Rubber Johnny [DVD]

Originally conceived as a promo for Aphex Twin's DrukQs album almost 4 years ago, this piece by up and coming director Chris Cunningham has been a labor of love for him, and has been filmed and edited piece by piece when time permits to be fully unleashed on the public when ready. The story of course is about Johnny, a dangerous shapeshifting mutant kept in the cellar by his parents, where his mind alone keeps him and his dog entertained, along with the occasional ingestion of powdered cleaning products. The ingenuity with which Cunningham (who stars as Johnny by the way) uses nightvision to give this short film an unequalled creepiness is unsettling to say the least. All I can say is he is an acquired taste. Having been initially exposed to his visceral vision with 1997's 'Come to Daddy' video, I can say he is among my favorite directors working today, and I cannot wait for his eventual feature length film to hit theaters. It will be like a punch in the stomache to the public. Take heed.

If you like Chris Cunningham's other stuff, then you will like this as well. It's as good as anything else he's ever made. But $11+ for a 6 minute(not even) dvd? That's not really very fair. The Chris Cunningham director dvd was like $13 for 8 music videos plus some commercial spots plus a full book. The Warp dvd is like $18 for a lot more music videos. Anyways, you get the point. It's very good, but I would think that this would be released on some sort of comp at some point. It's good, but I suggest getting it used or waiting for it to be released cheaper somehow.5 stars for the actual video, 2 or 3 for the value.

I play this whenever someone comes over who hasn't seen it before, and their typical reaction is "What the h*ll IS THIS?!". Don't let them read the book while watching the DVD, else they get too distracted and can't decide which thing to look at. Nearly everyone who sees it asks where they can get a copy of it; I have bought multiple copies as gifts for other people. Granted, most of my friends are the type that would be into it to begin with, so, it's an expected reaction.Yeah, it's thirteen bucks for one video that last all of six minutes, but the companion book makes it worth it, not to mention the really bugged out video itself. I first saw it on the internet, and it apparently became so popular that "they" yanked it from almost everywhere, so I had to buy it; happy I did.

The Video is awesome, it's creepy the first time you see it, and then it just starts to get damn cool and damn funny at the same time. I use a wheelchair in real life, so whether this is lame or not... I LOVED THE WHEELCHAIR BREAK DANCING... it looked awesome... I think I was a little bit overtired when I decided to buy it though, because all it really is, is a book with a bunch of twisted up pictures of rubber johnny, and a cd of the 6 minute video that u can see on other places on the internet.. I was HOPIN that the book would have more of an in depth explanation of the video, to see why rubber johnny was created.. seriously... why.. I need analysis in my life!! But Now that I bought it, I still don't regret the purchase, cust it's still a crazy and insane music video, and great to add on to the rest of my collection of creepy and f**ked up things.

This too much reminds me of a Residents short film, Jelly Jack. [...] You can totally tell where Chirs Cunningham gets some of his inspiration. I used to like some of his videos, such as Come To Daddy and All is Full of Love, but as I have grown and seen more superior work from decent directors, his work just seems disgusting, not even cool in anyway. You can tell he has a very very disturbed mind. His work goes from strange to just plain sick. Not even insterestingly sick, just completly psychotic, and even stupid. If you want weird, gross, but original art film splendor, check out the Resident's Iky Flicks.

This character was unnerving to say the least when first introduced three years ago. This highly anticipated elaboration of Rubber Johnny, created by Chris Cunningham, is at first creepy but when the music starts it's rhythmic patterns, Rubber Johnny goes into silly "rave moves" or "dance fidgeting" in a wheel chair. This was stupid and broke the mood completely of this potentially horrific creature. There's a point where Rubber Johnny turns his oversized hydrosephalic head quickly in respose to someone talking at a door openning which wreaks of a light foam prosthetic head worn by an actor. The illusion was immediately dismissed with this careless editing decision. Someone with such a large oversized head would barely be able to move! Aside from this, the fast paced editing took away from the mood as well. It could have been something extraordinary. Something with this kind of creep factor could have really gone somewhere. The pacing should have slowed down-- WAY DOWN with rich, thick, creepy horror goodness!

Definitely worth the four years (on and off) it took to create this - highly recommended for Cunningham and Aphex Twin fans. Too bad this "video" didn't make it on to MTV late night - that's where I first saw "Come to Daddy"; nothing llike watching that video for the first time alone at one in the morning - I was a fan for life.Be warned, I'v ordered this twice, once for me and once for a friend. It does not ship in 24 hours (for me at least). Took 10 days for my order to ship, and It's been 23 days, many delay notices and counting to get it shipped to my friends house. They must keep it in a sealed vault in Siberia...

Rubber Johnny is a crazy short film. I loved the music and it's very trippy. Creepy and disturbing at times! Very well shot and edited too. Rubber Johnny reminds me of Big Brain from The Hills Have Eyes remake. Pretty sure they got the idea from Rubber Johnny, they look very similar. The art booklet that comes with it is pretty cool too. Worth it I'd say, but don't pay too much. No extras on the dvd, just the short film.

Man I love this video. Stunning!!! Mesmerizing!!! Disgusting!!! Eraserhead meets trance.

Don't watch this alone, or if you're a sensitive person.Ok, that warning may not be required, but its no 1 Direction video,( Thankfully )Deeply disturbing for some, intriguing for others.For the rest of us a master piece in playing with the mind whilst being drawn inby the music.

Entweder wendet man sich voller Ekel ab oder lacht sich kaputt. Ganz wie bei „Meet The Feebles" von Peter Jackson. Aber das hat man bei Cunningham auch nicht anders erwarten können, wenn man seine Videoarbeiten kennt. Besonders angetan haben es ihm offensichtlich die musikalischen Ergüsse des Elektrohelden Richard D. James alias Aphex Twin, dessen „Come To Daddy" und „Windowlicker" er zu Wunderwerken der Videokunst hat werden lassen.Ausgangspunkt für „Rubber Johnny", der umgangssprachlichen Bezeichnung für das Kondom, war eine Internetpräsentation des letzten Aphex-Twin-Albums „Drukqs". Dort konnte man ein deformiertes Kind in grün sehen, das seltsame Geräusche von sich gab. Das war ja schon gruselig genug, gefiel seinem Schöpfer aber gut genug, um darauf aufzubauen.Nun also hält man ein Buch in der Hand, dem eine DVD beiliegt. Im Buch finden sich diverse verfremdete Fotos und Zeichnungen, die alle irgendwelche Körper und deren Teile zeigen. Cunningham setzte aus Fragmenten von Bildern seines eigenen Körpers neue, hm, Fleischteile zusammen und sparte da nicht einmal seinen Hintern aus. Alles nicht wirklich lecker, aber eine schöne Dokumentation darüber, was man heute mit Photoshop alles so anstellen kann.Auf der DVD wird ein fünfminütiger Film über die Figur Rubber Johnny gezeigt. Jener hockt, mit Wasserkopf und dürren Gliedmaßen, in einem Rollstuhl im Keller und hat einzig einen kleinen, verstörten Hund als Gesellschaft. Daher entwickelt er Phantasien und Fertigkeiten, die beinahe übernatürlich zu sein scheinen - im zentralen Teil des Films tanzt er, Laserstrahlen abwendend (oder aussendend?), in seinem Rollstuhl zu Aphex-Twin-Musik. Auch hier bekommt man die Bilder aus dem Buch zu Gesicht, nur daß sie diesmal auch noch animiert sind, was den Ekelfaktor steigert.Und doch muß man lachen - Cunningham und James sind schließlich keine Monster, die beiden hatten offensichtlich selber ihren Spaß an der Sache. So ist man als Käufer dieses Kleinods nach vollständiger Betrachtung stolz darauf, so ein Exemplar besitzen zu dürfen.

I originally saw this on the web and thought it was freaky but cool, so when I found u could get it on dvd with a book I couldnt resist!. Book is v freaky but the dvd was a bit disapointing, it was not in widescreen and only 2 channel audio which was not dolby digital, which is a shame as in full surround and widescreen it would hev been even freakier. A making off would have been interesting as well.