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hyped garbage

Highly Overrated But Still Good

Best movie ever!

The storyline feels a little thin and moth-eaten in parts but this sequel is plenty of fun.

The world of Eating Raoul is a depraved, prude's nightmare. Sex is on everyone's minds; you can't buy a carton of milk without contracting something, much less apply for a business loan (the manager's hand, after having his master's initial advances denied, seems to dive into muscle memory, groping the air and just about holding back from attacking the secretary). Director Paul Bartel, a Roger Corman alumni who made a string of low budget flicks in the 70s and 80s, utilises his set design well. It's kitsch overload, dirty white walls, mustard yellow carpet, pastel paintings that don't match - no wonder the inmates seem to be bouncing off the walls. Freak after freak is invited into Bland's household, with minimal decor and props hung up to cater to their sexual tastes. The mise-en-scene finds the right note inbetween seediness and tackiness. We grimace initially, and then can't help but chuckle at the cheapness of the whole charade, and the nonchalance of the Blands at these deviants invading their home: "He's not gonna show. We've thrown away 70 dollars on this light show." He does show a little later, muttering about Nam and hippy rebirths as if they were the natural progression of a middle aged man. Make love, not war. The Blands sleep in twin beds (have they ever had sex? Do they even hug?) and air kiss right before tucking in, although in this society they're relatively normal. They fall into their murderous routine by pure accident, as if it was an extended screwball bit. Mr Bland is the loser flogging vintage wines over the local bottle shop counter, and Mrs Bland is a nurse, although not the sexy kind, not that it deters his horndog patients. When they stumble into one frying pan murder, it cascades into another, and then another. Watch them act if they are good at this, or even enjoy it - they don't know how. It's cute to see Paul whisper to Mary to insult their client over the phone, and to watch them giggle like schoolchildren. They're too bland for this. Mary can't even summon the gall to spank a naughty client, even when he's overturned the entire tea table. She just scurries to clean the mess up. And look at what Paul wears to visit the sex shop, picking up a few odds and ends to attract more clients. It's a comedy of manners and learned behaviour, struggling to unravel after a decade of monotonous monogamy. That balance is upset when Raoul enters the business, a thief posing as a locksmith (it couldn't have been more obvious if he was a plummer - pick and choose your metaphors). A walking talking cliche, he embodies everything about those hot blooded Latinos that porn producers think ladies pine for. Here's where my suspension of disbelief fails a little; would Mary, the docile housewife, really go for this stud? It's all a bit suspect of a storytelling device designed to drive a wedge between the couple, who seem to be truly inseparable (shackled - no, handcuffed together). The script cheats a tad to get to that final gag, which is littered with delightful nods to everything the Blands have gone through. Eating Raoul indeed. It doesn't have the zany energy of a proper screwball, but Bartel finds something unique here, a sharp little black comedy about a sex-crazed world and the odd couple who wade through all the filth and persevere. They play it straight through and through - there's never even a hint of Cary Grant's manic stare from Arsenic and Old Lace to give it all away. It's a nicely seared veal, with just a touch of murder on the side.

This is a wonderfully inventive and clever movie made while the Reagan administration was trying to suppress anything that didn't meet the approval the so-called "Moral Majority" - and in retrospect, I LIKE Reagan! But it was also definitely a time when powerful white people were trying to recreate both the best and worst features of the 1950s. The worst features weren't very pretty.I can't say for sure that there was political satire intended in the film, but just at the right time, here comes a movie that pretty much destroys anything "Happy Days." I mean, where else can you hear a character implore another to "Whip me! Beat me! Make me write bad checks!" It's marvelous. Really, I'm tempted to give it a higher rating to offset the humorless 50s lovers who don't appreciate this work of genius, but it is a low budget "indie" film with all the flaws inherent in the genre. It's not polished, and that is a flaw in any work of art, but really, that's also part of the beauty of the genre as well: what can a filmmaker do within the constraints of a limited budget? So, it's not El Mariachi ... but what else is?It's definitely worth a look, if for nothing else than as a work of superlative satire and subversion, while Ron & Nancy tried to bring back McCarthyism with a friendlier face.

Straight-laced middle-class couple Paul (a fine and likable performance by Paul Bartel) and Mary Bland (the always great Mary Woronov) are forced to murder decadent perverted swingers in order to raise the necessary money so they can realize their dream of opening a restaurant. Shrewd and unscrupulous con man hustler Raoul Mendoza (smoothly played by Robert Beltran) helps the pair dispose of the bodies of their victims.Director Bartel, who also co-wrote the witty script with Richard Blackburn (who appears as nice guy real estate agent James), maintains a deliciously dry'n'deadpan tone while poking wickedly hilarious satirical fun at uptight traditional American values, debauched rich folks, the moral erosion caused by the sexual revolution, how the hedonistic excessiveness of the 1970's was rebuked by the oppressive conservatism of the Reagan-era 1980's (the swinger victims are all total raunchy products of the 1970's while the Blands represent the staid'n'standard status quo-abiding types who voted Ronald Reagan into public office as President), and the desperate measures ordinary decent folks must resort to so they can achieve their goals in an amoral society. The spot-on winning and natural chemistry between Bartel and his frequent co-star Woronov gives this picture a teeming surplus of pure radiantly loopy heart; indeed, the Blands are perhaps the most appealing murderous couple in the history of cinema. It's this singularly good-natured screwball charm which in turn makes this movie so special and delightful. Susan Saiger positively shines as the sweet Doris the Dominatrix, who happily dispenses business advice while doing her laundry and feeding her infant son. Popping up in neat small parts are Buck Henry as smarmy bank president Mr. Leech, Garry Goodrow as the Blands' aggressively lascivious drunken first victim, Ed Begley Jr. as a horny hippie pothead, John Paragon as a pushy sex store clerk, Don Steele as obnoxious party host Howard Swine, and Eddie McClurg as the ditsy Susan. Kudos are also in order for Arlon Ober's bouncy jazzy score and the bright cinematography by Gary Thieltges. An absolute hoot.

Here is a retro comedy from 1982 written and directed by Paul Bartel. Bartel and his wife, played by Mary Waronov are a sexless couple looking to raise $20,000 to open a gourmet restaurant. They kill a guy with a frying pan and take his money.They then hatch a plan to lure swingers to their apartment with a sex ad and proceed to make money with this scheme. The problem is that this grows tired with the repetition of the same frying pan scene over and over.The style is grade b porn with a few laughs now and then. The lead actor and actress are likable enough to give this a 5/10.