I love strange and unique movies that create a bizarre world and invite you in to visit. Movies like 'Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill!', 'El Topo', 'Eraserhead' and 'Repo Man' for example. As profoundly odd as those movies are, they feel natural to me, not contrived attempts at making a "cult movie" ala Troma. I don't like Troma's output much and can think of very few of those kind of self consciously quirky movies that I actually like ('The Adventures Of Buckaroo Banzai' is one, 'Killer Klowns From Outer Space' is another). 'Six-String Samurai' for me is closer to the contrived Troma approach than the naturally strange Russ Meyer/Coen brothers one. It's the kind of movie that is more fun to describe to someone else than to actually sit through yourself. Now it isn't a complete failure, far from it. I did enjoy parts of it a lot, but it kinda dragged on, and for me just didn't live up to its potential. The initial premise was good, but the script needed a lot more work. As it stands it would have made a neat 50-60 minute short. Jeffrey Falcon plays Buddy, a guitar slingin' samurai who is on a journey to Lost Vegas to become the new King of rock'n'roll. In this America you see, the Russians took over after they dropped the Bomb in the 50s. Buddy encounters lots of oddballs along the way, reluctantly looks after The Kid (Justin McGuire) , and ends up having a showdown with Death (Stephane Gauger). 'Six-String Samurai' deliberately echoes 'El Mariachi', 'Mad Max 2' and the Lone Wolf and Cub series, but never reaches the heights of its inspirations. I always like to encourage low budget film makers trying to push the envelope. 'Six-String Samurai' doesn't quite do it for me, but I hope Lance Mungia and Jeffrey Falcon continue to make movies. Who knows, guys, maybe next time?
