Story of Three circus daredevils who take on the evil 39013 an escaped convict who seeks to destroy the possessions of Horace Granville the man responsible for sending him to jail.

Considered by man to be one of Republics Finest hours it certainly has a sterling cast that includes Charles Quigley, Herman Brix, Miles Mander and Charles Middleton in one of his best villain roles. Frankly the cast alone is reason enough to see this. The action in the serial is top notch and most if not all of the cliffhangers were reused several times by the studio in serials that followed this one. The action is balanced by a good story which doesn't really repeat itself again and again.

Actually the problem with the serial is not so much the plot being repeated but the locations. My lack of love for the serial (I'm not a lover of it, I like it) comes from the fact that the film is constantly using industrial locations for its cliffhangers. It seems to be that most of the locations seem to be warehouses or factories or something industry related. Its in keeping with the plot, but at the same time I'd have liked to see something else.

That said this is a really good action serial that should be seen if you want to see one thats near the top of the pile.


The daredevils in Daredevils Of The Red Circle consist of three circus stuntman who when the little brother of one of them is killed in an arson fire on that circus. The circus is one of many things owned by millionaire Miles Mander and his old partner who Mander had sent to jail, Charles Middleton, is busy plotting to wreck and dismantle his fortune.

The three heroes are Charles Quigley, David Sharpe, and Bruce Bennett under his real name of Herman Brix. Because they managed to save Mander's granddaughter Carole Landis, Landis gets the three of them hired by the millionaire to find out who's causing all the problems and to apprehend same.

But this is a really deep conspiracy because Grandpa isn't who he seems. It turns out that Mander was kidnapped and Middleton is in the house impersonating him with the use of a lifelike mask and a good imitation of his voice. They've given out the cover story of a stroke and they have him behind this glass panel, rigged something Howard Hughes would later do for real.

Our intrepid heroes get inside information about various plans of wrecking that Middleton has going and spend most of the 12 chapters foiling same. Why they didn't get a message out about Mander's situation is beyond me.

Still it's the ultimate of inside conspiracies. The kids loved it back in the day, I'm sure its chapters played with whatever Gene Autry or Roy Rogers or whatever Republic cowboy feature film was coming out.

It all looks so silly now though.


The End of St Petersburg was another landmark of Soviet realist cinema, as good as if not better than Battleship Potemkin, Strike, or Storm Over Asia. It's incredibly powerful, with many absolutely stunning montage sequences that make today's quick cut edits look like like child's play in comparison. The language of cinema was invented in Russia and Germany by artists like Pudovkin, Eisenstein, Murnau, and Lang. Anyone interested in cinema history needs to see films like this one to appreciate how weak our current crop of auteurs truly are.


Wow!! I wasn't expecting something like this. Quite frankly, silent Russian directors make American directors of the same era look anemic by comparison.

Nearly every shot in this film is poetry - beautifully composed, lit, not over-acted (like so many silents), simple, and brutally powerfully. The faces, the atmosphere. Vsevolod had an AMAZING eye for composition. The close-ups are gorgeous and intense and fiery and the wide shots are breathtaking in the way they emphasize man's fragile diminutive size.

Of course, this is a propaganda film, so the upper class are portrayed as fat, hysterical beast-people and the lower-class are all rough-hewn and beautiful, but WHO CARES when the movie is this good! And this is during the age of Eisenstein so the quick-cut editing comes into play during the end with the big overthrow of St. Petersburg with great edits that are nearly subliminal.

Wonderful stuff


Pudovkin makes use of revolutionary techniques, especially montage, as he narrates the story of the storming of the Winter Palace in Skt. Petersburg, 1917. The plot centres on two families, one rural and one urban, whose paths cross as they engage passionately in the uprising. The film is a masterpiece in silent film narration.


I have to say that I was quite captivated by this film, and, of course, I found myself rooting for those poor Soviets. The symbol of the boiled potato which at first barely fed two people, finally being shared by the communists is quite striking. The film is visually wonderful. Both Poduvkin and Eisenstein have this thing for wonderful faces, with character and pain. Of course, everything is exaggerated. Those guys at the stock market, feasting on the spoils of the country while the proletariat slaved in the factories is brought to us with an incredible heavy-handedness. These must have been used extensively for propaganda purposes and must have had people up in arms. There are good performances and all the communist symbolism one could hope for. Unfortunately, not everything panned out quite so well a few years later, with the oppressed back under the heel of those who abuse power. See this film, however, and consider the plight of the poor of Russia, stuck under the Tsar and the fat cats.


This silent 1927 masterpiece is truly brilliant. To me it embodies everything that cinema is meant to be; it's visual art in motion, literature with pictures, history with emotion; all those and much more. It really is at the peak of film-making.

I say that, but that is not to say it is a perfect film. Just that the intention in creating this bleak and powerful look at poverty in early 20th-century Russia is absolutely spot-on: It wants to tell a tale, create an image, and to breathe life into history. The intention is not simply to entertain like so many awful films of the past ten years, which is a good thing, since "The End of St. Petersberg" is great without actually being entertaining.

There are some very powerful scenes and some frankly unforgettable visual sequences - the scenes of the first world war for example, or the beginning of the workers' strike. Take it from me, Pudovkin's direction is absolutely masterful and I think it's sad that seemingly so few people have discovered him. But with all that said, by today's standards this doesn't quite have the staying power of Chaplin or Keaton.

It's quite wonderful to behold, but it can really only captivate the interest of people who are interested in details of history, or who know little of the events leading up to the Russian revolution. Unfortunately for me I'm neither very interested nor entirely ignorant and so while I'm very glad to have witnessed this grand-scale piece of master craftsmanship it couldn't completely peak my interest.

That's unimportant though in the great scheme of things, and I don't mean to say that I don't thoroughly recommend it to anyone who enjoys film or art. ****1/2 / *****


Arguably the magnum opus of the silent screen. It must seen to be believed! One can only wonder what the film would have been like had it been made a few later, after the advent of sound. Would appreciate any information regarding the original score. The version we saw on TCM has what seems to be a new soundtrack


Nostalgics should enjoy this mid-80s cheese fest, as far as spying familiar faces of the decade: Jason Gedrick (who routinely played the troubled, but well-meaning defender teen), Bobby Jacoby, Marc Price, and Jackie Earle Haley.

But as a movie geared for older kids (given that the young characters have no problem letting the expletives fly and hence the PG-13 rating), it is indeed, as another viewer wrote, predictable. A bunch of trouble teens invest themselves in putting together a rock club they once thought was owned by the bum (because of squatter's rights) who granted them permission to use the club. So when the feud with their rivals get out of hand, they rivals take advantage of the lack of property claims and so the Zoo Gang (named for their rock club) as the underdogs, have to do what they can to save the club.

It's terribly dated. With its predictability, there is plenty of 80s corniness: the work-out montage, the bad haircuts (get a load of Jackie Earle Haley's mullet-tude), and dialog. Granted, the filmmakers could only be sophisticated to a certain point in a movie that primarily stars and is primarily geared towards teens and pre-teens.


This is the sad story of the Donnely brothers. They want to be accepted by their peers but they can't because of bourgeois prejudices. The local rich kids use their parents' money to convert a deserted warehouse into a club. The boys want to help out, but their poor single father can't spare any money. So the boys offer to work at the club. They even throw out a troublemaker to show their good intentions. However, the rich kids don't want them around. The boys are expelled from the club, teased about their clothes and hair, ostracised from the community and even assaulted.


I was living in Prescott when The Zoo Gang was being filmed. I lived right down the street from the main filming site. The club that the Donnelly's tried to take over was an old Checker Auto Parts Store before they closed it down. The Hotel that was across from that was the Hassayampa Hotel. That is where the other kids got on top of the roof and cheered everyone on. Across the street from the Hassayampa was the old Library, I used to go to that Library when I was a little girl before they built the new one. Down the street from there was the Marina Movie Theater. I watched many movies in that Theater. The hill that they take the motor home down on is Elk's Hill, we used to sled down that hill when we were kids in the winter when it snowed. We used to skate in the Plaza by Bucky O'Neal in the square. My fondest memories in Prescott are around the time that this movie was being filmed. I had a couple of friend's that were extras in the movie. So, I know this movie personally, I am a native of Prescott. I thought it was cool to actually know people that got to be extras in it.


I first saw The Zoo Gang when I was a child of about five. The story itself is the cliche'd 80's movie where a group of kids beat the odds to fight for the club that they have, the place that gives them meaning. They fight an incoming developer and his hick family by training with Ben Vereen, otherwise known as Chicken George from Roots. When their training is finished, they realize that they've had the power the whole time to defend themselves and their friendships are made even stronger.


I saw this movie at the Toronto Film Festival because it starred the great actor Phillipe Noiret. It arrived with little fanfare, compared to a film like "The Barbarian Invasions," which it actually resembles. Well it turned out to be a great film, and actually better than "TBI" in that the relationships between the father and his sons were more clearly defined and developed in this film. It is touching and very funny at the same time. The film also makes some amusing digs at the French Canadians by French people from France! Anybody who sees this film will want to immediately call his or her father up if at all possible, wherever he may be, and tell him how much he is loved, for the film movingly shows the importance and uniqueness of fathers and of the power of reconciliation and forgiveness. The director in the Q & A said he wanted to simply make an entertaining film. What he has created is so much more than that!


Within the first five minutes, your jaw will hit the floor.

I write for a major horror review publication and see them all. Pink Eye is not for Hollywood buffs. But its the froth of the horror indie slaughterhouse floor, and its reminiscent of the 80's when horror was low budget and raw, without trying to be.

The combination of director James Tucker and writer Joshua Nelson has hit the monkey for dinner on the head before - Aunt Rose, Addiction, and Skinned Alive are titles you cant go wrong with on a blind purchase. Also, Melissa Bacelar frequents these parts. Although she's not nude in any of them (DAMN DAMN DAMN!!!!) there are ample alternatives in the T&A department. On top of it, Melissa can act, and can carry your eyes through 90 minutes of ANYTHING.

If you can appreciate good low budget horror, don't pass this one up.


OK I am not one to hate on independent Horror especially since some surpass Main Stream big budget horrors, but I have to take the time to say that this Movie is dire.

I was mislead into thinking that this would be an interesting story from the opening scene but I was more than wrong, in fact the film doesn't really have a coherent storyline at all. It jumps from one scene to the next containing irrelevant characters who really serve no purpose to the thin story line the film does have.

The characters that do feature have no clear Character traits and little if no back story meaning that you can't relate or care what happens to them. As for the main baddie Edgar, he seems to be a Mix of several other horror baddies and does his best to mimic Tony Todds Excellent performance in Candyman (Vocally I mean) which for me was very distracting.

In my humble opinion this doesn't really feel like one solid cohesive movie but like a bunch of Trailers for several Horrors edited to appear as one film.

I would never tell anyone to stay away from a movie because we all have different emotional responses to what we watch, but be warned this will leave you confused and wondering 'what did I just watch?'


If you enjoy horror movies, this movie wasn't scary at all, so pass on it if scary moments are the main reason you like horror films. There also wasn't much gore so again, if that's why you like horror movies, pass on this one.

The film was short, and 2 characters entered briefly, one to talk about a main character's pink eye as a kid, and the other to talk about his painting (which as it turned out resembled the killer). The killer was annoying. He wasn't scary, and every line of his was quoting poetry and speaking with an accent to make him sound snooty. It didn't really make him seem more deranged and interesting. It was just annoying.

The first few minutes really had me thinking the movie was going to be worth watching, but I couldn't believe I actually finished the movie because it really just had very little to offer as far as keeping me interested. It was clearly low-budget and a good effort, but it's not a movie I would strongly recommend in any way.


I was sent a screener of "Pink Eye" last week and really looked forward to seeing Melissa Bacelar in all her glory. I wasn't disappointed either. Not only does she have a wonderfully toned (and tanned) body to look at but she is quite a charismatic presence on screen too.

Unfortunately, the little girls in the film steal every scene they are in and actually do a much more credible job than the seasoned pros here. It's obvious that, in spite of the ultra low budget, "Pink Eye" actually contains some decent actors but the overly slow pace does tend to spoil their performances from time to time.

Melissa's legs also tend to be a major distraction. I'm not entirely sure what her relationship is exactly to the children (or to the hero for that matter) but her skimpy shorts are probably inappropriate attire for babysitting. I just found myself gazing at her legs more than paying attention to the dialogue but then that's probably always going to the case when it comes to Melissa Bacelar.

The story itself is somewhat confusing. Things really aren't explained too well and there are a few red herrings along the way which really do more to hinder the plot rather than help it. The whole thing reminded me of the huge annoying pause you get on quiz shows like "Millionaire" where you end up shouting, "Just get on with it!" In particular, the scene with the Russian woman telling the story of how Brandon had "Pink Eye" when he was younger just felt like padding.

The special effects, on the other hand, are quite well done. Most effects appear to be the practical kind although there are also a couple of dodgy camera effects which are overused. Whereas I thought that the various eyeball gouging and belly cutting effects were good, I really didn't like the scenes which looked like a double exposure.

I absolutely hated the use of music throughout the film though. Not only did most of it outstay its welcome by overlapping from one scene to the next but it was often inappropriate. No background music at all would perhaps have been a better option although strangely enough there were a couple of scenes near the end where it actually worked.

The real star of this show though was Joshua James who plays the Poe quoting lunatic "Edgar". Big plot holes mean that I'm not sure why he was so special as a patient but he certainly has a very eerie voice somewhat reminiscent of James Earl Jones mixed with Vincent Price if that makes any sense. He certainly managed to convey an air of menace.

I was disappointed by the scene in which Melissa removes Edgar's mask mainly because I wanted to see the total extent of his deformities. Alas, either the budget didn't run to it or someone thought it would be best left to the imagination but in a film so previously full of gore it was odd.

Overall it was quite entertaining but very flawed. There were some nice boobs once or twice (sadly not Melissa's) and enough blood to satisfy most independent horror film fans. It's not really any worse than "Beyond Re-animator", which it reminds me a lot of, but it's equally not at all scary either.

I'll give it 3 out 10. I wish I could give it more but it needs some more editing in places before it would be totally pleasing. I also wish that Melissa hadn't disappeared for three-quarters of the film as, from the order of the credits, I really thought she was going to carry the whole thing.


I should have known from the title screen onward that this was a bad movie. Come on... this cheap public domain horror font is used on amateur Halloween cards but not in the opening title of a horror movie. The best in this movie is the beginning of a girl in an asylum that goes nuts and rips out her eyes. You won't see any equally gory scenes for the rest of the movie. Basically it starts out with an asylum and some strange experiments and misuse of the inmates, one of them a tall guy with a deformed face (you never see it anyway) who soon escapes and goes on a ridiculous revenge ride.

The first part with the asylum and the experiments is the central idea of the movie which gets picked up at the end again. In between you got a real lame take on the Halloween/Friday the 13th theme with a masked tall killer stalking victims and then killing some. No suspense here, the killer gets an uninteresting back story (which is the only link to the movies title) and talks some poetic gibberish and stalks a woman that you never quite understand why he is around her.

It just is a really lame movie with some ideas thrown in a pot that just don't fit. The psycho killer character must be one of the most ridiculous in movie history and the acting is most of the time pretty bad. The only good scene in this movie is in the beginning, so basically you can save a lot of wasted time if you stop before the opening title appears.


Release: Premier January 8, 2008 Directed by: James Tucker Written by: Joshua Nelson

Starring: Melissa Bacelar as Delilah Joshua Nelson as Brandon Joshua James as Edgar Emma Hinz as Daisy Bridget Megan Clark as Holly

Savage Rose Pictures and Lost Angeles Films have teamed up before, notably on the project Eat Your Heart Out starring the ravishing Melissa Bacelar. The projects coming from this team keep getting better in terms of gore, story and effective use of limited resources.

Pink Eye is the story of an insane asylum where ghastly drug experiments are conducted. There are other things going on in this nut house as well that include orderlies wearing shrunken-head masks while they rape the female patients - Remember those machines that would dry out a carved apple to make a prunie little head with a face on it? You could get them from the huge Sears catalogue when I was a kid  and I think director James Tucker got one for Christmas one year and based the mask on the memory.

The visual of the prune-face mask becomes relevant when one of the crazies, Edgar, escapes and dons the mask before embarking on a murderous and pillaging rampage that ends in an abduction of Delilah (Bacelar) and the quest for her rescue by boyfriend Brandon (Joshua Nelson).

There are several notables to Pink Eye, and most of them are amplified considerably by the fact that the budget for this one was extremely low. First is the gore. I already knew after watching Eat Your Heart Out that there was a love of over the top gore inherent in this film-making team, but a few scenes in Pink Eye took this to a new level. You haven't lived until you've seen a young woman graphically rip her eyeballs out because she thinks there are ants behind themAWESOME!!

The acting is very good, especially the performances of boyfriend Joshua Nelson and the two child actors Emma Hinz and Bridget Megan Clark. My only complaint is that there wasn't enough Melissa Bacelar. She is set up as the romantic interest and child caregiver early on, but ultimately her part is pretty minor until the end. I would have liked to have her character developed more so that the impact of her abduction packs a bit more punch. Still, the scenes of Melissa tied up and screaming while surrounded by mutilated bodies just about makes up for it. I could have done without a few of the ancillary characters, especially the stoner dudehe was fine, but ultimately pointless. Less stoner dude, more Melissathat's what I say, but my crush on Melissa Bacelar is well documented so who am I?

The villain in Pink Eye is a complete drama queen, which I like. A skin disease that makes him a monster, the vicious way that he rips rats apart, the shrunken apple head mask and the James Earl Jones voice work together to create a credible monster worthy of nightmares.

Tons of punch on a shoestring budget is the beauty of Pink Eye. This independent horror creation proves that tons of money and big studios cannot eclipse real movie-making passion. Questions or comments about Pink Eye? Contact us!

Update: I spoke with Melissa Bacelar today and voiced my concerns regarding her lack of screen time. She told me that the filming location was so cold that the cameras were freezing, requiring that many of her outdoor scenes be cut. I reminded her that "cold girls in tube tops make good cinema" according to Kaufman of Troma, but unfortunately there was nary a tube top in the house.

Take me to Independent Horror Reviews!


I rather enjoyed this pilot episode of this proposed "Doctor Who" spinoff series. Too bad the BBC didn't pick it up as a series because I think it showed promise.


I think K-9 and Company was a good idea,and Elisabeth Sladen always gives a great performance although Sarah-Jane seems a bit more grumpy than her normal self in this spin-off. John Lesson's voice gives K-9 a life of his own and he makes K-9 very endearing,the opening credits are very bizarre and I am sure not meant to be as funny as they come across. Thngs do seem to take a long time to start,there is a lot of running around until Sarah-Jane opens the box containing K-9. Having recently saw the pilot of The Sarah-Jane adventures,at least K-9 and company wasn't full of annoying kids! and people overacting. It was a good idea,it wasn't a failure,it got respectful viewing figures and K-9 remains a very popular character of DR.Who even today.


In one word bizarre. I can't think of any TV series stranger in a bad way. A robotic dog who fights bad guys, yes you heard me. Top that off with a theme song and opening that will have you on the floor laughing (think Wonder Woman opening meets robotic dog). Top it all off with suspense that never starts and aghh. If your a fan of bad television, I mean the stuff that's so bad its funny, well this is the show for you, run to your nearest library or video store and pick it up. If you're a fan of doctor who that thinks this looks interesting don't waste your time.


I'm very much a closet Doctor Who fan. Not for me public declarations of interest in this most uncredible of programmes. Yet even the usual standards of embarrassment I normally feel about queuing with a Who video were intensified when I saw K-9 and Company in a sale for a fiver and went to "treat" myself.

Opening with a title sequence that combines the pace and structure of terminal diarrhoea with the wit and panache of a kick up the arse this really doesn't bode well. Thrill! To Sarah Jane sipping wine. Chill! To her reading The Guardian. Spill! To her jogging down a road (On a cold day, it seems). The amazing thing is, it actually gets worse.

Imagine a Hammer Horror edition of Crossroads directed by Michael Winner and you still can't begin to come close to the unmitigated crappery of this ferrago. Watching the title sequence (I hate to keep coming back to it, but it's a nightmare that I imagine will haunt me for years to come) you can't believe that its makers were serious. What person in their right mind would seriously believe this would work as a series?

It's strange because no episode of Doctor Who has dated as badly as this. Thirteen minutes in (the unlucky number? It is here) K-9 appears. I always found him endearing in the show, but out of context he doesn't work. Mind you, neither does Sarah Jane. Both are adequate support, neither are stars. K-9 claims to have a nuclear battery and a holographic memory, so you're mistaken if you think he's made out of battered old plastic and a remote control car.

8.4 million idiots actually tuned in to this tot. Producer John Nathan-Turner was never really conversant with the word "taste" and so you just KNOW when K-9 mentions the Doctor the incidental music will segue into a skit of the old Who theme. Tacktastic! In fact Peter Howell's incidental music is a bonus in that it gets "scary" whenever a covert villain is on screen. Handy of him that, as by destroying any suspense he ensures those of a nervous disposition won't get any anxiety from watching it.

Nineteen minutes in and I've lost the will to live. I just don't care anymore. If I died in the next minute it would come as blessed salvation. You sense some of the "we don't normally take to foreigners" schtick is supposed to be a satire of old England values, but even the hero describes someone as looking like a gypsy. This is like The Wicker Man with the focus on the wicker. Characters even trade gardening tips in this story, for God's sake!

The sets look exactly like sets, the acting is chronic, the direction horrendous and the script feeble... is there a single element of this show that doesn't conjure up the word "inept"? It's a strange kind of Television Company that thinks pagan sacrifices are an acceptable form of family entertainment. Though as the majority of the audience were probably comatose by that stage it scarcely seems to matter.

All this requires to take it into seventh Heaven is a Scooby Doo unmasking of the villains, karate stunts from Sarah Jane and K-9 performing a Christmas Carol. Oh dear God take me now. I bet no one has ever compared K-9 and Company to Apocalypse Now, but while I was watching it I couldn't help thinking of a quote from that picture: "The horror, the horror..."


I think when movies like Saving Private Ryan or Platoon came out people thought that these represented "new" insights on the war movie. Unfortunately, I guess they'd never seen a number of classic old films, such as Hell Is For Heroes (Steve McQueen), Sahara (Humphrey Bogart), or, indeed, Pork Chop Hill, starring Gregory Peck.

I've seen Pork Chop Hill three or four times. It is, from what I understand, a historically accurate account of one of the last fifty years' most famous battles, based on the book by famous military historian Gen. S. L. A. "Slam" Marshall. The scene is at the end of the Korean War. Negotiations between the combatants have stalemated. LT1 Joe Clemons (played by Gregory Peck) is ordered to take Pork Chop Hill, a basically worthless piece of territory to demonstrate to the Chinese and North Koreans that resolve had not flagged. So a night attack is ordered. Fog of war messes the whole thing up repeatedly and Clemons is left holding the bag, with his company of men stuck in the assault without the backup they expected to happen. The story is very human, particularly the interaction between Clemons and his second in command, Ohashi. You see men determined to win even though they know they might die (and for what?), men on the verge of breaking only to be rallied or not, the utter confusion of battle. The movie's got a lot of then-unknowns, but later stars, e.g., George Peppard, Rip Torn, etc.


I love Gregory Peck and have seen many of his movies. He can't save a bad movie but he always adds a star in my book. Fortunately he does not need to save this one. I am also a fan of classic war movies (lately that's about all I've been watching as I slowly work my way through the local video store's collection). So I really liked this one.

The B&W filming was really gritty and captured the whole pointlessness of the battle that was Pork Chop Hill, right before the 1953 Armistice. We take it, the Chinese take it, we decide to take it back.... You really get a sense of the tactics employed by the troops on both sides and the tough job that is the infantryman's assaulting a hill, amid confusion, snafus, and the ever-present risk of death.


Friend of mine who fought in that area during the korean war felt it was very accurately portrayed as to fighting conditions,landscape,confusion in battle. Believe it was the best war movie when it comes to depicting what it was like for a ground pounder in korea.


I like this movie and while it lacks the realistic and detailed gore of modern war films, and it does have its glitches and goofs, it did not do a bad job for a 1959 production.The attention to detail given to King Company's organizational structure, and many other technical aspects of the platoon and company level combat operation portrayed was outstanding thanks to Captain Joseph G. Clemons Jr., the movies' technical director and actual commander of King Company during the battle. In addition, there was also an in your face, down in the dirt grittiness about the film that many other war films even to this day lack. One of my favorite parts of this movie was the on going confrontation between Lieutenant Clemons and Private Franklin. The way the conflict played out in the movie brought out the motivational traits from Clemons that makes a great leader and the final acceptance of Franklin of his obligation as a soldier and his willingness to share the fate of his brother in arms, what ever it may be; I love Woody Strode. As one living in the real world, I shaped my views of this film not from the anti-war intent of director Milestone, but from a war movie fan, and real life Grunt perspective. While it does have anti-war overtones courtesy of director Milestone and others, Pork Chop Hill was based on an actual Korean War battle, and book of the same title by U.S. Army historian S.L.A. Marshal, and the movie does contain many factual events such as the friendly fire incident at the command post. I like Pork Chop Hill for the Hollywood production that it is, and would recommend that its critics be ignored, and enjoy the movie.


One of the few classic films about the Korean war, Pork Chop Hill is a genuinely good specimen of a nitty gritty war film in the pre-blood and guts era. What the movie lacks in realistic language and violence it more than makes up for in intensity. Peck is amazing, as usual, as Lt. Joe Clemons, the man leading the charge on the hill. His performance of a man on the edge is very believable. Sympathizing with his plight to try and get reinforcements or the heck outta there is an easy task. The early civil rights-era film seems to also touch on some social issues, showing a camaraderie between all ethnicities. Overall, this is a fine example of a classic war film with one of the finest American actors of all time in the lead role...you can't go wrong.


Excellent war drama and realistic account of a courageous U.S. infantry unit trying to gain control of high ground held by snipers and flame throwers in Korea on the edge of Armistice in 1953. All-star cast that features Gregory Peck, Rip Torn, George Peppard, Woody Strode, Harry Guardino and Bob Steele. Also look for Robert Blake, Martin Landau and Gavin MacLeod in this grim and desperate military action. Peck is rock solid and in command. Directed by Lewis Milestone.


One of the finest (anti)war movies ever made is undoubtedly the 1930 epic All Quiet On The Western Front, directed by the incomparable Lewis Milestone. 29 years later, Milestone once again turned his attention to the waste and futility of war with Pork Chop Hill. This powerful and well-made Korean War drama is not quite in the same league as Milestone's earlier classic, but it still paints a vivid picture of the harsh realities of combat, and conveys a palpable sense of the pointlessness of war.

Lieutenant Clemons (Gregory Peck) is a honest, dependable American soldier fighting in the Korean War. He believes in carrying out orders whatever they may be, but his attitude is put to the ultimate test when he is instructed to lead an attack on a tactically insignificant hill in the dying days of the war. Issuing orders which he knows will lead to pointless loss of life, Clemons leads his men up the titular hill into a maelstrom of enemy gunfire, looking on in horror and dismay as his boys are gunned down or blown to bits in their futile quest.

After the film had been shot, Milestone was somewhat irritated to discover that the studio had tampered with his intentions, adding a misleading last-scene voice-over which tried to suggest that the victory on Pork Chop Hill made a significant difference to the future of millions of Koreans. The film is at its best when delivering its anti-war sensibilities, especially the bitter scenes showing honest young soldiers losing their lives for no particular reason. In historical terms, the capture of Pork Chop Hill was both costly in lives and irrelevant in consequence. The performances are generally first-rate. Peck is excellent as the man who tries to justify the insanity of what his platoon have been ordered to do. He gives his best performance since Twelve O'Clock High a decade earlier. Giving memorable supporting turns are familiar character actors like Harry Guardino, Rip Torn, George Peppard and Martin Landau, all of them resisting the urge to appear as gung-ho heroes to add to the film's stance that war is a meaningless and expensive pursuit. There have been few genuinely worthy Korean War films but this one and M*A*S*H - released 11 years later - are certainly titles that anyone looking for authentic film treatments about the subject ought to seek out.


Take a look at the jagged line that represents the boundary truce line between North and South Korea on a map. You'll then have some idea of what Pork Chop Hill is all about.

While the armistice talks are going on in Panmunjom, both sides are jockeying for position on both sides. The truce line will be on a prescribed latitude parallel, but owing to various hills and valleys, adjustments are in order. Those adjustments are costing lives though.

While the talks are in their final stages the Communists prove intransigent about a particular piece of real estate called Pork Chop Hill that really has no significant value. But as Carl Benton Reid at the talks says it's value is it has no value. The Communists are just using it as a test of wills, filed for future reference.

Gregory Peck as Lieutenant Joe Clemons gets the dirty task of leading his men into battle for no real discernible reason. How he keeps his men going is the real story here.

Joe Clemons was a real army lieutenant who wrote a book on his real experiences on literally the last day of the Korean War. Peck is an inspirational Clemons and I'm sure the real Clemons must have liked it.

Scattered in the cast are such future movie and television names as George Peppard, Harry Guardino, Gavin McLeod, Robert Blake, and Norman Fell. But the best performance in the film without a doubt belongs to Woody Strode. He's fully conscious of the racism he's feeling at home just before the civil rights revolution and can't really come up with a reason to die for Korea or do time in the army stockade for desertion. His scenes with Peck and with fellow black GI James Edwards just crackle with heat and talent. I'm surprised no one considered Strode for Best Supporting Actor.

Lewis Milestone who directed THE anti-war film, All Quiet On the Western Front is at the top of his game in Pork Chop Hill. A really good film about a sadly forgotten conflict.


This was one of my favorite war movies whenever it came on TV as I was growing up. One of the few Korean War films it's based on the true story of the fight for marginally strategic piece of land on the eve of the armistice that halted the conflicts combat. Realistic battlefield environment but in 1950's film style without graphic simulation. Gregory Peck is the commander of a company of 135 men who knowing that peace talks are being held and the fighting will soon be halted must still take charge of his command and follow his orders to take Pork Chop Hill. It shows the futility of war and how ground combat will become obsolete. Of course ground combat never did become obsolete. In the cast are Harry Guardino, Rip torn, George Peppard, Norman Fell, Martin Landau, Harry Dean Stanton, Robert Blake, George Shibata and Woody Strode. Director Lewis Milestone made a career in war movies directing World War I films Two Arabian Knights and All Quiet on the Western Front for both he won Academy Awards and World War II films Those Who Dare, Halls of Montezuma, Arch of Triumph, A Walk in the Sun, The Purple Heart, The North Star and Edge of Darkness. Cinematographer Sam Leavitt photographs a dark and gritty look at war filmed in black and white. It's reputed that Milestone was unsatisfied with the creative control he was given with picture and the final cut was not what he intended. As Executive Producer Gregory Peck is said to have had the original 20 minutes of the film cut from the theatrical final version because he wasn't in it and felt too much time would be spent before the star of the film makes his on first screen appearance. The film envisioned by Milestone was also not to end with a voice-over saying how important the battle really was. This is a good movie and I would give it an 8.5 out of 10.


Director Lewis Milestone has created several landmarks in the study of war and cinema. All Quiet on the Western Front remains his number one effort, but he has made other works on others wars (notably A Walk in the Sun) as time goes by. Pork Chop Hill, Milestone's ode to the Korean War, remains the best film ever made on the topic, superseding MASH as a depiction of life and death in the "Forgotten War".

The film itself is considerably well-made given the year of release. In many instances you can spot shots duplicated by Oliver Stone for Platoon: the slow pans around the littered battlefield, the awkward confrontations between squadmembers, and the lurking sensation between advances. While the film is nicely edited, the middle section lags terrifically, resulting in a botched jobs that requires the obligatory "Last Battle" to fix. Sound work is decent, but nothing to rave about (it is better than Patton, I will admit that).

There are people at IMDB who love to lambaste Saving Private Ryan for its use of "senseless, excessive gore and violence" or other flaws in its execution. Spielberg merely enhanced or lifted many aspects of Pork Chop Hill in making that movie. There is no gore in the movie, but there is a disturbing sense of violence mixed with the typical Milestone message of futility.

While I was not expecting a deep message from this movie, I was pleased that Gregory Peck remained the most resilient actor I have ever seen. His ability to stay in command is both obnoxiously monotonous and resilient. Other than that, the rest of the grunts, that's right "grunts", are given much of the stereotypical problems you'd expect in a 50s movie. Thankfully, the consistent presence of death by a largely faceless foe helps destroy any overt patriotism in them and keep any gung-ho shenanigans to a minimum. Even when they try, they only get killed or injured.

Overall, an interesting war film worth viewing once. People who liked Enemy at the Gates or Black Hawk Down should avoid this one, though. I felt the use of black & white was exceptionally gritty. 3.5 out of 5 stars.


As much as I despised the television show M*A*S*H, with its fraudulent substitution of Vietnam War era attitudes and Korean War settings, that's nothing compared to the disappointment I have in the average American's total disregard of history. Movies like Pork Chop Hill, while not a masterpiece, sometimes emerge from obscurity as a singular reminder of forgotten sacrifice.

By the '70s, the media was confusing the Korean and Vietnam War,to the point where the average American saw the two conflicts as part of one big imperialist US government scam, designed to beat down the poor and oppressed and mislead generations of American citizens for reasons of pure rascality. In reality, Korea was a United Nations effort that should have had the support of even the most fanatical leftist.

In "Pork Chop Hill" Gregory Peck's character talks of the sacrifice American soldiers made. "Because of what they did, millions live in freedom today," he says. This is as true now as it was in the '50s. Just watch the news reports comparing the horrors of North Korea to the booming South Korean economy. It is all thanks to the American GI.

The action in this movie was as good as it got in 1959. The battle action was the best yet seen, though not on the same graphic level that we can expect today. However, the cast is much more interesting, mainly because we don't have the outstanding character actors now that we had then. Woody Strode, Harry Dean Stanton... They are all here, and they can't be beat.

This is a fast moving film that can be enjoyed on more than one level. The best line is the one spoken by Peck's lieutenant: "Victory is a fragile thing." In war, as in life, no statement ever rang more true. I believe this film should be seen as a tribute to the sacrifice of the 36,000 Americans who died in combat in Korea.


This is one of the greatest movies about a single battle. It stands alongside "Zulu" and "Hamburger Hill" as the best, in my opinion. An all-star cast of both established actors and future stars under the able direction of Lewis Milestone brings this desperate battle to life. Crisp black and white cinematography is used to great effect. Gregory Peck is outstanding as Lt Clemons, the supporting cast featuring Woody Strode,Harry Guardino, George Peppard, Martin Landau and Robert Blake is top notch. An added bonus is George Shibata, the first Japanese-American graduate of West Point, who plays Lt Ohashi. This film is well paced, building to the assault on Pork Chop hill by introducing the men and establishing their positions in the company. The movie also shows the tedious and frustrating talks to end the war. The men are presented as individuals, but not clichés. Gregory Peck's performance is Oscar worthy, he projects command presence and competence. Lewis Milestone is known for his great "All Quiet On The Western Front" and "A Walk In The Sun". This picture is easily on a level with both of them. The battle scenes are realistic, the emotions; fear, hope, frustration and determination are portrayed brilliantly. This is a must-see for war movie fans A 10 star movie!


Pork Chop Hill is one of a small group of films that deal with the Korea War realistically. The other two are Men at War and the Steel Helmet. Peck's character is carrying out orders to take a worthless hill with peace on the horizon. The movie shows that the fog of war clouds and confuses everything. They are reluctant warriors in a war nobody wanted to win or lose. Lewis Milstone's direction in the panorama of battlefield is his trademark. The cast was made up of familiar faces, Harry Guardino, George Peppard, Norman Fell, Rip Torn, Kevin Hagen, Robert Blake, Woody Strode. What makes the film more interesting is that the Korea War had only been over for six years and Peck's character was still alive.


Every now and then, a story emerges from Hollywood which affixes itself squarely on the pages of history. This is one such film. It's called " Pork Chop Hill." Amid the history of the Forgotten War, namely Korea, you will find this seemly insignificant event. While the North Koreans and their Chineese Allies, endlessly bickered with the American and their Nato forces, courageous soldiers fought and died by the truck load on the barren slopes of Pork Chop. This film, directed by Lewis Milestone convincingly captured the tragic tale on film. In it, we have a bevy of the finest actors ever to grace Hollywood, some of which have made memorable projects in their own right. In this movie, we have Gregory Peck playing Lt. Joe Clemons an officer ordered to take and hold the tiny hill known as Pork Chop. In his Company you will see Martin Landau, Harry Guardino, Rip Torn, George Peppard, Bob Steele, Woody Strode, Gavin MacLeod, Norman Fell, Harry Dean Stanton and a very young Robert Blake as Pvt. Velie. As impressive a line up as one can get. Everyone destined to become notable as this movie should have become. Except for becoming a Classic, the anti-war message was lost and it garnered few awards. Nevertheless, this film continues to ranks among the very finest of War memorials offered in tribute to American's fighting men. Recommended to all. ****


This is a very well-written, well-directed, and well-acted movie. The faults are few, but real soldiers can find them. This was a horrific battle, but it would have been deadlier if the real soldiers faced open fire with the poor tactics used in the film.

This isn't a pro-war film or an anti-war film, although I can see why the fanatics on both sides would like to claim it. It is an honest depiction of what happened in Korea. Both sides wanted this hill, and both sides were willing to lose great amounts of men to take this hill.

Although most people miss it, there was a real reason for this battle, even though it happened right before the ceasefire. Both sides wanted to end the war, but they had not agreed on the terms. Both sides wanted to show that they were willing to continue to fight in order to secure the best peace agreement. Both sides wanted to show that if peace was not accepted on their terms, then the future terms would be worse.

Some people say that the Americans won because the North Koreans did sign the peace treaty shortly afterwards. Others say that the North Koreans won because they got better terms than they should have. Either way, the true battle was not over Pork Chop Hill. That was merely where the battle took place. The true battle was to see which side could suffer such huge losses and not back down.

Neither side quit. Nothing was gained. Damn fine movie.


It's the Korean War, Lt. Clemons and his company are ordered to retake from the Chinese a ridge known as Pork Chop Hill, it's a futile exercise as the hill itself has no significant tactical worth. Disillusioned about their superiors and frightened to the hilt, the men must battle for the hill knowing they could well be killed just because the top brass want to save face.

Based on actual events and lifted from the story by S.L.A. Marshall, Pork Chop Hill is a poignantly effective drama that impacts hard about the grimness of war. Playing out {with some justification} as a paean to the wonderful infantrymen that fight the wars, it's an engrossing viewing that never feels preachy or self indulgent, a charge that sticks with many other acclaimed war dramas. Directed by Lewis Milestone {All Quiet On The Western Front}, the picture benefits from a feeling of authenticity, a sense of desperation hangs heavy for those viewers willing to fully invest into the picture. Photography is expertly handled by Sam Leavitt, with the cast, led by a brilliant show from Gregory Peck as the compassionate Clemons, firing from the top draw. A powerful and memorable movie for sure and certainly an important one because the Korean War is largely forgotten these days, so Pork Chop Hill now stands proud for those that died during the conflict, for this is a wonderful testament to the brave fighting under stupid circumstances. 7.5/10


The story of young people at a world theme park in Beijing called The World (Shi Jie Gong Yuan).The park contains scale models of the Eiffel Tower, the Pyramids, the Taj Mahal, the Leaning Tower of Pisa etc. The motto is that you can see the world without leaving Beijing. The film details the lives of the young workers there, focusing in particular on the ups and downs of a couple of relationships. Other events: a group of Russian girls arrives to work there; a couple of young men from the countryside come looking for employment; petty corruption and the tragedy of those at the lower part of the economic scale are part of the mix as well. Like other Jia's films, there is not a lot here in terms of plot. But you are nevertheless drawn into the lives of the characters. Just like you can see the world without leaving Beijing, so you can go deeply into the lives of these characters without needing a lot of action to occur. Some don't like Jia's work because of its slow pacing. But I find his work engrossing. His "Still Life" ("San xia hao ren") is my favorite Chinese film. I don't want his movies to move any faster than they do.


While not as good as some of his previous films, The World is still an excellent movie. Imagine a soap opera director (or a TV ad director) making Italian Neo-realism, and you'll get the right feel. Zhang Ke has a talent to make you feel relieved or even elated while showing reality at its most bleak. He is one of the best directors operating today, none of his films should be missed.

The opening scene in which Tao Zhao asks for a band-aid, dressed in an over-the-top Indian costume, is powerful and touching (and in a way, summarizes the entire film). It is one of Zhang Ke's most memorable scenes (alongside the one in which Hong Wei Wang is cuffed to a street lamp by the policeman in Xiao Wu).

There seem to be two versions of this film. In one we get to see the World Park's manager confiscating passports from the Russian female workers, and promoting a girl in exchange for sleeping with her, in the other version those scenes were cut (and so it's probably the official Chinese version).


Jia has kept his style but lost some of his edge in this state-funded effort with its rather relentless harping on the irony of a globalized China whose underlings can't get out of the country and are stuck in menial jobs in Beijing, cut off from their native dialects and where they came from and reduced to expressing their strongest emotions in text messages and cellphone chats. There are compelling moments, like the two main lovers Taisheng (Taisheng Chen) and Tao (Tao Zhao) lying on Taisheng's hard dormitory bed and even the schmaltzy wordless communing between Tao and her Russian friend Anna (Alla Shcherbakova), but in the aimless round of daily emptiness of working at this trashy hi-tech carnival falsification of "The World" outside, which the workers will never see in person, Jia loses the momentum of the turbulent, emotional decade he chronicles in "Platform" or the tragic downward spiral of the two boys in "Unknown Pleasures." I don't object to the animations, because they're thematically unified by always being connected to travel and cellphones and they create a sense of link with the 20-somethings, the generation after the director's that he's focusing on here; the fact that they're glib and kitsch just fits with everything else quite intentionally. So does the New Age-y techno music score, which is annoying and repetitious, but again, intentionally so. This time there is a bluntly ironic contrast between the pretty brightly colored costumes of the World shows the girls put on, and the shabby run down environments in which they live off-duty. The contrast is a little too pat: surely some of the environments -- and there is one, at the train station -- off duty are as glittering and new as the World stage shows. One can't say that Jia has lost the complexity of environment he achieved in his earlier films; he's just limited its focus. One may miss the jangling ambient noise of Platform and Unknown Pleasures, though, and particularly the informative TV broadcasts of the latter, which always fit in context even though they may speak to us more than to the characters.

For me, Unknown Pleasures is by far the emotional peak of Jia's work so far, and hence the film that puts across his themes most powerfully as well. Next comes Platform, which is off-putting and sometimes almost absurdly hard to follow, but which nonetheless obviously has deep personal significance to the director as an authentic portrait of his generation's journey into the Nineties. The World is almost too self-consciously a development of his themes of alienation and globalization and of a generation without hope or aims. The theme park is almost too obvious and too good a metaphor, and it robs his excellent actors of the opportunity to be themselves for more than a few minutes at a time.

What does the ending mean? It seems to mean more than anything else that Jia wants to hit us over the head with the idea that his characters have nowhere to go, and it also seemed to me to be somehow a too-late subconscious attempt to steal from the kind of effects we get in Kiselowski's Dekalog. But it only underlines that this is a world seemingly cut off from any moral system.

The World meanders too long, given the failure to connect emotionally, but it is nonetheless a powerful, rich, and original work and Jia is unquestionably one of the great ones of his generation working today, and representing as he does literally millions and millions of people in a dynamic enormously changing country, he stands as one of the world (small W)'s most important movie directors. Whether "success" in the form of open film-making and state funding will "destroy" him or water down his raw originality remains an open question.


Definitely not for everyone as it's (a) incredibly slow and (b) long (2 hours and 13 mins on the DVD I rented and (c) has some story lines that absolutely do not work.

The cinematography is amazing as having been to Beijing, it truly feels like it when they are out and about. That low-level lighting at night just evokes the whole place. The amusement park is classic but it seems half empty. That's the thing, this is a movie that takes place in Beijing, a city of millions, yet where are the people? The relationships--some work, some don't--but what gets me is some people who try to portray this movie as some sort of comment on globalization. All I see is what has been going on for centuries in most Third World countries--people from the countryside move to the big cities to find a better life. Some do, some don't.

The whole movie seems more like a documentary look into people's lives and that is a credit to the acting.

But really, if you haven't been to Asia, I can't really see this being worthwhile renting because it moves at a snail's pace and seems intended for those who love to read meaning into everything. All I got out of it was--wow, why didn't I go check out this place called The World when I was in Beijing. It's even more bizarre than Huis Ten Bosch or Canadaland or the other weird Western land ripoff amusement parks I visited in Japan.


When you drive through the suburbs of Beijing, or through most of eastern China for that matter, you are struck by its bleakness: grey and brown, flat, ugly, industrialised, big square building blocks covered in bathroom tiles, and fog or smog practically the whole year round. In this perfect illustration of the post-modern wasteland, young people are shown to have no hopes, no illusions. Love is unattainable, communication is impossible. Superficial talk over cell phones is the most intimate they can get. When meeting face to face, they have nothing to say.

The World theme park is a metaphor for the lack of cultural identity that's rampant in China these days. Against the background of this ersatz world, a number of protagonists are followed through a variety of sub-plots, very much like Altman in some of his best (Nashville, Short cuts) and worst (The wedding, A perfect couple) work. As a visual evocation of modern Chinese urban life it's striking. But the characters evolving against this canvas remain underdeveloped. They meet and say nothing, they do not meet but talk by cell phone, still saying nothing. Silence can be very telling, if used properly. But one should not confuse silence with depth.

It is said that traditional values have all but disappeared in China, and all that's come in their place are blatant money-grabbing capitalism where a human life is of little value (look at all those mine disasters) and superficial imitation of an idea of Western "culture" copied from TV. But in my personal experience, Chinese people like to talk, they are not afraid to show their feelings. I often find them much more open than many European people I meet.

To me, Shijie shows a realistic picture of the way modern urban China comes across visually, but I cannot recognise the Chinese people in it.


I vacillated in my review between 1 (awful) and 2 (not quite awful, I suppose). This movie has no plot to speak of. Someone compared it to "Hester Street" and "Atlantic City" in the way "it achingly proves the universality of the twin globalization pulls of modernization and immigration over the past three hundred years around the world." The exception is that those two fine movies have plots and characters you care about. That same reviewer said it "is one of the saddest films I've ever seen . ." I agree with that. I was sad, too, that I had to sit through this melancholy non-story filled with vapid characters. Go see this movie if you want a good nap.


Zhang Ke Jia is a talented director, there's no doubt. He creates moods and images of beauty and loneliness, ones that feel lived in. Unfortunately, he's not the best screenwriter in the world. There are a lot of themes and points of interest in The World, which is about a Beijing theme park that contains all the world's greatest monuments and the employees who work there. These employees mostly have never been out of China. Some of them have migrated to Beijing from the country, and some have maybe never left Beijing. But much like his previous two films, Platform and Unknown Pleasures, there isn't a single character worth knowing here. I don't understand the (mostly Asian) art-house trend of populating films with characters who are shallow and bored with life. Characters who are bored with life are just, well, boring. Much like Platform, the dozens of characters here are so interchangeable that their mostly trite stories became mixed up in my mind. Someday I think Zhang Ke Jia will make a really good film. The potential is there.


The World is a Chinese independent film with an ambitious concept that didn't quite make it. At all. It opens with an obscure sequence of events and not much else. The characters are low budget workers and dancers in Beijing's The World park. Perhaps the biggest flaw within the film is just how flat and uninspired the main characters are. It doesn't help when random names and faces appear at any given time; it was difficult to remember what the plot was- before you realize that there is no plot. The animated sequences were distracting and visually contradicting. I admit they were cleverly executed but did not seem to serve much purpose otherwise. The dancing/elaborate costumes clashed horribly with the drab scenery. There were way too many pointless scenes that contributed nothing to anything. What was up with the scene where Tao is cast as an African woman? What did that have to do with anything? And I did not care for the friendship of Anna and Tao. It struggled to be heartfelt because they did not speak the same language, but only succeeded in boring me half to death. I did not know what to make of the ending. What did it have to do with anything? I felt that the movie had a lot of potential to start off with, but there was no character or plot development. It tried too hard to make you aware of "industriliazation" and "modernization" but it really didn't add up to much of anything.

I suppose you like watching Chinese people talk/walk/dance/text message, then this is the film for you. 3/10


This movie is silly as hell, but if you watch it just for laughs it's very good. There are some nice cameo appearances, especially Dana Carvey and Randy Quaid, that make this worth checking out. Don't expect any kind of blockbuster, cause it's not. But for a good laugh be sure and check it.


When it first came out in '88, I read in the newspaper that it was not well received.

Years later I watched it again and I now thing it's one of the best comedies out.

Randy Quaid and Richard Prior made pure humour.

It would have been great to see them both in something much more intense.

Each great in their own way, as a team they would be double the trouble and 5 times the fun.

Far better than any Adam Sandler or Seth Rogan movie made and better than the Sandler/Rogan actors themselves.

Nothing enormously award winning, but a pleasurable waste of time.


You can't beat the comedy in this movie. It's all so funny, you'll be in stitches. From the Schizophrenic SAAB driver, to the scary next door neighbour you can't get away from fast enough, to the dog who you have to put a mirror under it's nose to see if he's still breathing! And when the previous owners joke "we're taking it with us!", you have ask, "are they really just joking"... Richard Pryor, who has now left us, should be so proud of this movie, his comedy is rare and so well timed. Dana Carvey also shines, as the clean cut SAAB driver with multiple personalities. And who can forget Randy Quaid playing both parts of the neighbour from hell, both in New Jersey, and in Boise, Idaho. You'll never want to move again, but you'll die laughing at the Pear's attempt to move!

PLEASE PLEASE get this movie brought to DVD!


My kids and I love this movie!! We think that Richard Pryor and the whole cast did a wonderful job in the movie. It means more to us now since the passing of Richard!! WE will miss his sense of humor. But his movies and shows will stay with us forever!! We especially love the parts of Brad, Frank Crawford and Arlo Pear!! They had some one liners in the movie that were great!! My son and I love to quote those one liners when we see each other and my daughter will join us when we discuss the movie. We thought the moving guys were terrific. We thought he did a great job.WE have to dig the movie and watch it to just to get some great laughs. Richard Pryor we will miss you!!


This is what happens when you try to restrain Richard Pryor's talents to a relatively safe and formulaic setting. It just doesn't fit. The film's writers and producers obviously couldn't make their minds up about what direction they were going to take this in. Family comedy, Pryor vehicle or kick ass suburban nightmare send-off? In they end they tried to attach all three and not surprisingly the result is a poorly paced and confused affair lacking coherence and overall good direction.

'The Burbs' was intelligent because it kind of put you in a safe and familiar environment then turned it on it's head. It also had some really well developed characters. But there is little at best of that here.

Randy Quaid's character is supposed to be the neighbour from hell. At least that is what we're told and what is instigated through Pryor's reaction to him. But we don't actually see much evidence of this. Which kind of made me not really understand why Pryor hated him so much. Shame as well because this is the kind of role that big Randy usually kicks ass in ie. - 'National Lampoons Vacations I,II and IV' and 'Next Door'.

The removals guys were just really predictable (with the King Kong Bundy joke not really working nowadays) and though he usually makes me laugh the Dana Carvey section just wasn't well.......funny.

The side stories about Pryor's daughter staying behind in Jersey because of her new boyfriend also just falls apart. He doesn't answer a call from her the night after her folks leave so from that we are meant to infer I think that he is cheating or something so she just ups sticks and moves out after her folks. Okay. But what the hell does this contribute to the story? Similarly Pryor's two twin sons decide to pass themselves off as one person throughout the movie. Ah the old identical twin joke. So their parents never went to a parent's night obviously as they claim that nobody ,outside the family home, has ever clocked onto it in their 12 years of existence. And this plot device is used for? Well nothing. Just another inconsequential little side story with no resolution.

The whole bit involving Pryor becoming a Post-Apocalyptic like, Kung-Fu using warrior out of frustration is more embarrassing than entertaining sadly. This films just left me feeling disappointed as there were certainly the tools and potential for something more.

As it is it's more of a kind of mild and forgetful rainy Saturday afternoon type of experience. Check out 'Neighbours'and 'Funny Farm' if your looking for something in the same territory which hits the mark more often. See 'National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation' or 'The Burbs' if your looking something along the same lines but which is completely superior.


Man do I feel sorry for Arlo. That poor man. If that were me I would be kicking myself. This movie was funny and amusing though. Hes got movers who won't deliver his stuff, a crazy guy driving his Saab, he got scammed on his house and hes getting blamed for all of this stuff at his new job when all he did was sharpen his pencil. Some great actors and actresses in this movie like Richard Pryor, Randy Quaid, Stacey Dash, Dave Thomas and Dana Carvey (The younger, funnier Dana Carvey before Mike Myers ruined his reputation). This is the only movie I have ever seen with Richard Pryor without Gene Wilder. I thought they were only funny when they were together, but Pryor did a great job in this movie. I should go see a just Gene Wilder movie and see if its the same for him too.


Yes, this movie is not quite what one would expect from Richard Pryor...light on the cussing, a touch of being almost a family comedy, but not quite that tame. In this movie we have a man who is laid off and is offered a very nice job in Boise. Of course, his daughter is rather upset about the prospect of going there, however his wife and twin sons are a bit more supportive. Also happy to see the family go is the crazy neighbor played rather good my Randy Quaid. A neighbor who for some reason must cut his rather small lawn with an industrial mower. Well he has a couple of moving agencies give their appraisal of what it would take to move and he goes with the more expensive as the cheap ones look like recently escaped convicts or something. They find a nice house in Boise where they meet the delightful owners who tell great jokes about how they are going to take everything from the doors to the pool with them. Then he finds just the perfect guy to drive one of his vehicles to the new house. Well everything begins to unravel rather quickly as the movers turn out to be familiar faces he does not want to see, the jokes on them with the new house, and the driver of the car has a bit of a mental problem. So all in all a funny movie, a few of the jokes miss the marks such as the giving the wrong finger thing, however most are pretty good like how the twin sons run track. So for a rather light Richard Pryor comedy that still has some good laughs, give this movie a try.


A simplistic, yet highly entertaining comedy starring Richard Pryor. Arlo pear (Pryor) seems to have literally EVERYTHING go wrong for him; from his house move, to a new job, to his daughter wanting to marry a sleaze bag! The dog wants to give up and bury itself, and as for the fixtures and fittings in the new house: "Are they staying there or are you taking those with you?". And "After 15 years I gave him the wrong finger!" Doesn't make any sense yet? Good. Track down a copy on ebay, amazon, or any good retailer and watch it. It's a shame Warner Bros won't release it on DVD though, as like many other Pryor classics (see Stir Crazy, Brewsters millions, and See no evil, hear no evil) this is fantastic. This film isn't meant to win any Oscars nor be critically acclaimed. It's mean to be watched and enjoyed by all. It achieves exactly what it set out to do.


I have seen this movie more times than I could think to count. It is absolutely hilarious! I know every word.

Really. Moving is my all time favorite comedy. When I come across a friend who hasn't seen it or even heard of it, I quickly rectify. It's a classic. Randy Quaid's performance(s) is flawless. Dana Carvey will make your tummy ache from laughing so hard.

Richard Pryor is perfection. Anytime I need a guaranteed laugh, I pop this one in. Excellent from beginning to end.


Richard Pryor struggles mightily with the forced, weak, idiotic material in "Moving". After each effort at generating laughs, there seems to be an uncomfortable silence as the audience consistently remains silent, or worse yet, sighs at this unbelievably unfunny movie. Vacilating wildly between slapstick and just plain nonsense, there are no more than two chuckles, and it leaves you feeling almost embarrassed for having watched. Do not be misled by the token appearance of Rodney Dangerfield, because he is almost totally wasted, and Randy Quaid's character is so repetitively abrasive, he quickly becomes boring. Very definitely not recommended. - MERK


Moving (1988) was an fun film from Richard Pryor. Instead of making another cheesy P.G. rated family film, Mr. Pryor goes back to his adult tinged humor. In this starring vehicle, Pryor stars as a family man who learns that he has to move out of state if he wants to keep his position with the company. CAn the family make a smooth transition from one neighborhood to another? Will they have problems with the new neighbors or the strange movers? Find out when you watch MOVING!!

As with all of these type of films, you;ll have the kid who doesn't want to leave and the worried family members about the new community they're moving into. Randy Quaid co-stars (in two roles). King Kong Bundy plays a mover, Stacey Dash makes an early co-starring role as Pryor;s teenage daughter, Dana Carvey guest stars as a weird dude who's hired to drive Mr. Pryor's beloved Saab and Rodney Dangerfield makes an uncredited appearance as well.

I liked this movie for some reason. The humor was a little more towards old Richard Pryor. But it's not one of his best efforts. Mr. Pryor would make one more funny movie (Hear No Evil, See No Evil) before illness would force him into early retirement.

Recommended.


Spoiler Alert!...sort of.

This movie rules. Richard Pryor Just goes nuts because he gets taken advantage of by moving men and his boss. A zany must see movie! And He kicks King Kong Bundy (wrestler from the eighties) in the nuts by doing a cartwheel! AMAZING!!!


When you watch a kung fu movie, are you expecting an intelligent plot, fine acting, and high production values? I hope not, because this movie has a very SILLY plot, lame acting, and it was made for about $100. But it's a lot of fun. The villain has a mind-control serum and a fake beard. Steve Chase assembles his team, Seven Samurai-style, to save the world. The rest of the movie is hilariously cheesy. I used to watch this flick on HBO in the middle of the night when I was a kid, around 1980. It was on all the time. When I founjd it on sale on DVD, I took a chance (these things don't always age so well, ya know?). But it's still GREAT. When it's deadly serious, I laugh, and when the characters crack a joke, it falls flat. KILL AND KILL AGAIN is the Plan 9 of martial arts movies. All humans must see it at least once! Marduk commands it!


The story really sucks and I guess you'd better ignore it but I recommend that all martial artists watch the final fights; "The Fly", "Gypsy Billy" and "Hotdog's" opponent show good Shotokan Karate style fighting, not fancy but basic and effective!


Yes Hi "Kill Or be Killed." - Sorry to only answer your posting now, but I've only recently become aware of all this 'stuff' on "Kill and Kill Again," on which I was the cinematographer and helped get the martial artists for the movie, since i knew them all.... You are right. A lot of people preferred the first film also with James Ryan as Steve Chase in "Kill and Kill Again", but I must tell you that the box-office figures tell a very different story...in fact, depending on how old you are, you might remember a film made by Bo Derek's husband John Derek called "10" ...a 'tits and bums' vehicle to show off the many charms of his lovely wife that did very well at the box-office and was released the same year as "Kill and Kill Again'. Well, believe it or not, "Kill and Kill Again" made more money than "10". Much more money....I have the figures somewhere......Anyhow both these movies have gone into the memories and archives of "Chop Suie' or karate pot-boilers.....One of the many things I admire about James Ryan is that after these two big successes for him in the USA, he was offered many more roles like that and could of happily gone on making them ad nauseum, going for the money and fame. But he declined....went back to South Africa to become one of SA's best male leads in theater and TV /cinema...a 'big up' for Steve Chase ........ tai krige sasc.


What Gregg Araki presents to us here is nothing but good old-fashioned trash! Giving us a taste of the glorious Russ Meyer reign during the sixties and seventies, which is a terribly ignored field of cult-cinema. Simply put, this film is extremely COOL to look at! The title is very appropriate because this film indeed leads to nowhere and it's Gregg Araki's view on the subject of teen-alienation. Without even trying, he beats that other overrated director Larry Clark who takes himself way too serious anyway. Nowhere constantly introduces kinky and eccentric characters, each and every one of them suffering from modern diseases and problems like drugs, eating disorders, nymphomania, hallucinations, aggression and even suicide! Araki even touches the more daily problems like popularity and faithfulness. The pivot in this hysterical bunch is Dark, an utterly confused, bisexual young man who's convinced that he's going to die soon. Dark is played by James Duval, an over-talented young actor and building up a solid cult-reputation through starring in other goodies like Donnie Darko' and May'. Duval also was the key figure in the previous entries of Araki's apocalyptic trilogy, carrying the very imaginative titles `Totally F***ed Up' and `The Doom Generation'. Both films that come with my highest possible recommendation as well, but I'm strongly convinced that Nowhere is Araki's best and most personal achievement. It just is a magnificent series of hilariously messed up conversations and actions, leading towards a truly insane anti-climax. I can easily imagine that mainstream film-audiences will absolutely loath this film, but I'm a giant fanand Araki can be sure of the fact that his film already built up a cult-following by now.

It's truly remarkable how Gregg Araki managed to work with such an overly well-known and talented cast. Practically every little role in Nowhere is credited with a famous name of the young and upcoming Hollywood generation. In the tiniest, most meaningless figures, you'll recognize faces like Heather Graham, Shannen Doherthy, Stacy Keanen, Scott Caan, Ryan Phillipe, Jordan Ladd, Mena Suvari and many, many more The absolute highlights however, are the cameos by multiple veterans like Beverly D'Angelo as Dark's slutty mother and especially John Ritter as a religion guru on TV. You hear it, there's so much to discover in this filmI can't praise it enough!


Nowhere is the type of film that you either get and love, or don't get and hate. Aside from it's brilliantly artistic cinematography and art direction, it's a pretty accurate representation of life as a modern-day adolescent. As strange as this comment may seem, it does hold true. The events presented are, in fact, realities of the lives of today's young people: sex, drug use, suicide, and mental illness are all dealt with in some way or another. For some, it is truly like being on acid. For those of us that have blocked out the traumatic parts of growing up, then it is understandable why you don't understand this movie. The way each issue is presented is the genius of the art: Each character and their emotional impact is presented artistically as well as dramatically. Although the entire movie is not relevant to everyone, I would strongly suggest watching it for at least the artistic merit. Even if you don't understand it or it doesn't apply to you, understand that it is relevant to some.


Gregg Araki's film, "Nowhere", is a joke. It is pointless, superficial, and sometimes perverse. But it is a funny joke. It is a one-track, one punch-line film, and its degree of success can really be measured in how long it manages to sustain that joke  to keep it all at once interesting, intriguing and (above most other things), funny. If you're looking for answers or messages within the subtext of this film (and I use the term "subtext" lightly), then you will probably not find much in the trashy, nihilistic jerks who populate this trashy, nihilistic vision of LA. What you see is what you get; there is little subtly ("God Help Us" a large sign cries at one point while the main characters cheerfully ignore it). And yet somehow, despite most odds, Araki actually manages to construct a film around interesting, affectionate characters, and then pit them in an environment of illicite sex and drugs, disillusionment and disaffection, all while maintaining a level of pathos that (for the most part) is genuine. This is not an easy balancing act to achieve. To its credit, it manages to sustain this act for almost all of its 87 minuet run time.

"Nowhere" seems to borrow heavily from the literature of Bret Easton Ellis. Its characters  racy and ridiculously attractive 18-year-old LA yuppies, disciples one and all of pop-tart culture and rejectors of the status quo  could be lifted from the campus of "Rules of Attraction", or the drunken house-parties of "Less Than Zero". (Frankly, this film could almost be the film adaptation of "Rules of Attraction"  and honestly, this film does an infinitely better job of communicating the undiluted themes, ideas and characterisations of the novel than the actual film adaptation managed). Like "Less Than Zero", the plight of central character Dark seems to begin and end with who he's sleeping with, who he'd like to be sleeping with, and who he realistically can sleep with  all the while looking for a way of bettering himself in the belief that unconditional love should not mean loving everyone with a pulse just for the heck of it. Unlike the central character of "Less Than Zero", Dark doesn't have a comparison to this life on which to better himself  like the rest of his friends, he makes do with that he has: drugs, sex, and a video camera.

The plot, such as it is, centres of a bunch of hedonistic and supremely superficial teenagers, all of whom have various attachments with each other, and appear to search (with varying degree of conviction and success) for an emotional connection with another human being. Some take advantage of the world and their place in it  others are taken advantage of. Some try to make sense of it, others to ignore it, and even more opt to simply go with the flow. In the space of 12 hours, a penultimate party will be attended, relationships will be tested, changed, negotiated and destroyed, and some of them will die. All of them are curiously bisexual, which does nothing to serve the narrative except to throw a few predictability curve balls into the narrative drive. This is hardly a criticism  while still on the unpredictability drive, Araki even throws in a large reptilian alien, just to see what happens. (Think "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas" and you'll be on the right track).

While my plot summation may seem somewhat conventional, this film is far from convention. Araki's film is like a more literal adaptation of any of Ellis's novels. What his characters don't say about themselves physically he depicts for the audience in saturated colour, surreal sets and staging, and impossible lighting effects. (The walls of each character's room are a fantastic projection of themselves: in one, Dark, our pseudo-protagonist, has a massive mural of himself holding a gun to his forehead; on another, a suicidal rock'n'roller has angry lines of text printed endlessly around the room). The film looks like one big drug-induced nightmare of colour and light and is strangely beautiful to look at. To say there is a hallucinogenic mixture of extremes would be a colossal understatement.

And, come to think of it, his characters are themselves reflections of these extremes: from the almost stoner-drawl of Dark to the palpably naïve, virginal Montgomery, to the insanely Bonnie/Clyde antics of Shad and Lilith and over-the-top pairing of dominatrix-like personas Kriss and Kozy Araki's characters are almost parodies of themselves. And, with all good parodies, we laugh at them as well as with them.

The film is very funny, a little shocking (but not for the reasons you'd assume), genuinely surprising (in a sick, twisted, predictable kind of way) and wonderfully frivolous. Looking for any great answers to universal questions in this film would be like trying to draw blood from a stone. It assumes to be nothing more than it is, and assumes that the audience does, too. It is an ensemble piece, and all of them are good. In the end, it is a deliberately trashy, superficial throw-away film that won't enhance the quality of your life or make you a better person. But what Araki also manages is to elicit an emotional response from his audience, even amid all this hyperkinetic chaos and frenetic drug-fuelled sex.

Even though he may take us down familiar roads and into slightly unconventional territory, "Nowhere" remains a stubbornly unique vision of youth and pop-culture. I, for one, found the ending both touching and hilarious  it's the ultimate punch-line to the one, big joke. But it's a joke you either get, or you don't.

***1/2 out of *****. That's ******* out of **********.

Sure there are alien abductions, but man, take a chill pill


Like an ancient poem the ideas, meaning and even aspects of the plot are left up to interpretation. This is a movie for anyone who has ever been so bored with his or current situation that he or she can just lay back and dream up a world of love, death,sex, drugs and aliens abductions and the end of the all life as we know it. Each character is kind one sided as we see the world through the eyes of Dark, the aptly named lead; these are not representations of all teens but only the annoying stereotypes as they relate to Dark's life. so taking all that in to account this is a great movie to share with friends (and confuse the heck out of them) or to watch when you're feeling a little bored yourself. With sets painted wild colors and out of place visuals it's clear that for Dark-life is but a dream.


Gregg Araki can be faulted for not inviting the "main stream" audience into his "vision" of the world. But this probably isn't really a goal of his, anyway. As I watched "Nowhere" in the theater (twice in one week) I was filled with awe that something I had always felt had been so colorfully put on celluloid: finding love is all that matters, but the world isn't designed to make that finding easy. So when "Dark" finds an amazingly true moment amongst the usual Araki violence, hilarity, sex and clutter (a moment to simply relax and hold the person in the bed next to him) it rings true to the heart of experience. The movie ends in the next moment with an equally true touch. So, the sooner we find love, the sooner it can find its own reason to leave us. Araki's best film. If you don't get it, then he probably doesn't want you to.


I caught this film on IFC on some late night where I couldn't sleep. This film is a trip and a half. The colors are bold and the film is really about teenagers figuring out their place in life. The dialog is absolutely hilarious. I, myself, am a teenager and the stereotypical script really seemed to fit. Every character in this film, in my opinion, is just part of a high school stereotype that you get placed into during that age. Whether it be the awkward girl who wants to fit in, sex rampaging freaks or just some young 16 year olds trying to find a hoppin party. I wish I could find this movie on DVD. Really generation defining in my opinion. Try to not listen to the people who bash this movie saying it's trash and all of that. Well ... it is trash but the movie "knows" it's trashy and low-brow; so I guess it can pull it off. I'm actually surprised I haven't heard of it until now. Find it and watch it.


reading the reviews already posted for this movie... I am saddened that so many people missed the point. it is about nothing and it is nowhere... as is just about everything that is popular now-a-days. this movie is about the absolute emptiness of pop culture and the absolute emptiness of most people's minds. I think most of you that didn't like this movie.. are either those being made fun of... or are so far out of anything doing with popular culture for you to get the joke.

secondly - this is a drug movie. i'm betting the average rating by people who've done acid is about 8.0 and the average for the others is about 3.0 --- check out the symbolism --- check out the colors --- check out the sound.

this culture is absolutely devoid of meaning - and that's all - and that's all.


As was said above, this is basically 90210 on Acid. From the very beginning one can tell that this film is going to be a major head trip, and would likely be best watched while high on some manner of substance. Still...I'm no stoner, but was able to watch and enjoy it without difficulty. The movie chronicles a typical day of the average 90s teenager, but with perspectives from all orientations and view points: lesbians, gays, bisexuals, stoners, drunks, the whole nine yards. The acting was excellent, and the plot, though difficult to see at points, was quite good. The thing that threw me was the addition of the alien that apparently only Dark can see. It seemed to simultaneously interrupt and fit the story line. Conclusion: this is easily one of my favorite indie films, and I hope I can find time to see it again.


Nowhere is weirdly surrealistic and weirdly cool. I also enjoyed all the young, now-famous, actors in this film. This is all I really wanted to say about the film, however, since I need more lines, I'll just say certain aspects of the movie are alternately funny, sad, strange and still relevant today. It's hard to 'date' this movie. I'm betting twenty or thirty years from now, it will still seem up-to-date and probably still relevant. James Duval is always good and Rachel True is just beautiful. She's also a very powerful actress, turning in an excellent performance here. The whole weird, detached, alienated tone of the film made it entirely enjoyable.


The third and final chapter in Araki's "Teen Apoloclyspe Trilogy" consists of sexual discovery, graphic violence through religion and alien abduction. The style is truly innovative and moving with an ending so bizarre it lives up to the tag-line: 90210 on acid. Some people may say that it has no plot yet I disagree. The film consists of a day in life of teenagers facing everyday problems yet with a quirky depiction. I highly recommend this film, but be warned it is filled with plots and structures that people may find either downright weird or disturbing. Gregg Araki brings us yet another fairy tale of doom in this epic.


The trailer to this movie looked like it offered something new, but it was awful. WARNING!!!!!!!!!!! SPOILERS AHEAD!!!!!!!!! You feel a bit different about Heather Grahm after seeing this movie, since 9/10 of her screen time she is having sex with Ryan Phillipe. Gregg Araki seems to do whatever it takes to prove how original his movie is, but it just ends up being stupid. One guy explodes, and when the blood settles, a giant beetle is in his place.(The beetle even talks)A guys nipple rings are torn off. James Duval is the main character, Dark ("As in absence of light" he points out) and he is a terrible actor. Rachael True is his girlfriend, and she talks like shes trying to create a new accent or something, and that's irratating. The good parts of this movie( there are very few) are Mena Suvari(her debut movie, she wasn't that great but I'm a fan) Chistina Applegate with braces, a spanking scene, and John Ritter as a "preist" who sends kids messages of suicide. This movie was awful.


I really liked this film, pretty much because of how "out there" it is. Gregg Araki created a trippy tale of teen angst that is so over-dramatized that it actually makes you feel drunk while you're watching it. The aliens were a nice addition, but certainly a very random one. I probably haven't seen this much drug content involving teens since I saw the film "Kids". Trust me, "Nowhere" is a movie worth watching. Expect to be feel weird after you have viewed "Nowhere", because you most likely will feel very strange-- talk about Beverly Hills 90210 on acid. The whole atmosphere of the film is reminiscent of such dystopian society displayed in movies such as "A Clockwork Orange", but I'm sure it probably wasn't intended to be that way. "Nowhere" has it all, including its share of sexual tensions between all of the characters, as well as random outbursts of insanity (at one point involving a character being brutally killed with a can of Campbell's tomato soup). "Nowhere" just might frighten you at the most unexpected time, and even if you aren't frightened or disturbed, you'll still be thinking "WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT?". Beneath all of its extreme oddities, the movie is pretty much a coming-of-age film that depicts the liberal youth's urge to party like an animal on a Friday night. This, of course, is no regular Friday night, for the "party of the year" is supposed to take place. Some party it was, for it was near-literally the end of the world for some characters. You've got to love the touches of strange science fiction to "Nowhere", and of course I am referring to the trippy (and corny in a cool way) alien abductions. Also, here's a word for you that relates to the movie: bisexuality. Yes, bisexual tensions, and just enough of them for you not to say "I can't take this anymore". Despite relationship dramas throughout the movie,"Nowhere" stays away from too many romance factors to stay true to its rather avant-garde-esquire nature, which I found very pleasing. As far-fetched and messed-up the movie sounds, "Nowhere" is an entertaining movie experience. Before you watch any other Gregg Araki movies (such as the amazing "Mysterious Skin"), watch "Nowhere" because it relates to his other films and really gives you a good idea of his film-making style. Watch "Nowhere", chances are you'll think it was worth the time.


What the hell is this? Beverly D'Angelo? John Ritter? Guillermo from Weeds? What, are you people lost? This is Exploitation Country. Nowhere may or may not be one of those modern-day "indy" films, but anyone who's seen Gregg Araki's previous film, The Doom Generation, knows that this guy caters to the B-movie crowd. It may be the 90's, but Gregg Araki keeps the Drive-in alive with his Generation-X-ploitation.

We follow the gloomy shenanigans of a whiny fellow named Dark (James Duval). Dark is depressed because Beverly D'Angelo wants him to get out of the shower. Dark is depressed because his ex-girlfriend only wants to have sex with him (no-strings-attatched), although, she has a new girlfriend named Lucifer. Dark is depressed because he has has a crush on some kid named Montgomery. Dark is depressed because his friends think playing hide & seek on Ecstacy is a good idea. Dark is depressed because he's always IT. Dark is depressed because he thinks he's dying and/or the world is going to end. And I would imagine Dark is depressed because he thinks no one understands him. Oh yeah, plus there's an Alien about, and Dark is also a little down about that, you know how it is.

Party at Juji Fruit's tonight!!!

Nowhere is a mean-spirited, yet trippy look into the lives of confused, drug-addicted over-sexed L.A. teenagers. We follow Dark, his ex, Mel, Lucifer, Montgomery, Jordan Ladd, Ryan Phillipe, Kelly from Married With Chldren, some dude from Bay Watch, and a bulimic named Egg, as they anticipate tonight's big shin-dig. Why everyone cares so much about this party, I'll never know, the whole movie is sex, drugs, and rock n' roll from reel to reel. With all the fun to be had, there's still a strong apocalyptic feel in the air, like something bad is going to happen, which Dark finds depressing. It seems like everywhere you turn, there's either someone who is famous, someone who used to be famous, or someone who will be famous, it's just weird. For a movie like this, it's just all the more surreal. I mean really, the middle kids from The Brady Bunch, and Mrs. Garrett from Facts Of Life is certainly the last thing I expect in my B-cinema, or at least pretty close.

Despite the A-stars, this is a real trash-fest. A raunchy, dismal B-Dramedy that would no doubt make John Waters proud. Oh yeah, and Rose Mcgowan drops by for a visit, which is always fun. Certainly a more colorful movie than The Doom Generation, not to mention more daytime scenes, but Nowhere is just as Dark, some might say darker. These movies introduced a new generation to the world of low-budget exploitation films, and I wish there was more of them. For anyone who has seen both Nowhere and The Doom Generation, you may have noticed that it would be a much better fit if the titles were switched, or is that just me? 8/10


Three and a half stars may seem like a high rating for a film that on the surface is all gloss and pop music. If you can look deeper though you'll see a film that's about teen angst, yearning and the tortures of growing up in an age where nothing matters. The movie follows a group of teens through one harrowing day in their lives, a day that they believe will end in apocalypse. We meet several characters and watch in amusement and sometimes horror at what happens to them. There's a lot of weird stuff going on, like a guy in a lizard suit who zaps people into ashes with his ray gun, an Ecstasy induced game of 'kick the can', strange cameos by former television stars (John Ritter plays a televangelist!) and a group of punk rock psychos straight out of REPO MAN. In fact it's hard not to see REPO MAN'S influence throughout this film, which portrays Los Angeles as an apocalyptic wasteland and its residents as drug and sex crazed loonies. Each character has a vice that eventually leads to either a downfall or an awakening and this film beautifully shows us the desperation of suicide, the depths of inner turmoil and the satisfaction of a love that is finally realized. Then, in the end, it's all taken away. Araki uses amazing visuals and a beautiful pop soundtrack to convey to us his character's emotions and by the end of the film, somehow I understood everything that he was trying to say. Nowhere is a lush, erotic visual piece with strange characters and strange dialogue. It's funny, brash, shocking and deeply sexual. Sometimes his metaphors are obvious and sometimes not and while this is definitely not a movie that every one will enjoy-if you have an open mind- it deserves to be seen.


'Nowhere' is definitely among my favorite movies of all time with the likes of '2001: A Space Odyssey', 'Eraserhead', Pierrot le Fou' and others. It's sad to see that many people have misunderstood it, but then again, it's certainly not meant for everyone. People think it's thrash, just a fun flick like 'The Evil Dead' or the Troma movies. This is actually ART made to look like thrash, because it brings the audience closer to the characters. In my opinion the movie is totally impressive, both both visually and thematically. I love the dark and apocalyptic feel to it, this definitely looks like the generation that's gonna witness the end of everything. Araki is a MASTER and 'Nowhere' is his MASTERPIECE.


a fitting end to a funny yet dramatic trilogy. nowhere is the least serious of the three, and yet the ending was saddening. an all star cast, featuring sexy heather graham, carried this movie to greatness. director araki concentrates (as always) on backgrounds-especially colors, so be sure to take in the different surroundings while viewing this. one should also have a sense of humor as all kinds of teens are bashed with the witty araki trademark dialogue. dark is a true anti hero and while i personally believe the doom generation is the better film, james duvall's role as dark here has much more depth than the dopey jordan in tdg. enjoy it and laugh a little, can't you take a joke?