BEFORE: I know, I know, this film is neither a documentary nor a concert-based film, so it doesn't fit into the chain thematically - but it's another "cult classic" from 1982, and reaching that far back into the annals of cinematic history, it's tough for me to link there, and it's probably even tougher to link back to the present. So if I don't watch this one now, neatly sandwiched between two films with Mary Woronov, then I may never watch it, and it will just sit on my DVR, taking up space, for months, maybe years. So let's cross it off - both Mary Woronov and Paul Bartel carry over from "Rock 'n' Roll High School".
I'm 10 films in to the Summer Rock & Doc Block, with 32 or 33 films to go - so plenty of documentaries still in my future, I can take a break from the format for one day.
THE PLOT: A relatively boring Los Angeles couple discovers a bizarre, murderous way to get funding for opening a restaurant.
AFTER: This is quite a ridiculous movie, over-the-top in terms of black comedy, but it's maybe funnier because the actors all play it so straight. In temperament, that is, not sexual orientation. The actor Paul Bartel, who was openly gay, played the married Paul Bland. Yes, the lead couple was "bland" in name and affect, surrounded by wild and crazy characters much more interesting than them, but that was the point.
Coming out of the "swinging 70's", post sexual revolution, there's a whole underground sex scene in the Los Angeles area, but this couple just wants to raise enough money to move out of the city and open their own restaurant in the Valley. She works as a nurse and he works in a wine store, but when he gets fired and their rent gets raised, what are they supposed to do? That dream is fading fast, and even after Paul agrees to sell off some bottles from his treasured wine collection, the buyer says he has to cash some travelers checks, but instead he takes off with the wine and leaves Paul with the dinner check.
So when one of Mary's patients mixes her up with a dominatrix, and offers her money to tie him up and whip him, AND a man from a swingers party in their apartment complex tries to have sex with Mary (forcing Paul to kill him with a frying pan) they put two and two together, and realize they can lure horny rich men to their apartment with the promise of bondage or sex, kill those perverts and take their money, with each kill bringing them closer to the down payment they need for the restaurant.
Raoul is the enterprising locksmith who tries to rob them, but when he learns of their scheme, he wants in, and he just happens to know a way to dispose of bodies, which really helps out the Blands, because they're starting to run out of trash bags. It's funny - I re-booted the old PS2 this weekend to run through "Grand Theft Auto III" for old time's sake, and there's a set of side missions set at the Bitchin' Dog Food Factory which seems very similar to this part of the plot.
Yep, this is a snapshot of 1982, that's for sure. I didn't know that while I was spending my summer afternoons at the arcade, somewhere there were adults whose biggest problem was all of the swingers who'd moved into their building, and that the simplest solution to their problems was to put an ad in sex magazine to lure horny perverts to their deaths, while paying another man to grind up the bodies. Yeah, that seems about right.
Further complications arise, though, when Raoul seduces Mary with the help of some Thai stick (umm, it's just really good weed, is that all it took?). This tracks, too, because if she was married to a closeted gay man that relationship probably wasn't sexual at all - note that they sleep in separate beds, in the same room. Hey, whatever gets you through the night, it's all right - but clearly there was something missing in Mary's life, and Raoul took advantage of that. But marriage and platonic friendship wins the day, and it's all worth it if the restaurant's a success, right?
Watch for cameos here of Edie McClurg as a swinger - talking VERY dirty and against type - and also John Paragon, famous for playing the genie Jambi in "Pee-Wee's Playhouse", as the manager of a sex shop, he practically steals the movie. Most of the other acting is terrible, not quite as bad as in "Rock 'n' Roll High School", but in the same ballpark. At least this one's more fun, and the Ramones are nowhere to be seen.
Also starring Robert Beltran (last seen in "Nixon"), Susan Saiger, Richard Paul, John Shearin, Darcy Pulliam, Ben Haller, Garry Goodrow, Richard Blackburn, Hamilton Camp, Buck Henry (last seen in "Breakfast of Champions"), Hanns Manship, Dan Barrows, Allan Rich (last seen in "Wish I was Here"), Ed Begley Jr. (last seen in "Get Over It"), Billy Curtis, Ralph Brannon, John Paragon (last seen in "Pee-Wee's Big Holiday"), Don Steele (also carrying over from "Rock 'n' Roll High School"), Edie McClurg, with cameos from Joe Dante (also carrying over from "Rock 'n' Roll High School"), John Landis (last seen in "Trespassing Bergman")
RATING: 5 out of 10 unsold cases of Chateau Lafite Rothschild
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