Street Trash — dvd movie review
If you’ve never seen Street Trash before, there’s no better time than now, as Synapse’s DVD release sets a new standard for cult restorations.
Street Trash’s story concerns a mysterious cache of bootleg liquor, labeled “Viper”, found within the basement wall of a lower Manhattan liquor store. Being that the store is a regular stop for the local drunk homeless, the shrewd proprietor decides the bottles of Viper would provide his customers a nice cheap fix. There’s just one catch. Those who imbibe Viper instantly melt into steaming piles of day-glo toxic goo.
Draped around this premise are a series of ever so loosely connected vignettes featuring a wide range of homeless dregs, from your every day hobos (the two main brothers of the film), to shell shocked Vietnam vets (the quintessential villian of the picture), to full on murderers and rapists, ranging from darkly comic grossouts (exploding stomachs and detached genitals) to decidedly disturbing creepfests (Vietnam flashbacks and midnight marauders). And if the sheer range of mayhem on display in Street Trash wasn’t enough, its uber-sleazy script was seemingly scribed by a Tourette’s suffering maniac. Roy Frumke’s dialogue is essentially liberally layered vulgarities, with near every curse and racial slur known to man present and accounted for (take that Scorsese!).
What elevates Street Trash from standard shock entry to genuine cult phenomenon are some surprisingly well photographed sequences (just watch the first five minutes), decent direction (Jim Muro), truly memorable special effects work, a fair share of quotables, and a host of competent performances, including the standout supporting turn by one-time actress Jane Arakawa. And, despite the rather crass storyline, the film has quite a bit to say about everything from American war efforts, to the huge disconnect between the American poor and middle class. There really is something for everyone to enjoy, schlock and cinema lovers alike.
In closing, Street Trash is quite a fun movie. Sick, twisted, deliriously politically incorrect fun, of the type no American filmmaker currently dares to make. If you’re a fan of cult cinema, you owe it to yourself to see Street Trash today.
The DVD
Synapse pictures has released Street Trash completely uncut, in its original 1.78:1 aspect ratio. Being that the version we obtained was the single disc edition, the audio track was the original 2.0 Mono. There are no special features to review — not even a commentary track. That said, this has to be the cleanest restoration I’ve ever seen. If it wasn’t for the fashions of the various characters, you might just think Street Trash was filmed last week. The sound is about as good as one could expect, given the original source material. I’m not sure how it was originally captured, but it seems that director Jim Muro employed a fair amount of overdubbing in the process of laying the film’s soundtrack.
The disc does include a little essay insert regarding the history of Street Trash and featuring proclamations of the complete coolness of the Synapse release, as well as two decals one could use to create their own bottles of Viper, but that’s it as far as extra material is concerned.
All in all, an amazing transfer for a worthwhile cult film. If you’re just looking to watch the film, and don’t care about extra features or artificial 5.1 mixes of mono source tracks, by all means pick up this disc. Otherwise, I would say your best bet is probably the Synapse 2 Disc Meltdown Edition of Street Trash.
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