Worming its Way into our Hearts

One of the great things about independent filmmaking is that the filmmakers can pretty much do whatever weirdness they like. This side of the Japanese film industry (see RoboGeisha), such freedom of the imagination isn’t something you see too often in the US cinematic mainstream.

Sure, there’s always that ubiquitous funding problem, but these days the internet is allowing even that to be circumvented to some degree. You mightn’t see too many independent films that have a budget the size of that giant amalgamated Decepticon in Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, but then you don’t see many mainstream box-office hits that feature “giant bean-guzzling” worms that are created from a combination of Cher, Britney Spears and Madonna either.

The Worm (US-[in production]; dir. Austin Young)

Synopsis:

In this existential prog-rock horror/comedy, Cher, Britney and Madonna turn into a giant bean-guzzling worm that is let loose on the unsuspecting citizens of Los Angeles.

It stars Nadya Ginsburg, Margaret Cho, Selene Luna, Bruce Daniels, Mario Diaz, and Stephen Heath, and is “part of a hybrid film distribution experiment incorporating both viral and theatrical strategies”.

According to the project’s website:

This is a dark and funny film by Austin Young starring Nadya Ginsburg who plays multiple characters — Cher, Britney, Madonna, a Giant Worm, Gloria Steinem, and Maryanne Mongecavallo. We have completed almost half of the project and scenes with Margaret Cho, Selene Luna, Bruce Daniels, Mario Diaz,and Stephen Heath have already been shot. We are using youtube to gain interest in the final project and Perez Hilton has posted links to The Worm and so far, The Worm videos have been seen by one million viewers on YouTube.

Here’s the word on The Worm from Madonna:

Kaiju Search-Robot Avery, who stumbled upon this oddity, commented:

The giant worm is just weird — really gross-looking, covered in beans, it looks like Divine from Pink Flamingos, covered in … well, you get the picture … So, yeah, this one’s got John Waters written all over it! It’s shocking and offensive, rude, and obscene and … well, it’s freakin’ hilarious!

Check out existing “episodes” of The Worm on the production’s YouTube site. Who knows? It might inspire you to donate to this Watersesque cult classic in the making.

Meanwhile, here’s Episode 8. A warning though. It’s gross, disgusting and suitable only for mentally and morally suspect individuals over the age of 18.

Further Information:

• Official website
• MySpace page
• Austin Young’s YouTube Site