After watching this movie I had to distance myself from it
for a while. Had I sat down to write about it immediately after the end result
would have been no more tasteful or artistic than the film itself (not that it
will be now). I found that the movie fell into that category of film far too
many do, a world where the end product is praised and held in high esteem in an
attempt to sound like you’re part of the scene it comes from, an elite group
that caters to their friends while ignoring anyone willing to fork out money to
see their work. In other words pretentious crap.
The story begins with a small UFO landing on a building in
New York City (because that IS the center of the world for people who make
movies like this). The reason it has chosen this location is apparently because
of the lower moral standards of the people there, in particular those who hang
out in the club scene who are fond of heroin.
As we later learn the aliens onboard, who are depicted as
the retina of an eyeball veins and all, have come here in the hopes of
gathering their own form of heroin. When humans are in the throes of passion
and orgasm their brains emit the same chemical compounds that junkies claim to
feel when getting high. The aliens then consume this chemical compound and
dispose of the bodies.
The apartment house the aliens have come to roost of bodes
well for their collecting process. Living on the top floor are Margaret (Anne
Carlisle) and Adrian (Paula E. Sheppard). Margaret is a bisexual model moved to
the city in the hopes of pursuing a career and her inner muse. That muse
inspires her to bleach and tease her hair, to wear clothing found only on the
walkways of fashion designers and garish makeup that looks like neon colored
war paint, all stripes and lines. Adrian is a lesbian electro punk
composer/performer who also deals heroin.
The club scene is where these two hang out along with a
group of other scene members who seem to feed off of one another. Models and
photographers who take pictures for magazines that only the models and
photographers and scene members by, a circle of sorts. Adrian plays what passes
as music here while others gyrate for what passes as music.
Among this group is Jimmy (also Anne Carlisle), a young man
who everyone considers beautiful and a definite junkie in need of a fix. When
no one here will give him heroin for free he approaches his mother Sylvia for a
loan to buy drugs and she writes him a check.
Things begin to jump from there. A college professor meets
with old colleague Johann who tells him about the aliens but doesn’t help him.
He then goes to Margret’s, an ex-student, and has sex with her and is killed by
the aliens. Johann wants to view the aliens he has located and the best
location to do that is a high rise which happens to be where Sylvia lives. He
meets her and she lets him in her apartment to view the aliens while at the
same time trying to seduce him. From here it gets stranger. I know, that term
seems odd by this point.
If Ed Wood had been provided with the money needed to make a
film, had done heroin and found himself in the art world of NYC during this
time period, he might have been the person responsible for this film. But since
he was dead when the film was made back in 1982 we can’t blame him for this
one. Instead we can pass that off to director/co-writer Slava Tsukerman and
fellow co-writers Carlisle and Nina Kerova. One has to wonder if they came up
with the idea during a drug induced binge at some point. I can hear them in my
mind much like the character Larry Kroger in ANIMAL HOUSE the first time he’s
stoned discussing the possibility of Earth resting on the fingertip of some
creature as if he’s discovered the meaning of existence. It might have sounded
amazing while wasted but once you came down how could this seem like a great
idea? Unless of course you thought of yourself as an “artist”.
While I’ve come to appreciate the things others do as art
and while it is, as they say, in the eye of the beholder, there is much out
there that lays claim to that distinction yet falls far short. It almost always
finds a home among a group of similar minded people who, like the characters in
this film, feed off of one another. They support the group and the mentality of
the group, insuring that each is fed enough of their belief in one another so
as to continue and accept what they do as art. In addition to that they
ridicule others who don’t “get” them or “understand” their art. In essence they
think of themselves above all the simple minded folk who are “beneath” them.
The end result is a tiny enclave of “artists” who pat each other on the back
and ignore the rest of the world.
What is sad are the followers, those around the world who
look to them for inspiration. These people think that the only place you can
find anything worthwhile is in those small enclaves. They would die to be
included in the group. They will support anything done by them, buy it all
while being chastised for having money, promote it as the new thing while it is
ignored by millions and talk about how only the elite understand. It boils down
to the cool kids versus the rest so many remember from high school days. It’s a
tiny group.
The dictionary defines pretentious as “attempting to impress
by affecting greater importance, talent, culture, etc., than is actually
possessed.” This is exactly what this film and those like it are. Nothing more
than an attempt to impress with something they don’t honestly possess.
All of that said the film has developed a cult following. Made
for just $500,000 it grossed $1.7 million when it was released in 1983. No,
that doesn’t make it the next blockbuster film but it does mean it was at least
profitable. It found more notice once it went to video, no doubt the images on
the cover catching the eye of unsuspecting viewers. Even today many who love
the film claim to have discovered it first on video when they were young and
had no idea what it was about. One person told me the movie was great when you
were drunk and watching it. I somehow think that perhaps that would be the best
way to watch it.
In looking up information on the movie before writing I
found the typical style of praise for the film. Some called it visionary.
Another written piece claimed it predicted the rise of AIDS. A review in the New
York Times praised it while at the same time misidentifying one of the main
characters as Larry instead of Jimmy. But more common than anything was reading
that the movie had been rediscovered by hipsters. That explains a lot.
Love it or hate it, much praise must be heaped on Vinegar
Syndrome in their presentation of this film. They’ve rescued it from the low
grade world of VHS and are offering it in premiere style packaging and
production. The odds that you’ve found this film in this good a condition are
non-existent. But then Vinegar Syndrome has dedicated itself to saving obscure
and forgotten movies from disappearing. They should be applauded for that.
The company released the film earlier this year with a 3,000
copy limited edition run that sold out. This should prove there is a market for
strong independent films that have been forgotten by more mainstream companies.
My guess is if those companies were handling a film like this it would not
receive the same loving care that Vinegar Syndrome provides to their titles.
That’s already been seen in how major studios have handled several other low
budget cult films.
Vinegar Syndrome has heaped on the extras for this release,
offering it to a wider audience this time around. Missing this time is the
dayglow slipcover that was made for the limited edition but the rest is still
all here. To start with the film has a newly scanned and restored in 4k from
the 35mm original negative which means it is the cleanest the film has ever
been presented. Other extras include a brand new commentary track with director
Tsukerman, an interview with Carlisle, an introduction Tsukerman, a 50 minute
making of documentary, a Q&A shot during a presentation of the film at the
Alamo Drafthouse with Tsukerman, Carlisle and Clive Smith who did the music, an
isolated soundtrack, outtakes, an alternate opening sequence, behind the scenes
rehearsal footage, theatrical trailers, a still gallery and reversible artwork.
As is obvious, this movie wasn’t my type of film and my
guess is that for the average film lover it won’t be as well. The more
adventurous might enjoy it. Those who view film only through the eyes of art
will love it. And fans will want to make a point of picking up a copy as soon
as possible since the rush to by the limited edition left many hanging. No
matter what you think of the film, the fact that a company like Vinegar
Syndrome has treated a movie like this with the affection they have speaks
volumes for the company. Let’s hope they continue to find and release movies
the same way down the road.
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