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• Average Customer Review: 2.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B0002130OA
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #209,162 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

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2.0 out of 5 stars Cult Movie Doesn't Live up to Reputation, August 31, 2006

By 

directions "neuralbuddhist" (Space Time Foam) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Salvation (VHS Tape)

Salvation, directed by Beth B., who with husband Scott B. was one of the founders of the "Cinema of Transgression" (Nick Zedd, R. Kern) here attempts to make a movie with an actual plot. Though satyrizing the televangelist movement was a worthy target, Salvation comes off as a cross between the Rocky Horror Picture Show and Marjoe. Unlike the gritty no wave films of the 70's, Salvation seems more (relatively) polished but still the acting is on the level of a Paul Morrisey film. Gave a good prediction for Christian punk though.

1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars I miss old Beth B., March 13, 2007

By 

golgotha.gov (Texas) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Salvation (VHS Tape)

SALVATION! (1987)
directed by Beth Billingsly, a.k.a. Beth B.
approx 80 minutes

Beth B started out as an NYC video artist. Her early videos were sort of poetic vingettes that often featured famous underground artists such as Lydia Lunch and Jonas Mekas. She was making videos around the same time as Richard Kern, Nick Zedd and the "Cinema of Transgression". I was interested to see her attempts at making a more mainstream movie. Unfortunately this feature length comedy left me disappointed.

Common themes in the Cinema of Transgression and the parallel "no-wave" music are agnosticism, apathy and despair. The movie follows a televangelist who almost almost gets swindled out of his enterprise by a dysfunctional family. Unsurprisingly, the Christians in this movie are either hucksters or suckers. Of course the rest of the characters are just cynical losers trying to piggyback on the success of others. Everything is edited like a music video. The "moral" of the movie seems to be that the 1980s brought out the worst in everybody. The movie closes with a ridiculous Christian heavy metal routine which I'm shocked hasn't wound up on youtube.

Its worth pointing out that this was one of the first movies to feature VIGGO MORTENSEN as well as one of the only movies to feature L.A. poetess EXENE CERVENKA (lead singer of the band 'X'). The only group I'd really recommend this movie to are those interested in 1980s subcultures, since along with Exene, 'SALVATION!' features music from NEW ORDER and some outrageous fashions of the time.

Beth B. took another stab a "normal" movie with 'TWO SMALL BODIES' (1989). She also made a movie in 1996 that anticipated the oversexed reality television craze ('VISITING DESIRE'). Its a shame her earliest videos aren't available on DVD format. Check out the Ubuweb internet site for her short 1991 video 'STIGMATA'.