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84 comments in total

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30 out of 37 people found the following comment useful :-
A movie taken out of context..., 17 May 2000

Author: xtonybueno (xtonybueno@aol.com) from the ol' junkyard

Yes, I actually thought this was better than some recent horror/comedies I've seen. Certainly superior to Urban Legend or Scream. I'm positively stunned by the fact that people would see the cover for this movie, read the title and synopsis, watch it, and then complain that this flick is offensive. For crying out loud, what do you expect from a film whose promotional literature shows a melted transient's head in a toilet bowl? Casablanca? Anyone dumb enough to see this movie and be taken aback by its admittedly sordid contents has exactly what they have coming to them.

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18 out of 20 people found the following comment useful :-
Hypnotic! Dripping in class, and really very well done, 14 December 2001
Author: James Bourke (jamesbourke50@hotmail.com) from Scotland

If you've ever seen the cover for this movie, either sitting on a shelf in some video store or found it hidden in the bargain bin underneath the likes of 'What Lies Beneath' or Titanic' and you've simply thought, no way will i ever let this gross looking booger grace my v.c.r, friends let me just say, you'll be missing out on the treat of a lifetime.

It's strange when you discover movies and to what degree they affect you, for me it was writing down every line of dialogue that i found amusing and memorable, and from the first scene to the last, every line is a gem, the camerawork is fluid and precise, who knew that years later the director James(Jim)Muro would later lend his steadicam talents to such high brow fare as Strange Days, Heat and even more so Point Break, will he ever consider taking another shot in the directors chair?

As for the acting, spot on, these guys were total unkowns to me, apart from R.L. Ryan who turned up in stuff like The Toxic Avenger and Eat and Run, but everyone involved infront of the camera as well as behind really took the bull by the proverbials, and this is the legacy that they have left us.

Also if you like me like watching out for Producer's or Directors turning up in they're own films, watch out for writer/producer Roy Frumkes as the poor unfortunate buisnessman who gets himself covered in Viper Gue and then proceeds to melt.

If you ever wanted to see a movie where the cop beats up on a susicious person and then proceeds to throw up on them, or a gang of junkyard bums playing catch with a severed penis, say no more, pay the money for the movie in that bargain bin, because a bargain you are going to get, in every sense of they way

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13 out of 14 people found the following comment useful :-
Icky Flick, 4 September 2005

Author: TheatreX from Louisville, KY

So here's a nasty icky little flick, that I've had on VHS for a long time, and finally it's released on DVD, uncut, and it's not for the squeamish. A liquor store owner finds a wooden case behind a wall in the basement and drags it out to find it's half-pint bottles of Tenafly Viper, some kind of cheap wine, so he sells it for a buck a bottle and it's very popular with the local winos. Except he has very few repeat customers. Seems as though this stuff is some kind of nasty toxic stuff and whoever drinks it turns into a melted pile of goo. We have this junkyard where this subculture of bums live, run by Bronson, a Viet Nam Vet, and they're all a pretty dirty filthy nasty looking lot. Bronson's "love interest" will make your skin crawl. Anyway, this is NOT a great film in the traditional sense, but it's a weird and nasty little cult film that will appeal to you if you enjoy things like Body Melt and The Stuff. But it's quite a bit nastier than those. I guess it's been a while since I've watched the tape, so I hate it when something that's 'uncut' comes out and I try to figure out what I haven't seen before, but I'd guess there were a few scenes that were far messier than I remembered so I'll leave it at that since I'm not going to watch the tape again just to compare. Too many movies, so little time. 8 out of 10 stars, if you enjoy the gross and disgusting, you'll find this right up your alley.

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14 out of 17 people found the following comment useful :-
Oh boy..., 30 July 1999
Author: Mr Parker (spookyscribe@yahoo.com) from New York City

I saw this one years ago. You want necrophilia, dismemberment, gang rape, needless brutality, over-the-top violence, all in one package? This movie has it all and then some. Watch for the scene where the hardass cop beats the living Christ out of someone, drags him into a bathroom and then proceeds to stick a finger down his throat, bringing up a splatter of puke on the creep's face that looks like Four Brother's Chunky Tomato Sauce with stringy cheese in it! Yummy yum yum! It's a sick movie and it's not great but it's the equivalent of... hell, I don't know. Watch it if you dare. Lastly, this movie has one of the funniest animal reaction shots I've ever seen, next to Anaconda's black panther (read my review for that stinker). Watch for the black cat on the fire escape. You'll know it when you see it! Rating: *** out of *****.

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7 out of 7 people found the following comment useful :-
An outlandish, unapologetic delight., 24 November 2005

Author: james_trevelyan from Sydney, Australia

'Street Trash' the most offensive film ever made? Quite possibly. This baby is exceedingly hard to locate, which is unfortunate, because it is an outlandish, unapologetic delight with a wonderful streak of black, black humour. Director Jim Muro has since become one of the most respected Steadicam operators in the business, and has worked his magic upon some pretty big pictures. I believe he was the Steadicam operator on 'Terminator 2: Judgment Day', but I might be wrong.

When an enterprising liquor store owner in New York's Lower East Side(?) finds a dusty crate of something named Tenafly Viper stashed behind a brick wall in a back room of his place of business, he decides to sell it cheaply to the bums in the neighbourhood who are his chief customers. But Tenafly Viper is strong stuff indeed; strong enough to melt one's body! And you thought hangovers were bad.

Pretty soon, the homeless population around the liquor store is dwindling as more and more of these unfortunates consume this deadly drop and promptly disintegrate. The first bum to imbibe the killer stuff does so while seated upon a filthy lavatory. He melts into the commode, pulls the chain, and flushes himself away! Truly tasteless, n'est pas? Two more memorable scenes from 'Street Trash' come to mind: in one, a man has his penis bitten off; in the other, a man is spectacularly decapitated by a flying gas cylinder. I read in Fangoria(?) that this scene required eight special effects crew members to pump blood! 'Street Trash' reminds me of Peter Jackson's wonderful 'Bad Taste' which, while far superior to 'Street Trash', is in the same outrageous vein. I guess it might also be likened to 'The Incredible Melting Man', although the special effects makeup in that picture was provided by the legendary Rick Baker - his first film? - and so is much better than anything in 'Street Trash'.

'Street Trash' is an excellent title, because trash is what this film is all about. Its milieu is grimy and bleak, and everything about the whole affair is inherently unclean. Oh yeah, I just remembered another memorable scene: a cop fights a man in a men's room, and beats him to the ground. Then the cop sticks two digits down his own throat and vomits upon the prone man! Pretty sick (excuse the pun)! This film also makes me think of John Waters in its examination of white trash, something Waters did with films such as 'Desperate Living' and 'Pink Flamingoes'. Like those flicks, 'Street Trash' serves up plenty of gross-out gags so, if that is what floats your boat in a movie, then you will certainly enjoy this. I hope 'Street Trash' has a huge cult following, and I suspect it does. And deservedly so.

When oh when oh WHEN is the DVD Special Edition going to be released?! I for one await it with great anticipation. By the way, if you do find this film, do not miss the song which plays over the end credits - very funny stuff! The last time I watched 'Street Trash' I was laughing because one of the bums reminded me of Chris Robinson of The Black Crowes fame. Sorry, Mr Robinson... no offence intended!

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8 out of 9 people found the following comment useful :-
Most Notorious Melt Movie Must Be Viewed By All, 16 July 2002

Author: galaxy2069 from United States

Street Trash (1987) deserves 10+ stars for its movie poster art alone - a splashy and grossly exaggerated masterpiece of a poisoned wino melting and flushing himself down a crusty warehouse toilet. The movie itself is cheap, sleazy, vile, disgusting, florescent, stinky, slimy, perverse, insane, and retarded...which is why it must be viewed by everyone. You must watch this movie.

Street Trash personified the essence of crappy, late 80's horror slop, but also achieved legendary status within hip underground horror circles. What drew me to the movie were the colorful images of the make-up and special effects that gleamed from the pages of Fangoria and GoreZone Magazine. This is truly one-of-a-kind cinema and resides in the outer realms of art-house oddities/gore flicks. They certainly don't make 'em like this anymore!

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7 out of 8 people found the following comment useful :-
Second Best Horror/Comedy film ever! (9.5 out of ten), 22 March 2006

Author: jjjjjjjjjjjjj-4 from Santa Rosa CA

*** This comment may contain spoilers ***

During the late 80's I chanced to live in downtown San Francisco with more than 30 "alternative" theater screens within a 20 min. walk, including the theater in Nihomachi, where I saw (among many others) more than 25 Kurosawa films including DONZOKO, ie. Maxim Gorky's LOWER DEPTHS. Several years later when I moved away from such a bounty of film, I was left with only video rental stores (early 90's) where I discovered this film. If THE MAGNIFICENT SEVEN is a remake of SEVEN SAMURAI with sixguns; STREET TRASH is indeed a remake of DONZOKO with melting winos.

The point is not the melting winos or the sixguns; the point is the underlying style & feel of the films, especially in the handling of the many characters in the ensembles. By no means do I suggest that the actors are of the quality of such like Toshiro Mifune or Minoru Chiaki. In fact the nominal lead actors in STREET TRASH are truly awful. It is the minor characters that bring the movie to life. Tony Darrow & Jim Lorinz demonstrate comic genius with their interludes, but they are essentially outsiders. Also fun is the coroner scene, with horseradish sauce.

The street trash themselves are what brings the movie to life. When I traveled to Japan in the early 80's I observed the Japanese version of street trash, still living completely invisibly while in plain sight in the middle of Yokohama & Tokyo. We in the U.S. see our street trash little better than they do. We notice them with distaste & fear or superior sympathy. By giving "character" to the despised ala Kurosawa, Jim Muro & Roy Frumkes bring dignity & depth to their subjects, despite the disgusting lives of many of them. And even as disgusting as the worst of the trash are; there are normal characters who are as bad or worse; like Frank, the owner of the junkyard where the action takes place (a wonderful turn by Troma vet Pat Ryan). Or the police.

Make no mistake, horrible actions do take place in this film. Gang rape & necrophilia are mentioned in many of the reviews here for good reason. Unlike nearly all mainstream and horror films violence is not stylized. The movie does not flinch from looking at the actuality of human behavior. The fights are incredibly realistic in both style & effect on the participants. In many scenes, the characters are speaking what they feel rather than what they are expected to say in that situation. Some people do behave like animals when placed in such situation. Worse, some like Bill the Cop & Bronson act like human beings.

I was especially impressed by the primal nature of the man to man relationships in this film. In the scene where Bill the Cop confronts Tony Darrow's character in his limo after beating the Hit-man to death & inducing emesis; you can smell the testosterone and hear the brain cells die. The seething frustration leads to his premature & hence fatal encounter with the ultimate Alpha ape, Bronson, an acting tour de force by Vic Noto worthy of Brando at his prime.

Most Horror films are fantastic (not in the sense of great). Despite the fantasy of its nominal main theme of melting winos, STREET TRASH is bound to the ugly reality of its characters.

The best horror films & stories always have much more to say than the fear or horror alone. Many help us face our own mortality & fears. Some are wonderful love stories like Peter Jackson's DEAD ALIVE, the only horror comedy I find superior to STREET TRASH. The love story here is, like THE LOWER DEPTHS, the love of breathing, the love of waking up alive, even if it's in a "merde"hole. Not melting down some damn toilet like Elvis.

The DVD has a couple of extra scenes added to the VHS release, but sadly no commentary.

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8 out of 10 people found the following comment useful :-
Magnificent Trash!!!, 30 December 2002

Author: tordeforest from New York, NY

Street Trash is a masterpiece of crap! If you are an aficionado of intentionally horrible garbage, you cannot do better than this. It's got everything you'll love - keep away with a guy's dick, corpse rape, melting bums, and more! And I've found that all guys love it, and all girls hate it. If you're a guy, what more could you ask for in an afternoon's entertainment with the guys? The next time your wife or girlfriend decides to attend a teddy bear convention or something like that, get a couple of suitcases, a boatload of nachos, and throw a Street Trash / Frankenhooker party for your friends. They'll love you for it!

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4 out of 4 people found the following comment useful :-
So Wrong, it's Just Plain RIGHT, 17 May 2001
Author: RevRuin from Minneapolis, MN

One day someone said, "I'd like to make a movie featuring a bottle of hooch that makes people melt into multi-colored ooze. I think I'll also add "sub-plots" about insane homeless vets, murder, necrophilia, gang-rape, castration, and police brutality. Oh, and it's a COMEDY."

Anyone who blasts the movie probably had no idea what they were getting into. Yeah, the story - if you want to call it that - is flimsy at best, but the film is punctuated by some inventive effects, some nice camera work, and a hysterical mostly-improvised Doorman character played by James Lorinz.

Summed up, if you like your movies dispicable, reprehensible, obnoxious, offensive, crude, and downright nasty, pick this one up. You won't be disappointed.

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2 out of 2 people found the following comment useful :-
A gory riot., 1 November 2005

Author: haildevilman from Tokyo, Japan

*** This comment may contain spoilers ***

This was one entertaining film. I laughed like you wouldn't believe. I know the humor was off color and rape and necrophilia jokes sometimes get more cringes than chuckles but still I laughed. The castration keep-away sequence was wild too. However, James Lorinz and Tony Darrow (Goodfellas) nearly walked away with this movie. Lorinz proved he's got a great sarcastic delivery. And did anybody notice in the final scene when he got Darrow to drink the Viper, Darrow actually managed to screw the cap back on while he was melting? Also the FX were done by Jennifer Aspinall, someone who deserves a little more notice. And I thought Jane Arakawa was beautiful. Mark Sferranza also did a decent job. Bill Chepil really was a cop and Vic Noto really was a 'Nam vet too. I also heard Frumkes father owned the wrecking yard where it was filmed. One big continuity error though. When Arakawa and Sferranza were flirting in the wrecking yard and her boss suddenly paged her, ("Where the f#$k are you?" "If 300 pounds of cellulite could talk...") her outfit completely changed. Black skirt with white shirt in the yard becoming a white skirt and light blue top in the office. It's still a rocking good time. Loved every messy second.

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