Review of Straight to Hell (1987) by The R — 01 Jan 2013

A decently entertaining movie that's nowhere near as good as its defenders or as bad as its detractors claim it to be. There's fun to be had in the way seemingly minor events escalate so easily into senseless violence, and in the lazy pacing which makes the violence feel inconsequential and a respite from boredom (this sounds like a criticism, but it isn't - it drives the film's sense of humour).

However, the aimlessness only goes so far and it's difficult to keep caring about what happens. The film features characters from seemingly different movies stumble into and playact a spaghetti western (a genre I know Cox is a fan of), and we even get some nice Leone-esque cinematography and Morricone-esque music, but Walker channeled Cox's influences into a much more interesting final product.

I did like the performances from the principals, with Dick Rude (that's a great name, btw) being the most endearing, Joe Strummer the most charismatic, Sy Richardson the most intense, and Courtney Love the most amusingly shrill.

Fun, but middling.