Customer Reviews

Straight to Hell

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

Alex Cox's "Straight To Hell" is such a strange and unique pop film that I'm not quite sure how to go about reviewing it. Perhaps if I can break down the elements. The film is based round the time of its release and deliberately has all the cliches of the typical 1960s Italian "Spaghetti" Western; the mood, humour, and style is like that of Jim Jarmusch (who plays "Mr. Dade" in the film), David Lynch, and the Coen Brothers; and the cast is a wonderfully entertaining group of New Wave/Punk Icons and edgy, idiosyncratic character actors; the plot: 3 Hitmen and a pregnant girlfriend oversleep and miss their scheduled "hit" and deside to rob a bank to make up for the loss of money, which leads them to hide out and bury the money; the setting: a virtual "Ghost Town" in Spain--I say virtual, but there are a few occupants: a Spanish tavern keeper, hardware/general store owners consisting of a sexy Latin lady and her war-crazed, half-a-man husband, a Priest and Coffin maker, a mobile butler who consitently serves coffee, a flamboyant singer (ala Liberace), a singer/songwriter who sells hot dogs, the gun-slinging, violent, and caffeine-addicted Mac Mahon Gang, and a few crazed others. Acknowledging the cast during the film is quite fun in itself, from Joe Strummer, Sy Richardson, Dick Rude, Elvis Costello, The Pogues (all of 'em!), Courtney Love, Jim Jarmusch, Dennis Hopper, Xander R. Berkeley, and Grace Jones to others who you'll probably see in a Jim Jarmusch film or in Alex Cox's Sid & Nancy. The soundtrack is a pseudo-Western and Latin mixture of Pogues, Pray For Rain, and Joe Strummer, which works excellently in the film, as well as outside it.

Cult stars, guns, black humour, violence, coffee, and a surreal Italian Western setting is what's in store when you go "Straight To Hell". Hilarious!

DAY ONE - THE INTRO

Definitly one the most ill-received and underated movies of it's time. I first heard it was going to be realesed on DVD a couple months after the (awesome but lacking in the extra's) Repo Man Collector's Edition came out. I was excited, since all I had was the shoddy first edition VHS tape, which neither pan's or scans and just sits in the middle of the screen cutting off about 50% of every shot (not to mention the opening credits - for years I thought it was was called, RAIGHT TO HE)

DAY TWO - THE MOVIE

This is a movie for people who like movies out of the ordinary. Hell, this movie is just flat out fun to watch. I mean whats not to like; Senseless Violence, Schickzo Storeowners, Inept Hitmen, Even More Inept Gang Members, Cheesy One-Liners, Clever Swearing, Amazing Photography, Beautiful Set-Designs, Badass Acting, and the WIENER KID!. Not to mention Blood, Money, Coffee, Guns, and Sexual Tension. Reviewers slammed it hard when it first came out, hopefully this time they'll look at the movie for what it is and realize it's comedic genius, it's ground-breaking design, and it's overall greatness.

Oh yeah if you don't know the story it's basically this; three hitmen and an overly-annoying girl (played by pre-star, post-stripper, pre-plastic surgery-miracle, Courtney Love, in the only good thing she's ever done), who makes Nancy Spungeon look like Mother Teresa, blow a hit, rob a bank, and hide out in a small, desert town inhabited by a gang of coffee addicted outlaws named the McMahons, a killer caberet singer, a sadly misunderstood weiner kid, a bar keep who finally get's some business, a priest with more bullet belts than John Rambo, a crazy sadistic storeowner with a hot french wife, and the town butler who makes sure everyone has a fresh cup of coffee at all times, no matter the sercumstance.

DAY THREE - THE DVD

The picture and sound on this disc are going to get a 10 out of 10 no matter what, since all my tape does is skip and hiss. But the picture on this is excellent, as well as the color and contrast, it's like watching it in a theatre. The sound is clear as can be and it is presented in widescreen format at 1:85:1 ratio. The difference between this and the video is night and day.

There's only 3 extras one the disc but they are each interesting in their own right, I only wish they included some deleted scenes and onset (I think Anchor Bay is against this for some reason). First up, the Audio Commentary with Alex Cox and Dick Rude, not the most groundbreaking commentary but it is very funny and an interesting listen. They both joke on the movie, each other, and some of the cast. Also, you get to here some pretty cool stories about the filming and the people involved with the movie. Alex and Dick also teach an important life lesson, when in need of a comedic moment, just throwing a rock and hitting someone is a surefire way to get a laugh. Next is the very cool 20+ minute documentary called Back to Hell, in which they go and interview about 15 or so of the cast and crew and ask them some questions about the movie. Here, you get to here some hilarious stories (most of which involve the maming of Zander Schloss, who, by the way, finally hit puberty), there were parts in here that had me killing myself laughing. There's a couple of deleted scenes thrown in for good measure as well. Finally, there's a short video promo(for the studio who produced the movie, I presume) of the Pogues version of the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly theme made up of clips from the movie and home video footage of the making of it.

My only complaint of the entire DVD is the cover.... uggghk. The thing looks like a grade 8 student who's project was to make a video cover using only Photoshop and a copy of Pulp Fiction. Personally they should have stuck with the original video cover of the Joe Strummer drawing with the town burning in the background. Which is sadly, nowhere to be found in the contents of the DVD, they do however include a tiny mediocre japanese poster featuring some of the cast members and the soundtrack (and original poster) artwork.

FINAL DAY - THE LAST COMMENTS

If your a fan of Alex Cox or a fan of cult cinema in general, I highly suggest you pick this up. If you have the old VHS version, toss it out (photocopy the cover first then glue in on the DVD case) and get this instead.

Yup, this film--which happens to be one of my all-time faves--is not for everyone. Way back a bit before Sting and Bono gave a whole new meaning to the idea of pompous jerk, British punker musicians brought a real Midlands working class sense of irony and absurdity to the world--often not only through their music but through their stage chatter. Some of the flat-out funniest people I've ever encountered were punkers from the Eighties. The single-most un-funny human I've ever known was a major league grunge performer, and let's not even go near modern rappers and the whole EMO phenomenon. In other words, if you're a Post-Eighties kid this movie probably won't work well for you as you're probably soaked in earnest and dreary. A Brit recently told me that Americans have totally lost their sense of irony. There you have it.

The premise of this film was brilliant--let's take a bunch of Brit rockers to Spain (because a concert gig in Central America fell through), write a script in two days, and make a Spaghetti Western using a dilapidated old set from the early 70's. This couldn't happen today for a variety of reasons, one being that a bunch of musicians with any public reputation wouldn't put up with the lousy accommodations in order to have a bit of fun. Then there's that sense of humor thing again, I can't think of any performer today who could pull off what (just to give a few examples) Joe Strummer and all the Pogues do here. They probably lived on Pepsi and hot dogs for the three weeks it took to shoot this wonder, and they probably didn't give a hoot. And then again, this couldn't have happened back then with American punkers who tended to be snots. I think we stopped being funny a long time ago.

The pace is slow because the film does a great job of emulating its models; mainly those classic Clint Eastwood films. So there. However, it's beyond mere parody and there's plenty of terrific slapstick and just goofy humor all the way through the flick. It's one of those films where there are almost too many memorable vignettes--a bit where Strummer is in a clinch with a gal and his gun accidentally goes off and he has to fake having been bitten by a snake is, for me, one of the classic funny moments in film. The soundtrack alone (at least until kids who are easily bored started writing reviews for Amazon) was, for many years, considered to be classic. The, uh, "violence" is farcical and hardly graphic; also, to have fun, they scrupulously avoided obscenity and nudity in the film, which is what everybody expected from this gang. I understand it got an R rating almost by accident.

Anyway, I love Buster Keaton, the Marx Brothers, W.C. Fields, and all those screwball comedies of the 1930's and this film is one of my favorites. Elsewhere in Amazonia another youngster expresses her boredom over the Cary Grant collection that includes "The Awful Truth"--a flick that rivals Shakespeare. Need I write more?

Some day, when all us tedious Americans who think humor is sadism, making fun of people, and/or doing disgusting things (the lowest forms of humor by the way) are all dead and gone, and the country is full of newcomers who can find genuine joy and laughter in things, this film will be regarded as a classic.

[Raegen Butcher down below gets it dead right by describing this film as a people-sorter in the manner of "Big Trouble in Little China"--a gem that is for me up there with "Gone With the Wind" and "Citizen Kane." I generally find that anyone who doesn't like "Big Trouble" or this flick puts ME to sleep in minutes. And while I'm at it, what's with these one-star reviews because something bores you? Everybody I know under the age of thirty these days is bored by anything that isn't exploding in their faces. It tells me more about the reviewer than the product being reviewed]

Making sense of this spaghetti western parody is about as easy as witnessing Shane Macgowan performing all his songs coherently and bearing a perfect set of teeth. Well, you can at least do the first part by watching Straight To Hell. In fact, Alex Cox recruits quite a number of well known celebrities to make came appearances in the film. The Pogues play a family of caffeine addicts, while Grace Jones and Dennis Hopper make notable cameo appearances. Also, Elvis Costello appears here and there as Hives the Butler.

The film is full of amusing moments, but the storyline is almost nonexistent. That's okay, it's an Alex Cox film. What does make this movie worthwhile, despite it's weak story, is Alex Cox's form. His main characters are played out well, with Richardson, Strummer, and Rude giving good performances. Courtney Love's performance, however, leaves much to be desired and is a far cry from some of her later film roles. What one will find here, amongst all the incoherent ruble, is a film that must have at least been seen by Quentin Tarantino (and of course, only a video junkie of his stature would have seen this film).

Not a great film, but certainly influential. Alex Cox has great form and the host of indie celebrities are amusing.

-Tim

Step 1} Make a wonderfully surreal movie (Repo Man)

Step 2} Make a critically acclaimed film about a rock/punk icon and his dead girlfriend (Sid & Nancy)

Step 3} Get a bunch of punk/new wave musicians, buddies, characer actors, etc together, and tell the studio you're going to go to Spain and make a wonderfully critically acclaimed surreal movie.

It doesn't matter if you're telling the truth in Step 3, because after you've spent the studio's money and delivered the resulting cans of celluloid worms, they only have two choices (if your contract was cleverly-written enough, anyway):

Choice 1} Release it.

Choice 2} Sit on it.

They released it.

My first wife and i watched it.

We loved it.

The more you know about/appreciate spaghetti westerns, the more you'll probably like this film.

And the music is wonderful -- not surprising, considering it includes in the cast the Pogues, members of the Circle Jerks, Joe Strummer and so on.

All i can say is that, if you can enjoy sloppy self-indulgent silliness made by a talented cast having fun, you might want to look at this film.

(There is a re-issue of the soundtrack album, but it's missing some of the better music -- particularly the Pogues' version of "The Good the Bad and the Ugly", but does retain Zander Schloss's "Salsa y Ketchup" and the Pogues' alternate [and better] version of "If I SHould Fall from Grace with God")

I saw this movie once, in college and was boggled by all the randomness- it seems like every character has a different foreign accent, Zander Schloss sings a song about Disco Hotdogs, Grace Jones makes out with Dennis Hopper (and in the 'making of' featurette he forgets her last name!!!! oh my god!!!!!), Joe Strummer gets his vampire love on, and Courtney Love wails a lot of catchy phrases in her pre-plastic surgeries, screechy voice.
It's pretty sweet, all in all.
If you like that sort of thing.
The 'making of' part explains how the film came about and why it's so disjointed.... and it is a pretty sloppy piece of film making... but it's cool that it was made and had enough support to make it out on DVD.
The only thing that disturbs me about the film is that they keep saying 'Shikso' or maybe 'shiksa' when I think they meant to say 'meshuggah' or something. I dunno. It's really odd.
I like this movie in the same way that I like the Fishing with John episodes, Buckaroo Banzai and The South Park Movie...and maybe Liquid Sky.

Leonard Maltin, a guy I normally admire, just doesn't get it. This movie is wonderful, as long as you accept it on its own terms. It is a bit of fun, with a fair swipe at the love of money. The music is fantastic, and really is one of the best soundtracks you will ever find. A group of friends and I have claimed it as "our movie" for years, and I'm sure many who have seen it share the same fanatic devotion. And yes, I know way too many lines of the film by heart to be considered "employable." I should only give it four stars, since I would like to have seen some outtakes, but no matter! Five it is! Mr Cox, we are still awaiting "Back To Hell!"

There's a difference between "film" and "movies". Film is a serious endeavor to be studied and savored. Movies are to be enjoyed. This is a great movie in the tradition of "Little Shop of Horrors" and "Santa Clause Conquers the Martians". As film it was a sorry mess. Dang good thing we came to see a movie eh?

Many people have made the mistake of expecting a serious drama here or a common comedy. I think the movie was made to be a strange as possible. Come on gang, a gang of Irish coffee addicts terrorizing a South American town?

Look at it as good clean fun and silliness and you can't go wrong

i haven't seen the dvd, because it is not out yet, but the movie was so good who cares what else they put on the dvd. any extra footage or trailers or commentaries are all bonus! bonus! bonus! bonus!, to quote milo ackerman. just to see this cast in one place is worth it. dennis hopper, grace jones, joe strummer, courtney love, dick rude, elvis costello, jim jaramusch, THE POGUES as southwestern desperados!! what more could you ask for? well there is more in this. just the over the top shoot out scene in the end is worth whatever it costs.

I was worried about not liking this movie. I'd read a lot of Reviews that said it was weird or boring. But I love Joe Strummer so I had to check it out. and I was pleasantly surprized to find a quirky laugh out loud movie. IT Is a DARK comedy. and you'll either love it or hate it, get it or not. I only gave 4 stars because Courtney Love annoys me she's the only downside to the movie, but her part isn't hugh so it's bareable. I loved seeing Strummer playing a cool sexy guy, he had some great funny moments. Shane Macgowan made me crack up when ever he's on screen. I was also surprized to see some actors in it that are now recgnizable from their recent work like an actor from medium and one from 24. Give this movie a chance and you'll be rewarded.