There are movies, there are good movies, and then there are the kinds of movies that stay in your head for days. Even though they're unsettling and perhaps even painful in a dull, aching way, you can't hep but keep touching them in your mind like a loose tooth.
The Alchemist Cookbook is one of those loose tooth movies.
Filled with a disdain for authority, outcast Sean has fled normal society to a isolated trailer in the woods with only his cat, Kaspar, for company. But when he turns from chemistry to black magic to crack nature’s secret, he awakens something far more sinister and dangerous.
Or as Variety more bluntly put it in their review, if you only see two films co-starring Satan this year, The Alchemist Cookbook needs to be one.
Released through the always adventurous Oscilloscope Laboratories, The Alchemist Cookbook is even more than the latest mind-blowing indie film. It's also a venture into truly independent, pay-what-you-want filmmaking.
As director Joel Potrykus wrote in his op-ed about the film's release:
“I figure if I’m taking creative risks in my storytelling and actively trying to challenge the audience, I may as well take some risks and challenge the traditions in distribution. It’s 2016, after all. Time to get futuristic for once. Pay us what you want. That’s all.”
Pay-what-you-want and then stream The Alchemist Cookbook right now as part of a bundle that also includes behind-the-scenes footage, the movie post, pretty awesome paper dolls and more. Enjoy, and good luck getting this one out of your head anytime soon.