To The Brink

It seems to me that Spare Flesh, the creators of To The Brink have taken the works of Brecht and Poe, crushed them into a fine powder, then added a little Gide and a soupçon of Kafka as cutting agents and snorted the resulting mix wholesale up their collective nose. The result is a dark, delirious and macabre comedy musical horror number which (call me old-fashioned) is just the sort of post-Christmas shock treatment I needed to get my old cynical carcass ready to face the New Year with pessimism renewed.

Does that make this a MusHorriCom? That's the best I could do and it doesn’t quite have (disappointingly) the same ring as RomComZom, so I will leave that thought where it is.  The short tells the story of a young fella who is overwhelmed by angsty guilt, alcohol-induced apathy and the realisation that an apocalyptic future is all that awaits him.  When his own reproachful angel and approving devil appear to weigh up his contribution to life, the universe and nothing in particular, but then decide to shag instead (effectively), it is no wonder he is pushed To The Brink and his mortal coil is gone with hardly a shrug.  More of a short drop if truth be told.

Spare Flesh was founded in 2021 by Hugo Docking and Henry Blackaller in Bristol (UK). Their goal – to serve up “a signature blend of dark comedy, disturbing body horror and deranged music”.  And of course everyone should have a hobby, but they do it on a full-time professional level. With names like Hugo and Henry, I am fairly certain their parents had different careers in mind for them once upon a time. How their mothers must worry.

Well done, gentlemen. This is glorious.