BEFORE: Took a few days off and went to the Poconos, during which time I somehow turned a year older. But it was good to get away, after somehow surviving New York Comic Con - knowing I was going to take a long weekend was something that was keeping me motivated. We went to this little resort with cabins and a killer buffet, hit a casino for a few hours on Saturday, a couple of PA diners and then just generally lazed around and played iPad games until I could watch the Red Sox game. That's a pretty darn good weekend, all things considered. Now I'm refreshed and ready to watch 8 Halloween-type movies in 10 days - no problem.
Linking from "The Raven", Jack Nicholson was also in "The Missouri Breaks" with Harry Dean Stanton - as I proved last week.
THE PLOT: Young punk Otto becomes a repo man after helping to steal a car, and stumbles into a world of wackiness as a result.
AFTER: I like to say it's impossible for me to make a mistake in my scheduling - just as it's weird when people say they go off to "find themselves". Like, dude, you're right THERE - remember, wherever you go, there you are. But this is a case where I think I mixed up what little I knew about "Repo Man" with what little I knew about "Eraserhead", another cult classic I hope to watch someday.
So, there's not much here that ties in with Halloween - no ghosts or ghouls or goblins, but there is weirdness, and I'll have to roll with that. There's a Chevy Malibu with a glowing trunk that seems to disintegrate people who open it, and that's pretty weird. And this takes place among the backdrop of a young man learning the ropes in the repo business - it's a stretch but I can console myself that as this guy is growing up and becoming (sort of) responsible, I'm dealing with another birthday. (It's funny, I started this process shortly after I turned 40, and now that I'm 45, I'm feeling it would be more responsible if I stopped staying up so late watching movies...)
What does follow after the magical / mysterious / possibly alien car is found doesn't make a whole lot of sense, but I don't think it's supposed to. In the same way that the sorcerers' spells in "The Raven" can't be explained - magic is just technology we don't understand yet, after all. It's also kind of hard to tell if this is supposed to be a comedy or not - it's more of a head-scratcher, and I'm hard pressed to figure out why this is considered a cult classic.
I can almost see how this inspired films like "Fight Club", "Pulp Fiction" and maybe even "The Big Lebowski", since they all have that weird sort of destructive tone to them, but I just don't think it's as good as those other films.
Also starring Emilio Estevez (last seen in "The Mighty Ducks"), Tracey Walter (last seen in "Mighty Joe Young"), Olivia Barash, Sy Richardson, Richard Foronjy.
RATING: 3 out of 10 slim jims
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