Repo Man

Repo Man

I think I need to watch this one again, because I did not expect any of it. I knew it was about punk rock kids and that it's an Alex Cox film, but there's a whole other element that I was totally not expecting.

Emilio Estevez plays an aimless, disillusioned youth who has hippie parents and hangs with punk kids. He gets tricked into hanging out with repo men, and ends up becoming one of them. All day they repossess poor people's cars and that sometimes goes well and sometimes doesn't. Also, there's aliens. Or mutants. Or something. This is where I get lost.

I really like the cinematography and the characters, and I think they both help to create a unique and memorable world. I just didn't get the sci-fi element. Again, I'd love to give this one another watch because I feel like I can't properly talk about the film without understanding this element, but I really like the performances from Emilio Estevez and the late great Harry Dean Stanton. I just don't get the thing with the trunk and the flying green car.

I feel bad even posting this review, but this is kinda all I got. I really liked Walker, another Alex Cox film, but I just didn't get this one. One day I'll return to it. Promise.

Creature from the Black Lagoon

Creature from the Black Lagoon

According to IMDb trivia, Ingmar Bergman would watch this film every year on his birthday. This is weird because the movie didn't come out until he was 36 years old and also it's terrible.

I'm gonna start with the good here, because I believe it's a classic for a reason.

While the land cinematography is overall pretty standard and forgettable, the underwater shots are surprisingly gorgeous and impressive for the time. The water is so clear that it has to have been filmed on a set, but the water goes so deep that it's hard to think of a set that would allow for that. It's also crazy that they made the stuntmen stay down there for so long, especially the Creature.

The other great thing is the titular Creature. It's a unique and unusual design, a great addition to the classic monster canon. Though he's unlike the classic monsters in that there's nothing particularly tragic about him. While Frankenstein just wants to feel human and the Wolfman is a good guy who has an uncontrollable curse, the Gill Man (that's what they call him in the movie) has a lot more in common with the Xenamorph in Alien in that he really just wants to kill people.

Now the bad.

The acting and writing are awful. It's that classic Ed Wood-esque, stiff, awkward, 1950's b-movie acting that's so unique to schlock of its time. The one female character is written by males to be hot, dumb, and useless. She's supposed to be an archaeologist but instead she leaves the science up to the boys and wears designer outfits and heavy makeup instead. It's pretty insulting. Also, these are the worst archaeologists of all time. At one point they poison an entire river in order to kill one Gill Man, undoubtedly killing almost everything else in the water. It would be so-bad-it's-funny if it wasn't so boring, but it is so it isn't.

Watch a compilation of scenes with the Gill Man on YouTube. That's all you need here.