For every film festival movie that hits all the expected cliches, whether it's troubled romance, coming-of-age, or dysfunctional families, there's always one movie that goes against the grain of everything. And that's where The Greasy Strangler comes into play.
From The ABCs of Death 2 segment director Jim Hosking comes a positively nuts feature film debut that feels like the insanity of Tim Heidecker and Eric Wareheim turned up to 11 and made even more gross and revolting. Honestly, I have no idea what's going on in this movie or why, and that's probably why I'll end up watching it.
See The Greasy Strangler teaser trailer after the jump, but beware, it's NSFW due to nudity.
Surreal doesn't even begin to describe this movie. But it certainly made some waves at Sundance and South by Southwest, as reviews mostly emphasized its strange and unique nature. Variety[1]'s Dennis Harvey said:
Most years the Sundance Film Festival programs one or two movies (usually in the Midnight section) that primarily appeal to the 13-year-old stoner male most viewers will be glad they no longer are or never were. Unlikely to be trumped in that department this year is "The Greasy Strangler," an exercise in juvenile scatology that's almost awesomely pure in its numbing, repetitious determination to annoy. Somebody, somewhere out there, is likely to find these 93 minutes funny rather than watching-regurgitation-dry tedious.
Meanwhile, Devin Faraci over at Birth.Death.Movies[2] was a little more blunt with his reception:
What I love most about The Greasy Strangler is how confrontational it is with its puerile honesty. The film has fart and poop jokes for days, and big wangs wiggle in the breeze at every opportunity. The jokes purposefully go on too long (as, to be fair, does the movie), and The Greasy Strangler truly dares you to keep watching at certain moments. The film is indifferent to the mass audience – Hosking doesn't even want you watching anyway if you're turned off by the opening oddness. He's made a film that is gloriously gross and stupid and fundamentally weird and that is not for everybody. This isn't some Napoleon Dynamite bullshit, this isn't a quirky movie. This is a WEIRD movie. This is a sick movie. This is a movie that gleefully grosses you out and is ecstatically edgy.
Yeah, those reactions jibe perfectly with the vibe that this teaser trailer is putting out there. It's grotesque, odd and begs to be seen at home with a bunch of friends who don't mind watching something just because it's weird as hell. These kind of movies aren't always my cup of tea, but they are fascinating and usually fun to endure.
This Los Angeles–set tale follows Ronnie, a man who runs a disco walking tour along with his browbeaten son, Brayden. When a sexy, alluring woman named Janet comes to take the tour, it begins a competition between father and son for her attentions. It also brings about the appearance of an oily, slimy, inhuman maniac who stalks the streets at night and strangles the innocent—soon dubbed "the Greasy Strangler."
The Greasy Strangler hits limited theaters and VOD on October 7.
References
- ^ Variety (variety.com)
- ^ Birth.Death.Movies (birthmoviesdeath.com)
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