Straight To Hell Returns
Microcinema International
R1 DVD
In
1986 director Alex Cox made a film called Straight To
Hell. In a fit of editing enthusiasm they cut many scenes from the original
film. Cox has now restored those scenes and reworked others to feature
“digitally improved violence and cruelty”. Is it an improvement on the cult
original?
Cox
has always been a fan of the spaghetti western. He wrote a book about these
films called 10,000 Ways To Die that we looked at in Synergy Vol. 3
No. 1. In many ways Straight To Hell was a homage to these films. There are obvious
influences from Sergio Leone’s Fistful of Dollars. It also has elements of Last
Man Standing and you can probably pick out many more that affected the final
film. I likeded the meek hardware store man who talks
tough like Clint Eastwood but can’t control his promiscuous wife..
Cox
says he was also affected by the work of Bunuel, which is a pity. Bunuel’s work
was usually self-indulgent incoherent rubbish and a little of that incoherence
shows in the plot of Straight To Hell. The film starts
out simply enough. A group of inept bank robbers escape with their loot into
the Mexican countryside. Their car breaks down and they bury the loot and take
refuge in what appears to be an abandoned town. There are people in the town,
though. It is run by the MacMahons, a cruel family
whose patriarch seems to be the only rational one in the clan. They make a
living by robbing and killing anyone who strays off the highway into their
domain. The Police turn a blind eye to this. The outsiders are regarded with
suspicion at first but after they kill two bounty hunters in the main street
they are accepted by the townspeople. It is as if they have proven something by
being as ruthless as the MacMahons.
The
next few days are a mix of lust and irrational killings. The townsfolk are
tormented by the MacMahons but seem to make no effort
to get away, even though you can see the highway from the village. It’s as if
they prefer to stay trapped in their own unreal little microcosm and face the MacMahons rather than leave and face the real world.
It
can’t last, of course. On the fourth day Mr D, the robbers’ boss, comes looking
for them. He is just as tough as the rest of them and the resulting battle
(“shootout” is too mild a term} sees dozens dead, the village on fire and one
of the robbers abandoning his friends and escaping with his new girlfriend to
recover the loot and make a new start. Possibly.
On
the surface the plot seems fairly straightforward but Cox has left so many
questions unanswered that viewers must practically build their own plot on the
foundation of the film. For instance, what do the animated skeletons have to do
with it? How does the hot dog man make a living when nobody seems to buy his product?
How does all the beer get into town? Why is there a gratuitous wet T-shirt
scene? (well, OK, it’s probably very artistic and
improves the film a lot). Why are the MacMahons
obsessed with coffee?
These questions may be hallmarks of a good cult film but they can also leave
the audience confused about what it was that they have just watched. Or should
we not expect a coherent plot but just play “pick the celebrity” instead? There
are a few to choose from – Elvis Costello, The Pogues,
Grace Jones and Courtney Love to name some. In most cases celebrities don’t
improve a film but I must admit in this film they do give some nice little
cameos.
Straight
To Hell Returns is a decidedly strange film. I am
still unsure if it needed to return, but it has a strange fascination that will
keep you watching until the end.
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