The VHS release of 1987's Street Trash sums the film up nicely (and confusingly). "The Ultimate Melt Movie", it proclaims, causing the uninitiated to wonder: "What the Hell is a 'melt movie'? Is that even a genre?"Well, the 'melt movie' might have failed at becoming a legitimate genre, but Trash is definitely the ULTIMATE, featuring scene upon scene of dudes melting into neon ooze, sometimes exploding and quite often doing so on the toilet.
Street Trash wears its affection for all things Troma and Evil Dead on its sleeve, gleefully splattering gore in every direction with tongue planted firmly in cheek. Back in the day, this movie was the HOLY GRAIL of underground gorror flicks. For real.
The trailer:
The story runs thusly:Some liquor store owner finds a case of "Viper" booze in his basement (left). Since he got it for free, he sells it to the local bums for a buck a bottle. As a result, the bums consume it in mass quantities, and his stock of "Viper" is quickly depleted.
But there's one catch: "Viper" is some sort of radioactive ooze, and it quickly melts down those who consume it into undulating piles of bubbling goo. This goo, of course, is quite contagious as well, meaning that anyone who gets splattered with it (ALOT of people) face the same fate.
This is a can't-miss plot for a movie, and ends up rewarding the viewer with many scenes like the one below:
So what are the social implications of this film? Is it a study in class and our treatment of the impoverished? A cautionary tale about alcoholism? A clairvoyant prediction of the socio-economic crises we face in modern-day America?WHO CARES? With this much bubbling, radioactive slime, crackheads, toilet fun, exploding bodies, low-brow humor, and flying gore, does it REALLY MATTER?
Much like any good movie based on a video game from the 1990's, Trash is a plethora of big, shiny primary colors, loud noises, and instant gratification. Pure 80's SPLATTER. The ultimate "melt movie" indeed.
A couple of sweet "custom" Street Trash movie posters:
The Best Scenes, Part 2 (couldn't find Part 1)...
WARNING: SPOILERS
I had planned to feature Street Trash on 'Monday Morning Movie Madness' since last week, and in an all-too-common instance of Blogger synchronicity, Illogical Bro Seth from Seattle also featured it (via Fangoria) over at his site, Lost Video Archive, over the weekend. If you're a fan of awesome 80's horror/action movies, you should definitely check his blog out.
You can get Street Trash on Netflix right over here. You can even watch it instantly!
Posts
2 comments:
Thanks for the shout out.When the DVD finally came out I was thrilled because hardly anone even believed there was a movie like this. Plus it came with a couple of self-adhesive Viper labels.
That rules. Do you still have 'em?
In my early gorehound years back in Eureka, this movie was like the Fountain of Youth, unattainable, legendary, and impossible to locate. Nowadays you can get it on Netflix. Instantly, even. What's next, a censored version popping up on TNT? Kids these days are spoiled. You used to have to WORK for stuff like this.
Post a Comment