Arkham after Midnight

USA 2008
produced by
Terminal Pictures
directed by Andre Perkowski
written and edited by Andre Perkowski, based on characters created by Bob Kane, Bill Finger, Jerry Robinson and influenced by Arkham Asylum by Grant Morrison, Batman published by DC Comics, music by Kristin Palker, Andre Perkowski

short
Batman, Andre Perkowski's Batman

review by
Mike Haberfelner

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The Batman finds out that Arkham Asylum, the asylum he usually drops his enemies at, is actually the headquarters of a drugrunning organisation, masterminded by Amadeus Arkham himself. Batman has of course no problems to fly over there and find the entrance to the place, but once inside, he has to realize he now has his entire rogue gallery opposing him - and before you know it, he is knocked out by the Scarecrow's feargas and almost driven to insanity - luckily he has brought the antidote with him - and almost stabbed by teh Joker. 

Soon, the Batman finds himself locked into a cell of the inhuman asylum himself though, and when he breaks the door to the cell down with awelding torch, he accidently sets the whole place on fire, releasing all kinds of baddies onto Gotham City. And as if this was not enough - the baddies throw him out of a window ... to his death, one wonders?

Maybe, sine this is a work in progress, we'll have to wait until whenever (if ever) director Andre Perkowski finishes the next chapter.

Just like Silent Shadow of the Bat-Man this film contains no originally shot scenes but is entirely made up from vintage footage, mainly silents said to have influenced the creation of Batman - plus scenes from the 1949 serial Batman and Robin (without any Robin in sight, fortunately), since there was no (more) adequate silent footage of a Batman-like creature on hand (Perkowski had used up all footage of 1926's The Bat in Silent Shadow of the Bat-Man and had no intention to repeat himself). 

Silent films used in this movie include: The Penalty (1920), The Blackbird (1926), Nosferatu (1920), The Cabinet of Doctor Caligari (1920), The Golem (1920), Haxan (1922), Fantômas - À l'ombre de la guillotine (1913), Juve contre Fantômas (1913), Fantômas - Le Faux Magistrat (1914), Waxworks (1924), Destiny (1922), Dr. Mabuse, der Spieler (1922), The Passion of Joan of Arc (1928), Alice in Wonderland (1903), The Man Who Laughs (1928), L'Inferno (1911), Schatten - Eine Nächtliche Halluzination (1923), Sunset (1927), Pandora's Box (1929), Phantom of the Opera (1925), Dr. Jekyll and Mister Hyde (1920), several Hans Richter-films from the 1920's and of course 1920's newsreel footage.

What's really remarkable about Arkham after Midnight though is neither the footage itself though nor Perkowski's ability to track it down, but his talent to turn the vastly incoherent mess of clips from all over the place into a coherent, atmospheric feature with an actual narrative only via clever editing and soundtrack, which makes this film an extremely enjoyable watch.

By the way, this film has not been released commercially, but you can see it by clicking here. Enjoy!

review © by Mike Haberfelner

 

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