‘Dacryphilia + Hematolagnia’ Short Film Review

Stars: Lilly Montano, Shane Ryan, Lilith Singson | Written by Shane Ryan | Directed by Shane Ryan, Lilith Singson

I feel like the title of this movie, Dacryphilia + Hematolagnia, explains things much better than the actual movie itself. Without the title it’s not too obvious what is going on. At least with it you can garner some kind of understanding. With that in my mind, Google came to my aid:

• Dacryphilia – A paraphilia in which one is aroused by tears or sobbing.

• Hematolognia – A sexual fetish for blood which evokes arousal when present on the fetishist’s sexual partner, especially if nude. It is often accompanied by licking or drinking blood through blood letting or biting.

You learn something new every day!

The short movie lasts about seven minutes and plays out like an artsy music video with two chapters ‘Her Life’ and ‘Her Death’. As one would expect from the title, there is indeed plenty of tears, blood and sexualised nudity. Oh and quite a lot of rain. It very much feels like some late nineties/early two thousands goth and fetish art project. Think Cradle of Fear without any of the humour.

There’s all the usual elements at play. Slightly creepy gothic music, much of the film is in black and white (except the bright crimson blood), there’s smoke machines used and lots of slow motion,lots of it takes place in woodland. Nothing unexpected really happens.

That said, Dacryphilia + Hematolagnia looks great. The cinematography is nice,the blood looks perfectly gory and I dare say, an eighteen year old goth me would have probably enjoyed this much more. But now (eighteen years later) I am not this short movies target audience it just comes across as some goth art students making a music video that only them and their friends and teenage Cradle of Filth fans will enjoy. Not sexy or clever, more like something a band might have playing behind them on a big screen at a gig.
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For more info on the films of Shane Ryan check out https://www.madsincinema.com and click the link(s) to read our review of his films My Name is A | Guerilla | American Virus