Elster Calling

Our favourite master criminal, Gav Elster, invites you over to Moving Image Source for the third, final, and strangest episode of Vertigo Variations, the video essay by B. Kite and Alexander Points-Zollo on Hitchcock’s acrophobic classic.

I’m particularly delighted to be credited on this one for “voice work” — I never thought I’d read the words “Thomas De Quincey – David Cairns” on a screen, and can now rest assured of immortality as a trivia question in which my name will be forever linked to that of Vincent Price.

For best effect, please download the films rather than using the streaming version. Since static, different compressions, and other distortions are deployed for aesthetic effect, and these get messed-up when the video is compressed for streaming, you’ll get a much more accurate image of the piece (and can keep it to enjoy again) if you download.

Anybody who couldn’t cope with the distorted images, intellectual leaps and fuddled, muzzy sensation of receiving a magic signal from beyond time itself should probably stay away, but cinematic adventurers in search of new experiences should check this out post-haste: it takes the concept of the video essay to startling new heights, then looks down and feels dizzy.