JUNKIE
(director/writer: Adam Mason; screenwriter: Simon Boyes; cinematographer: Polly Morgan; editor: Adam Mason; music: Martin Grech; cast: Robert Lasardo (Nicky), Daniel Louis Rivas (Danny), Andrew Howard (Dad), Tess Panzer (Sonja), Ian Duncan (Charles Manson), Tomas Boykin (Otto), Charisse Sanzo (Manson Girl 1), Sara Rivas (Manson Girl 2), Caroline Guivarch (Charity), Julia Sandberg Hansson (Tara), Sarah Uslan (Manson Girl 3); Runtime: 83; MPAA Rating: NR; producers: Simon Boyes/ Daniel Louis Rivas/Charisse Sanzo; Filmbuff; 2012)
“Dreadful junkie flick.”
Reviewed by Dennis Schwartz
Adam Mason(“Broken”/”The Devil’s Chair”/”Blood River”) directs and co-writes this dreadful junkie flick with Simon Boyes. It’s a black comedy about self-destructive junkie brothers, the spineless Danny (Daniel Louis Rivas) and the goateed, devil-may-care, full bodied tattoo, freakish, psychopath Nicky (Robert Lasardo). They live together in a house inherited from their deceased mom, that’s kept messy.
Recovering alcoholic Danny, one morning, while in his bathrobe, tells his seemingly imagined brother he wants to go clean, but his irate motormouth bro, dressed in boxing trunks, insists he call a dealer to score any kind of drug. The only dealer willing to come over is the violent weirdo named Otto (Tomas Boykin), referred to by the sibs as a Nazi. After a misunderstanding over the drug deal Otto attempts to fuck the passive Danny up the ass, but Nicky uses a meat cleaver to lop off his head. Instead of dying, Otto hangs around as a zombie (ain’t that a hoot!). Meanwhile Sonja (Tess Panzer), the nice straight but mixed-up girl Danny is smitten with, visits after called there by Nicky and after chatting is more repelled by Danny’s weirdness than ever. What follows are a few unpleasant acts of lunacy, that include draining Otto’s blood for drugs; a surprise visit from Danny’s horrible sex-crazed foul-mouthed repugnant dad (Andrew Howard), who returns married to a vulgar Las Vegas hooker (Caroline Guivarch) he just met; and, of course, there’s a visit by Charles Manson (Ian Duncan) with three of his groupie chicks, as an expressionless Charlie tells us prison is merely a state of mind.
The gross-out rip off of The Fight Club flick (the houses in both films look similar) lacks humor that isn’t junkie-tainted and it hits bottom as it resorts to shock dramatics of dad jerking off while watching Nicky screw Sonja. The film’s perversions seem artificial, the acting is uneven (Rivas is too dull and Lasardo too hyper), and its unreal characters are so self-destructive and crazy that there’s nothing worthwhile to say about them. Perhaps the best thing to say about this bad junkie flick is that Charles Manson turns out not to be the most obnoxious and perverted character in it.
REVIEWED ON 11/27/2013 GRADE: C-