solomkkl

This film stands as a testament to the legendary Mystic Knights of the Oingo Boingo, a Los Angeles-based surrealist musical performance ensemble which later evolved into the Danny Elfman-helmed rock act Oingo Boingo. To see these guys do their thing back in the mid-70s was like experiencing a live action Max Fleischer cartoon (ala Betty Boop) on mind-altering substances. The energy of this troupe is captured faithfully in a raucous, rude, screamingly funny and musically brilliant black-and-white film, which is sadly out of print as of this writing, though one may still find the soundtrack. The cartoonish live action (performed on tweaked cardboard painted sets) is interspersed with animation, peppered with all manner of politically incorrect content (something to offend everyone), and a rambling story about a journey to The Sixth Dimension (a place no weirder than the characters' reality!) that is more incidental to the performance than coherent. Who cares! If you are lucky enough to score this warped treasure, just put your mind on hold (or whatever) for about 90 minutes and take this wild ride if you can handle it. A visit to Hell was NEVER this much fun!

It makes me so happy to see a film like this attain its own sort of popularity, to know there is a significant audience for offbeat fare, shining through the oppressive quagmire of blockbusters. Praise to everyone involved with this weird yet plausible and not too bizarre to get caught up in filmed story, after which you will never look at puppetry the same way again. It's basically about people who, for some reason or other, just can't be themselves, either because others won't accept them for that, or they can't accept themselves, or else, well, it's their JOB to be someone else. An out of work puppeteer lands what he thinks at first is a normal clerical job, discovers by accident a channel into the mind of a notable actor, and is coerced by a scheming co-worker to sell tickets for the experience ..... and pays a dear price himself in the process. Identity, sanity, what's it worth to not be you for about 15 minutes? Just make sure you have a ride back from alongside the Jersey turnpike. With another beautiful, haunting score by Carter Burwell of Coen Bros fame .... take a different sort of movie escape, and just be glad you're you.

Like he did in "Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer", director John McNaughton presents us with a predator's eye view of the wonderful world of victims, with a tad more dark humor this time around, and the result is a fine little film. We clueless humans are portayed as a strange bunch in the eyes of an alien criminal, who has been sentenced to the worst punishment on his planet: Life as a human! The human form is not entirely compatible with this species' biology, the annoying result being the head's tendency to explode. Consequently, our alien protagonist is constantly "head-shopping", taking on characteristics of each victim he decapitates in order to capacitate himself. Rae Dawn Chong is the only human to catch on, but of course, who's going to believe a hotheaded female detective? The offbeat characters and wonderfully warped humor set this title apart from most genre offerings .... a cult gem, maybe not for most tastes, but definitely worth a DVD re-release. Check it out if looking for something a bit ... different.