Customer Reviews
Happy about Anger 
2007-12-28
I was lucky enough to watch some of these films on the big screen earlier this year- with Kenneth Anger in attendance doing a Q&A. The prints are spectacular, the material both inflamatory and (by modern standards) quaint.
I have both volumes.
And at this price? A deal you can't beat.
What was that? 
2007-10-15
I mean, I just saw it, and I'm still not sure what I saw. I do know that it's not anything like I've seen before.
These few shorts qualify more as performance art than cinema. The poses and posturings, the exaggerated makeup and costumes, they remind me of silent films. Come to think of it, these are silent or nearly so, except for the musical score. I found Janacek's score for the final piece especially haunting. I don't know whether I like it or not, but I want to hear it again.
The classic silen films never used color, though. Well, "Fireworks" isn't color, "Rabbit's Moon" is largely monochrome if not black and white, and "Eaux D'Artifice" has just a trace of color, just for a moment. "Puce Moment" and "Inauguration of the Pleasure Dome" certainly have color. They come across in eye-popping shades: Cadmium-orange hair, chrome green faces, and diabolic reds, among others. "Inauguration" set its saturated hues against black backdrops, most often, so the brilliant chromaticity would stand forward even more.
Among these pieces, I found "Eaux" the most baffling: a Marie Antoinette figure walking then trotting through a gushing garden of fountains, a moment with a magical fan, then walking away into darkness. These can't be taken as ordinary movies, with plot and characters (or maybe they can). Instead, they're compositions in color, human form, and time (or maybe they aren't). They are certainly enigmatic.
-- wiredweird
A Craftsman And His Works 2007-09-05
There is very little I can say about these classic short films other than they are the works of a true genius. Just do a quick search on the internet and see all of the amazing directors whom Anger has influenced. As far as avant cinema goes, Anger is the vanguard and should be respected and held as such. Without him, it's certainly suffice to say, that most of the best 60's and 70's cinema would NOT exist without him. He is that important.
It's about time! 2007-08-16
I first discovered Kenneth Anger films while watching Invocation of my demon brother on the back of a screen while a band was playing at a club. After finding out who directed the film I was able to look up some of Anger's films on YouTube.
Fireworks - Really interesting how the film opens with Kenneth awaking from a dream while holding some kind of Idol statue. It then turns into a really cool scene of him getting torn apart and then awaking from a dream from within a dream. There are a lot of cool things to look for such at the statue of the hand in the begging and how it looks at the end of the film. You can see where this film would help mold upcoming underground art.
Puce Moment- This short film really capture's desire, an in my opinion the comfort in alienation.
Inauguration of the Pleasure Dome- This is my favorite film off of the collection. This film really takes you on a journey into a beautiful occult fantasy, it's almost like a bosh painting come to life.
Totally boring films of Kenneth Anger 
2007-08-08
I tried to get interested in these films but was only able to watch two.
Total garbage.
Did they really do that in the 50's? 2007-06-04
Cinematic magician, legendary provocateur, author of the infamous HOLLYWOOD BABYLON books and creator of some of the most striking and beautiful works in the history of film, Kenneth Anger is a singular figure in post-war American culture.
A major influence on everything from the films of Martin Scorsese, Rainer Werner Fassbinder and David Lynch to the pop art of Andy Warhol to MTV, Anger's work serves as a talisman of universal symbols and personal obsessions, combining myth, artifice and ritual to render cinema with the power of spell or incantation.
Covering the first half of Anger's career, from his landmark debut FIREWORKS in 1947 to his epic bacchanalia INAGURATION OF THE PLEASURE DOME, Fantoma is very proud to present the long-awaited first volume of films by this revolutionary and groundbreaking maverick, painstakingly restored and presented on DVD for the first time.
Contains the films:
Fireworks (1947)
Puce Moment (1949)
Rabbit's Moon (1950, the rarely seen original 16 minute version)
Eaux d'Artifice (1953)
Inauguration of the Pleasure Dome (1954)
Kenneth Is Still The Star 2007-05-25
Kenneth Anger's visuals are dazzling and way ahead of their time, but rather than listen to the awful musical accompaniment to the films I'd rather listen to Mr. Anger's tirelessly entertaining anecdotes by him in his commentary. They compliment the films perfectly.
I also want to thank the DVD studio for putting out such a terrific package with a gorgeous booklet that accompanies the disc. You have to see it to believe it. I can't wait for Volume Two.
Wow, very surprising! 2007-05-24
This is a complete surprise to me, and an awesome one at that. I was led to Anger's presentation of a selection of his restored works at UCLA while I was backpacking in LA, during the last US summer. I had never really explored experientalist cinema before I viewed his films, and I was mesmorized! Can't wait to see them again, and in good quality
Different - Intriguing! 2007-05-16
I'm no artsy film buff (I had never before heard of Kenneth Anger-just bought this on impluse), but I found these short films intriguing & just plain fun to watch. It's hard to belive they were made around 1950, mostly because of the music. The first one is a little too darkly sexual for my taste, but the others are mesmerizing. Anger uses just film & props to create stunning visual effects & uses what I believe is extant music-not written just for the films. These are films that I watch over & over. They just have a sort of visceral pull. They remind me a little of the Max Castle character from Flicker.
Real, Surreal, Unreal. 2007-04-23
The first volume in the Kenneth Anger collection of films really exceeded my expectations, truely magick. I've enjoyed a few of his films on video before but these films restored come to life and capture you in this wonderous askewed vision most of which had never even been seen on film before, the soundtrack to these films add the other layer, leaving you haunted and in some ways different. My favourite in this volume is the inauguration of the pleasure dome but that was possibly just because it's the longest at about 40 minutes. The extra's are cool with them showing the restoration process and with commentaries by Kenneth Anger himself. I can't wait to see what's on volume two!!
