Kustom Kar Kommandos, Kennth Anger

Kenneth Anger’s best known for his fondness for Lucifer, as expressed in gorgeous sorcery’n'Satanism epics like Scorpio Rising.  But – it not being Hallowe’en just yet – we’ve chosen instead to showcase his 1965 hymn to automobile upkeep, Kustom Kar Kommandos. Plotwise, there’s not much going on here: a boy tunes and preens a hotrod to the strains of the Paris Sisters’ Dream Lover, and that’s about it. Texture and colourwise, however, there’s plenty to enjoy, with Anger’s camera gliding drowsily over fields of  powder blue denim, glossy chrome and ruby leather. As pre-MTV music video goes, it’s pretty special – if a little sinister.