Tag Archives: Jason Trost

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366 UNDERGROUND: AFAR (2025)

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“Cinema’s death date was 31 September 1983, when the remote-control zapper was introduced to the living room, because now cinema has to be interactive, multi-media art.”— Peter Greenaway, 2007

DIRECTED BY: Jason Trost

FEATURING: Jason Trost, voice of

PLOT: A private detective is tasked with finding a contestant from a doomed reality gameshow in the heart of the Australian wilderness.

Still from Afar (2025)

COMMENTS: A strange saturation fills the spectrum, bringing unearthly hues and twitches in the transmission—and I’m not just talking about Aurora Australis. (Those are the Southern “Northern Lights”, if you will; I know this, and you know this, and so does depressed-and-intrepid private detective, Brian Everett.) Jason Trost is a product of his times, and like so many of his (and my) generation, he has a strange nostalgia for the objectively inferior media formats of days of yore. Videotape can radiate the warmth of bygone familiarity, even while harnessed to augment creepiness.

And there’s creepiness, mystery, and tracking-issues aplenty in Afar, a film which takes multiple viewings to get a full grip on, because Trost has cut the story up into different kinds of journeys, selectable on-screen by the viewer. Do you want Brian to Run or Help? (One of those may kill him.) Do you want him to investigate the River Bed, or the Mysterious Ruins? (One of those will kill him, while the other only might…). And so on. Every few minutes or so, you will be presented with a choice to be made. There’s no “saving” your progress, but the director is good enough to allow a re-think on occasion after a jagged font informs you that Brian has snuffed it thanks to your poor decision.

Having made it this far into the review, I presume you wish to continue. Afar is a neat little movie, and I say that in no way to sound dismissive. Jason Trost has, once again, crafted something new and nostalgic on his own terms, staying true to a guiding ambition, and the result is both intriguing and entertaining. Presuming you enjoy Trost’s screen presence (which is something of a must, as he’s in the frame perhaps nine tenths of the time, as a cross between Tex Murphy and Henry Jones, Jr.), you’ll have a fine time digging around the various clues, back-stories, and pathways tucked within his interactive horror film. And while I enjoyed Afar on its own merits, I am hopeful that it will eventually stand as more of a “proof of concept.” I’d be most pleased to experience a grander, deeper, and more labyrinthine narrative interaction, even if it results in many more “You are dead” cut-screens.

The film is available to download on Steam (that’s a first), or to buy on DVD from Kunaki, There’s also a tie-in choose-your-own-horror paperback.

WHAT THE CRITICS SAY:

“Afar appears to have been aiming more towards the trashy thrills of shot-on-VHS shlock than any serious kind of scares, and it still manages to nail the eerie survival horror vibe that really makes this kind of adventure worth experiencing.”–Luis H.C., Bloody Disgusting (contemporaneous)

Pod 366: A Weird Movies Podcast

POD 366, EP. 125: THE “MADNESS” OF JASON TROST

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Audio link (Spotify)

YouTube link

Discussed in this episode:

“The 366 Weird Movies Guide, Vol. 2”: A soft launch (and it’s available in soft cover, too!). Buy “The 366 Weird Movies Guide, Vol. 2.”

Kill the Jockey (2024): A jockey who’s addicted to horse drugs (!) and in debt to the mafia suffers a concussion and is reborn. The distributor’s copy describes it as “a wild and surreal crime comedy” and early reviews have been positive. Kill the Jockey official site.

The Waves of Madness (2024): Read Giles Edwards’ review. Much more information on this microbudget marvel in the audio portion of the Pod; the movie can be side-scrolled on Blu-ray or VOD. Buy The Waves of Madness.

Keep up with and his various projects through his linktree

WHAT’S IN THE PIPELINE:

No guest on next week’s Pod 366; Greg will be off, and “Penguin” Pete Trbovich will fill in. Speaking of Pete, another installment of his “10 Weird Things” video series will drop next week, this time for the rotoscoped mindbender A Scanner Darkly (2006). In written reviews, Shane Wilson considers The Living and the Dead (2006) and a reader submits a lengthy recommendation for Mickey Rooney’s The Manipulator (1971). Onward and weirdward!

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CAPSULE: THE WAVES OF MADNESS (2024)

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DIRECTED BY: Jason Trost

FEATURING: Jason Trost, ,

PLOT: Agent LeGrasse is charged with investigating a distress signal from an ocean liner which has veered off course into the center of the Spacecraft Cemetery.

COMMENTS: A throwaway line at the start of The Waves of Madness reveals a great deal in hindsight. Ambling drunkenly to the bar on a massive ocean liner, a passenger seeks a final drink for the night—some Scotch—and is mistakenly served rum. No matter, he assures the embarrassed bartender, “It’s all going to the same place.” Little does our tippler know: it is indeed. Every single passenger, all of them doomed.

Jason Trost wastes no time laying down the story and style in The Waves of Madness, a tight little bit of Lovecraftian adventure that appears to be the launch of his next recurring movie universe. We quickly meet Agent LeGrasse, a professional working under the direction of an unspecified global organization. “The Elders of the Sea” (an ominously christened vessel if ever there was one) has an emergency—one so dire that its distress signal explicitly advises against anyone coming to the rescue. Despite this, LeGrasse boats over, docks his craft, and explores the floating derelict with nothing but his handgun, a few flash-bang grenades, and backpack stuffed with “Plan B.”

Anyone familiar with survival horror video games and  side-scrollers will immediately observe Trost’s inspiration. I don’t believe I’ve ever seen lateral camera movement packed so densely anywhere else. Trost nails ‘game logic,’ too, adding to the experience. LeGrasse discovers an in-g̶a̶m̶e̶ -movie clue about how light can stop the menace, and before a pivotal bit of actioneering, counts aloud to determine how many seconds he has to enact a tricky maneuver. There’s even what appears to be a escort mission (and like most gamers, LeGrasse wants nothing to do with that); but this ends up being part of an underlying ambiguity explored more thoroughly through the three timelines that concurrently unfold as our jaded agent delves deeper into the mystery.

Trost knows his roots in the gaming world—and has now provided evidence beyond the delightfully ridiculous foray into epic levels of DDR in his FP saga. The Waves of Madness isn’t groundbreaking. We’ve seen most of these pieces before: lost cruise ship, strange cult doings, mysterious eldritch entities, hard-boiled gunman, and so on. But the director (and screen-writer, and producer, and one of the soundtrack musicians…) has distilled his various inspirations into a pleasingly particular experience, which will click on all the nostalgia switches for many viewers—and hopefully inspire others to investigate what it is Trost is celebrating.

WHAT THE CRITICS SAY:

“…as the strong-jawed, eye-patched, laconic Legrasse wanders through this seaborne hellscape as though he were trapped in a Thirties horror adventure or a surreal noir – even though he comes with technology (mobile phones, digital downloads, a portable ‘nuke’) very much from our own age – his own past, present and future become similarly confounded…The highly mannered nature of Legrasse’s experiences on the ship has the viewer too constantly questioning their reality… this is hokey retro fun, turning one man’s trauma into genre-bound pandemonium, and reinterpreting cinema’s fantasy worlds as (un)safe spaces for drifitng pyches [sic] to explore.”–Anton Bitel, Projected Figures (contemporaneous) 

The Waves of Madness

The Waves of Madness
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Pod 366: A Weird Movies Podcast

POD 366, EP. 15: JASON TROST 4EVZ

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Audio only link (Soundcloud download)

Quick links/Discussed in this episode:

Jason Trost’s linktree, where you can find his social media accounts and links to FP-related stuff. Jason Trost interview begins here.

Panic Film Festival home page. Discussion begins here.

AmnesiA (2001): Discussion begins here. Described as a “surreal, stylized psychological drama”—with a lot of skin. From Cult Epics on two Blu-rays, with two rare Dutch TV movies on the second disc: Suzy Q (1999), described as portraying a “bizarre family in the 60s,” and Dark Light (1997), a thriller. Buy AmnesiA.

Blind Willow, Sleeping Woman (2022): Discussion begins here. A salesman, a giant toad, a cat, and a schizophrenic accountant seek to save Tokyo from an earthquake. Although set in Japan, adapted from works by Haruki Murakamia, and done in an anime style, this is a French production. Blind Willow, Sleeping Woman U.S. distributor site.

The Fisher King (1991): Discussion begins here. Read Gregory J. Smalley’s review. The ‘s fantasy about believing he’s a medieval knight in New York City is now available from the Criterion Collection in a 4K UHD/Blu-ray combo pack. Buy The Fisher King.

House of 1000 Corpses (2003): Discussion begins here. Read Gregory J. Smalley’s review. This lavish 20th Anniversary box from Lionsgate includes new bonus features, a poster, a sixty-page illustrated booklet, and six art cards among its grisly treasures. Buy House of 1000 Corpses.

Infinity Pool (2023): Discussion begins here. Read Gregory J. Smalley’s Apocrypha Candidate review. third sci-fi/horror, an exploration of depravity, privilege, and cloning, arrives on Blu-ray this week (no special features advertised). Buy Infinity Pool.

Leda (2021): Discussion begins here. A wordless, black and white, 3D optional retelling of the Greek myth of Leda (of swan fame). This independently produced effort did well at the few festivals it played, but slipped under our radar; now it’s out on VOD, DVD, or Blu-ray (in 3D, if your player and TV have that capacity). Leda official site. Buy Leda.

Tommy Guns [Nação Valente] (2022): Discussion begins here. A genre-hopping film set at the close of the Angolan war for independence in 1974. It includes serious war drama, an interracial romance, and, reportedly, zombies. Opening in theaters  this week in New York with more dates to follow. Tommy Guns official site.

WHAT’S IN THE PIPELINE:

On the Watch Party front, join us tonight at 8:30 PM ET for Reality (2014) on Tubi via Discord (free). We’ll also host a noon matinee of Horrors of Spider Island [Ein Toter hing im Netz] (1960) on Discord this Sunday, April 16. Tuesday night (April 18) is Scott Pilgrim vs. the World (2010) on Netflix at 8 PM ET (sorry, Netflix subscription required, but this is the last month to see it there), while on Wednesday we’ll celebrate Bicycle Day at 8 PM with a free screening of Skidoo (1968) on our Discord channel. As always, the schedule is in the sidebar.

Next week’s Pod 366 guest will be of Strange Frame: Love & Sax (2012) and the upcoming Mermaid’s Lament.

In a busy upcoming week of written reviews, Shane Wilson tackles another one that Came from the Reader-Suggested Queue with the moody Messiah of Evil (1973); El Rob Hubbard takes on Zu: Warriors from the Magic Mountain (1983); Giles Edwards examines the bizarrely-conceived pseudo-sequel Uncle Kent 2 (2015); and gets you up to speed on the Residents’ under-the-radar underground release Triple Trouble (2022). Onward and weirdward!

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CAPSULE: FP 4EVZ (2023)

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FP 4EVZ is currently available for VOD rental or purchase.

Recommended*

*: Frrlz

DIRECTED BY: Jason Trost

FEATURING: Jason Trost, , , Leigh Myles, Mike O’Gorman

PLOT: The wet shit threatens to 187 the FP, and so JTRO and CHAI-T must B.E.A.T. into the futuredoo with their daughter to save the nowsies.

COMMENTS: Let me be abundantly clear: there is no reason for this movie to be this good. No, we are not talking love-child of and Harron—that’d be a real masterpiece. FP 4EVZ, a passion-continuation of Jason Trost’s lifelong FP passion-project, is not high cinema, or even middle cinema. But it’s a refreshing blast to the face, made in the difficult style of haute stupidité. The premise is idiotic—as it has been, it seems, for over a decade now; for those of you not in the knowsies, Trost has been exploring the intersectionality of dystopian living and DDR (re-named in this universe “BEAT”, probably for legal reasons, but also because “Balance/Expeditiousness/Aggression/Tempo” is a delightfully silly sum-up of that whole arrow-stomp-dance nonsense) for his entire professional career.

I have not seen the first three parts of the FP franchise, but that’s okay: this chapter begins with a thorough recap of the machinations so far. Space Ducks once lorded over humanity, which was saved by a visitation from a cosmic entity who brought with it a comet-ful of booze. Civilizations have risen, and fallen. Humanity—or at least, sober humanity—is hanging on by its finger-nails. JTRO, the scion of a BEAT bloodline, is married to the warrior queen CHAI-T, and their daughter CHAI-LATTAY is the chosen one. Chosen to what? Dance. Dance at the direction of flying neon arrows.

There are many flying neon arrows. And countless examples of dum-dum “modern” speak rips and dialogues. No other framework could allow a destiny child be praised as having “the body of a mortal—but the blood and soul of a duck.” Or for a long-dormant thinking machine to not only insist on being referred to by name (“Monsieur Computer”), but sport a stupid beret on its Frenchie AI head graphic.

I eventually gave up on scribbling down the saga-style exposition, the pun-soaked quips, and the genuinely heartfelt speeches, all of which were crafted in an hilarious pastiche of idiotic slang from the past decade. It was all delivered ably—and delivered in all seriousness. And that is the main reason why FP 4EVZ works as well as it does: it never winks at the audience. All the DDR combat, the plot-twists, the CGI desolation: never once did I disbelieve. So take my recommendation with a few grains of salt, perhaps, but Trost’s latest outing is something to revel in—preferably, as they themselves advise before the feature, with at least a few drinks in you.

WHAT THE CRITICS SAY:

“…Z grade in the best of ways. Damn near every shot takes place in front of a green screen, with some cheap After Effects to populate the space. But it’s clear they’re going for a certain aesthetic. It’s all cheese, all the time. There are never any weird elements fading in and out; the effects are well-executed, just a little strange and cheap.”–Tyler Nichols, JoBlo (contemporaneous)