This short feature was made by creature special effects artist Chris Cunningham as a personal project. Cunningham had previously worked with Aphex Twin and so they contributed to this project - resulting in a mix between narrative and music video, similar to Michael Jackson's "Thriller." The video begins with a close-up night-vision shot of an alien creature named Rubber Johnny. A doctor seems to be talking to him - asking what's wrong, if he wants his mother, etc. Rubber Johnny seems incapable of speaking like a human and can only emit high-pitch frequency noises.The next scene shows Johnny in a wheelchair, his enormous head leaning backwards. His small pet dog watches as Johnny suddenly comes to live in an array of dazzling special effects shots and "dances" (to some extent) to Aphex Twin.The music is interrupted twice by Johnny's father opening the door into the basement and muttering unintelligible curses at him.My first thought after this was over: What a bizarre feature! It actually might disturb some people - it's kind of unsettling and uncomfortable to watch. Also, as Johnny dances he occasionally flies full-speed into see-through glass, leaving remnants of his distorted face on the objects.Cunningham is quite an original guy - I don't know if it was the drugs doing all the talking or he's simply that far out, but I've never seen anything like this before.By the way, for those interested, it is freely available to view on YouTube.com, and is also available for purchase on DVD through Cunningham's official website.

Altogether this is an enjoyable little movie but you can really enjoy it if you imagine it as real life footage. Chris Cunningham and his crew make this out as if they are filming actual footage of a deformed teenager and if you know the back story it can strike your brain as fairly disturbing. They do it well.This shows footage of a severely deformed super flexible teenager living in solitude in his dark basement where his parents keep him due to being ashamed of him. All he has for company is his frightened dog. This will show his reaction to someone trying to get through to him and a little dance number to keep himself occupied in his dull life.Overall this is a great little enjoyable film and spooky at that. Bravo Chris Cunningham, you rock.

I love music and visual synchronization. Some may compare this to cheesy Hollywood movie horror films, but also keep in mind that not every person finds the "shock" video/audio effect cheesy. I love it.Rubber Johnny is not an amazing piece, but certainly accomplishes it's goal of being a very elaborate 6 minute blitz of style. One almost grows a fear of Johnny in the beginning. Not only is he extremely grotesque, but his vocalizations almost sound inhuman. With his enormous bulbous head leaning over the back of his wheelchair and his insanely disturbing babble fits, Johnny makes a hell of an impression right off the bat. Once the actual music portion of the video begins, the score intertwines with johnny's sick mind and together they mutate into one of the most fast-paced music/video progressions i've ever seen, and quite frankly, it initial impact is hard. Still, the distortion effect wears off eventually and you begin to wonder what else Cunningham will throw at you. About 10 seconds before the end of the video you are hit with some deranged visuals of Johnny, and i think those last seconds redeem the short to be worthy of what it is.

The first time I watched this I was seriously disturbed. I couldn't take my eyes off of it. My girlfriend had to leave the room, because she couldn't watch it. Every time we show it to someone they leave feeling uneasy and weirded out. Chris Cunningham's precision and attention to every terrifying detail make's Rubber Johnny the most memorable thing I have watched in a long time. I became interested in his work after seeing the Bjork Robot Video 'All is full of love'. He also did 'Come to Daddy' for Aphex Twin, 'Frozen' for Madonna and Portishead's "Only You". "All is Full of Love" was nominated for a Grammy and won Best Breakthrough video and Special Effects at the 2000 MTV Video Awards.