhaj through their company OKAYSS.
We’re always up for a horror film that takes a familiar setup and turns it into something unexpected. HEAT OF MADNESS looks like it begins with a desperate criminal chasing his next big score before pulling the rug out from under the audience and plunging straight into psychological chaos. If the finished film is anywhere near as wild as this trailer suggests, we may be in for one seriously twisted ride.
