Enter the world of hobos, derelicts, the unwashed and the criminally insane with Synapse Film's newest Blu-ray release, STREET TRASH, directed by James Muro and written by Roy Frumkes. Street Trash is the saga of a group of derelicts living in a junkyard under the merciless rule of a psychotic Vietnam vet. Plot number one. When several derelicts turn up mysteriously liquefied, the police come down hard on the derelict community in search of answers. Plot number two. It turns out the local liquor store has been selling a new hooch called Viper, and at just one dollar a bottle, even the hobos can indulge. Unfortunately for them, drinking Viper has some very fatal side-effects. Plot number three. Oh, and there's gang rape, a scene of implied necrophilia and a game of keep-away involving an errant, excised penis!
While STREET TRASH has its fill of rather nice special effects work involving the gross, yet colorful demises of those sampling Viper, cheesy dialogue and memorable (memorably sick) characters, it's the fact that the multiple plots run together instead of coalescing into a single coherent story that makes the film difficult to follow. The emphasis on character development also weighs down the middle of the movie after a strong opening, and by the third act it's just sort of a mess. What is Viper? Where did it come from? Why is it turning bums into puddles of neon goop? We never find out. Instead the movie resolves itself with a long chase and awkward fight sequence involving the junkyard king, Bronson, and our "hero bum" Fred, the only derelict with, at least, some semblance of humanity, yet manages to remain totally unsympathetic. Did I mention the part about the errant penis?
For me STREET TRASH was a reminder of the kind of films that filled the void after horror had sputtered out in the latter part of the 80's. Along with films like Frankenhooker (watch my review here) and Brain Damage, STREET TRASH took a hard left toward far less commercial territory. Despite its flaws, I had a good time with STREET TRASH overall. It's low budget, but high concept, chock full of black humor, cheese and some rather nice gore effects. It's sick, twisted fun. I say check it out.
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BLU-RAY DETAILS:
The HD transfer is fantastic! The image is crisp and clear, with vivid colors and rich textures throughout. The audio quality is hit and miss, however, as some character's voices are less discernible than others. We get two audio commentaries from producer/writer Roy Frumkes and director James Muro. The original STREET TRASH 16mm short film that inspired the movie is a quick interesting watch. "The Meltdown Memoirs" is an exhaustively detailed featurette chronicling the making of STREET TRASH. Rounding out the extras, we get 5 deleted scenes and an interview with actress Jane Arakawa about her experience making the film.
Buy STREET TRASH here.
Check out Synapse Film's website here.
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