Review of Straight to Hell (1987) by Steve H — 05 Feb 2008

I don't know what the hell this movie is. It doesn't make the slightest bit of sense, there's no character development to speak of, there're a few bizarre musical numbers, the cameos are outrageous , I mean freakin Elvis Costello and Jim Jarmusch. What the fuck? There are drawbacks as well. You've gotta listen to Courtney Love's bitchy whine pretty much the whole time, sometimes things get really really stupid, but in a way all together I think I liked it and that's why I just bumped the rating from 3.5 to 4.

I think Jodorowsky's influence here is almost too clear. There are scenes that seem fairly purposefully derivative, but it does branch off from time to time and become its own animal. I love how there's a highway fairly visible in the background of this supposedly isolated village. We occasionally see cars wiz by in the background, but somehow I don't think that was an accident. A lot of this seems to just take the "Fuck it" attitude, throwing all sorts of crap out there even though none of it really appears to hold any clear symbolism or weight though it seems like it should. Maybe it's a parody of Jodorowsky? I really don't know what to make of this film, but like I said, I think I like it.