Tenafly Viper: The Booze with a Bite!
Street Trash is one of the single strangest movies I've ever had the pleasure of seeing. It's gross, it's funny, it's horrifying, it's pure, wonderful 80's cheese at its best.
The film's story concerns Fred and his teenage brother Kevin, are adventurous young tramps who live the free life of bums in a New York City collision yard with their odd friend, a guy named Bert who always wears a gas mask and has, shall we say, unique methods of shoplifting entire feasts for the trio. Fred is happy as a bum, but Kevin wants to reenter society, having been homeless since he was young and raised by his older brother. He's helped by Wendy, the collision yard owner's secretary, who has a serious crush on him. Fred is uncertain how to feel about his brother's ambitions, and begins becoming hostile towards him.
Alas, life isn't all fun and games for the two. Fred owes money to Bronson, the leader of a gang of psychotic winos who live in a neighboring junkyard. Bronson is an insane Vietnam vet who carries a sharpened human femur bone for a weapon, and runs a protection racket, extorting money, booze and whatever precious few possessions the local homeless people have. And so far Fred is the only one who hasn't paid up. Worse, Bronson has eyes for Wendy, and aims to eliminate Kevin and take her for his own.
In the meantime, liquor store owned Ed discovers a case of an ancient whiskey he's never heard of called Tenafly Viper, which he sells to the local homeless population (his best customers!) at $1 a bottle... unaware that one sip causes the drinker to die a horrible death by melting into a lifeless puddle of slime. Before long, people start disappearing, and the police begin finding their dissolved remains.
One night, while coming home to the yard drunk (thankfully not on Viper), Fred picks up a drunken woman outside of a ritzy club and takes her home with him, where they have sex. After Fred passes out, Bronson's gang abduct the woman and rape and murder her. As it turns out, she was none other than the girlfriend of the club's owner, mafioso wannabe Nick Duran. Duran, thinking Fred is the killer, puts a hit out on him. Suddenly poor Fred has a lot more people trying to kill him.
Yes, that's right, this movie, although famous for its special effects scenes of people melting, actually has a plot. And it's a fairly complicated one, too. I didn't even mention Bill the detective and his single-minded drive to bring down the dangerous Bronson and end his reign of terror once and for all, and ends up becoming all that stands between Fred and Duran's hitman. The film is shot beautifully, the effects are great, and the story is scuzzy, funny and hilariously offensive. If you're a fan of 80's exploitation films, what's not to love?
Also to love is Synapse's DVD. The restored widescreen print looks wonderful, and it features two very informative commentary tracks as well as a documentary titled "The Meltdown Memoirs," which pretty extensively covers Street Trash's production from beginning to end.Read full review
