Review of Trash Humpers (2010) by Bryan W — 25 Jul 2011

Appropriately, garbage.

Self-proclaimed provocateur Korine seeks to turn a weekend hi-8 project into wide release film in what seems to be a joke played on audiences who identify as being even remotely in the mainstream.

For those outside the mainstream, this idiotic piece of shit might seem worth watching, but there's really nothing to get; no social commentary, no good performances, and no style. It might have been promising if it had been made by someone in elementary school.

Supposedly, Korine conceived of the movie upon seeing trash strewn across the ground in an alley and married the images to a childhood memory of peeping toms in his neighborhood. At some point, he considered taking his finished film and leaving it as a VHS tape on a sidewalk somewhere. This, along with the editing style of having taped over something else and thus having the taped over elements peek through the cuts, is the only inspired filmmaking I can see here.

It would appear the maker's ego got the better of him, and he slapped his name all over it. There's a shock. As a bit of found footage, the film would be a completely unsettling documentary crossing of perverse sexuality and snuff film. Instead, you get shitty cinematography and a crisp, clear sound track that completely destroys the illusion that this might have happened, which is the only illusion that could possibly keep this swill interesting.