Desperation Rising

My review was written in December 1989 after watching the movie on Legacy Entertainment video cassette.

This technically deficient feature released on home video takes a despairing look at society, specifically in L. A., in an incoherent trip few will wish to take.

Filmmaker-star Jason Holt, who also contributed several songs, is far from up to the pretentious task he's attempted. Sloppy intercutting of what looks like Super 8mm shooting mixes three stories of losers, all symbols of a corrupt value system. Holt plays an investment broker who's hurting because of another stock market crash and is pushing insured municipal bonds.

His story unconvincingly interacts with a gang of crack fiends when he phones a hotline for a prostitute after he has problems in bed with beautiful wife Jacquie Banan. The hooker (Gail Britt-Anthony) rips him off and he's soon a prisoner of the dopers, who are holding many women in a form of slavery and cult bondage.

Third group of nasties is led by gangsters Nick Cassavetes and his overacting brother, played by Tally Lauriti. Incredibly poor photography, sound sync and haphazard editing make this attempt at docu-style narrative a chore to watch.

Holt's acting as the nominal good guy (he predictably reforms and there's even an unconvincing happy ending with wifey in a pool) is acceptable, but his inept direction ruins a potentially viable theme. Despite his top billing, Cassavetes (son of the late director) is stuck in a peripheral role.

This "movie" is stunningly bad - it is strung together like someone founds clips of different movies and put them together for the hell of it. The acting is below bad community theatre - the guys playing tough gang members just shout their lines and use the f-word a lot because well, darn it, it's more effective. I am shocked to see that Holt got to make more films - I must say I am intrigued to see them just to check out if he got any better. At one point the film just switches all the action to a cave in the desert with no explanation - they had been in a room at a crack house and then - boom - they are up on cliffs in the desert - it's like Holt's mom got fed up with his little movie-making and kicked him out of her house so they all went to the desert to finish it. Jaw-dropping mess - some of it is SO bad that, yes, it is entertaining because you cant believe what you are seeing. Yikes!!

This film is a brilliant effort to bring Therapy and an outlet to Actual. Los Angeles gang members.

When watched as experimental footage and community activism you see Gang Members trying to stop their violence by putting it into a Theatrical Play .

Difficulties of production include lead characters committing MURDER and going on the lamb and loss of locations due to gang warfare.

It is created with no budget and the warring gangs contributing locations film /equipment etc .

Nick Cassavettes graciously contributes his time in an effort to help Los Angeles based street Gang Members participate in a therapeutic ACTORS STRETCH CLASS

Some say Jason Holt reaches his zenith in Angel of Passion; others say Death Dancers is his magnum opus. Although these are his better known films (and they are essential viewing for any aspiring film buff) they are not his best. "Desperation Rising" is superior to "Death Dancers" in its muted tones and subtle shades of desperation, and "Desperation Rising" rises above even "Angel of Passion" in its relentless exploration of timeless themes. It is a triumph of the human spirit! Stunning! Nick Cassavetes gives a tour-de-force performance as a man who is angry on a construction site.

Special effects play no insignificant role in "Desperation Rising." Restraint is key in the film. The restraint of passion, erotica, eros, action, and even the special effects weave together throughout the entire film to create a terse blend of flaming emotions. Through this restraint Holt achieves a remarkable synthesis that can rival only the greatest of auteurs.

It is a white-knuckle-thrill-ride that will keep you guessing on the edge of your seat until the very end, in which the film has unfortunately been forced to cease through virtue of it's own ending. Finally, a movie that lets the actors speak for themselves. A must see!