Product Details

• Actors: Val Kilmer, Lisa Kudrow, Kate Bosworth, Christina Applegate, Josh Lucas
• Directors: James Cox
• Writers: James Cox, Captain Mauzner, D. Loriston Scott, Todd Samovitz
• Producers: Ali Forman, Allen Fischer, Captain Mauzner
• Format: Color, NTSC
• Language: English
• Rated: R (Restricted)
• Number of tapes: 1
• Studio: Lions Gate Films
• VHS Release Date: February 10, 2004
• Run Time: 104 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (110 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B00014NE80
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #324,309 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

The dark underside of Boogie Nights is tracked in Wonderland, a sleaze-filled look at the notorious "Wonderland Murders" of 1981. The movie attempts to explain how the legendarily endowed porn actor John C. Holmes was involved in the killings, while deliberately suggesting the difficulty of knowing the truth of a murky case. The police procedural aspects turn out to be less intriguing than the weirdly hapless domestic life of Holmes (Val Kilmer at his most dazed), who despite his promiscuity continues to rely on his starchy, clean-cut wife (an unflattering role for Lisa Kudrow, but the most interesting character in the picture). Well-known actors--notably a near-unrecognizable Dylan McDermott--slouch through the story, which rather distracts from the aggressively realistic approach. In the end, the unclean aura makes one yearn for the stylized ingenuity of Boogie Nights, or at least a reason to be watching this story this way. --Robert Horton

From The New Yorker

This is not the story of John Holmes, the pasha of porno, who bestrode the world of the skin flick with an ease and authority that made life pretty interesting for anybody lying underneath. Instead, it is the story of what Holmes did next-his greasy twilight, in the early nineteen-eighties, when his demeanor and daily routine became no more savory than that of any other cokehead. He was mixed up in a multiple murder, the savagery of which is pressed upon us, and the moral consequence of which appears to be "Stick to blue movies and stay off drugs." Why the director, James Cox, should expect us to leap on this sorry saga with enthusiasm is a mystery, and, as if worried by the grind of his narrative, he tries to chop and chivvy it into a state of high excitement. Holmes is played by Val Kilmer, so thoroughly spaced out that he could slip without noticing into another movie, or, for that matter, another galaxy. -Anthony Lane
Copyright © 2006 The New Yorker

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

44 of 49 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Johnny Wadd, February 12, 2004

By 

Eric James Cooper "ejames43" (Highlands Ranch, CO USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Wonderland (DVD)

This film gives you two points of view of the Wonderland murders. One from Dylan McDermott and one from Val Kilmer (as John Holmes). I think the sheer brutality of these murders are enough to captivate, but the film basically goes nowhere. You don't learn anything about Holmes other than the fact that's he's a major drug addict. The film has nothing to do with porn or sex. It's a true crime movie that just never really gets off the ground. The second disc is a documentary on Holmes himself. That is the better disc. It gives you an in-depth look at the life of a guy with a practical-joke sized piece of anatomy. This documentary is far more interesting than the film Wonderland.

There is a 25 minute crime scene police video included as well. It is as graphic as graphic gets. The bodies are still there as the police carefully document the bloody scene. I assume it's there for shock value. Don't let your kids anywhere near this.

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Indispensable package for Wonderland aficionados, July 5, 2005

By 

John (Southern California) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Wonderland (DVD)

I felt that this movie was unfairly bashed by newspaper critics. I got the impression that none dared venture anything positive once a consensus had been established.

I was so curious about this affair after reading the Rolling Stone article years ago that I saw this movie when it was first released in theaters; I wanted to see if it corroborated the article. So did it? That's the movie: two different versions of the heist are presented --John Holmes' and David Lind's. It's one thing to hear a story, but something else to see it enacted. John Holmes' version was amusing to see enacted because it made his lies obvious; some things could not have happened as he told them (ridiculous) and the audience laughed on those. Toward the end is a chilling Roman holiday of a murder scene that I believe, all things considered, is as close to the truth as we will come. For example, I believe it was Deverell who answered the door, and I am convinced that Holmes was there and probably coerced into participating in order to implicate him and thus prevent him from turning against Eddie again by testifying.

This two-disc set also includes omitted scenes, a Crime TV segment, and telling interviews with Sharon Holmes, Dawn Schiller, and people who knew Holmes from "the industry." There are photos taken of the victims when they were alive which I found very interesting, just to see what they looked like. The LAPD crime scene video was not as hard to take as I had expected, mostly due to the then-poor quality of video tape (it has come a long way since 1981 and this will jog your memory); three of the four just look like they're sleeping except that their hair is caked with blood. There are also interviews with some of the actors. I didn't know who Josh Lucas was before seeing this; his performance was outstanding.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Make sure you get the 2-disc set!!!!, February 2, 2005

By 

Timothy P. Molthan - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Wonderland (DVD)

There are two different releases of this out there. One is the movie (with, I think, a few extras) on one disc; the other is a two-disc set which includes the documentary "Wadd: The Life & Times of John C. Holmes". Watch the documentary FIRST, as "Wonderland" will make a lot more sense and be ten times more enjoyable if you do. That said, "Wonderland" is a fantastic, gritty film that I can count as one of my all-time favorites! Val Kilmer is so good as porn star John Holmes, you won't believe it. Lisa Kudrow, Kate Bosworth, Dylan McDermott, and EVERYONE in the cast is outstanding! Watch for a cameo by Paris Hilton as well. Everyone chews the scenery in this realistic film that went unnoticed in theatres but is becoming a cult classic thanks to the magic of DVD! I can't recommend it any more highly!