Latin Boys Go to Hell

Quite possibly one of the clumbsiest, meaningless, and inane films of the recent months of independent movie-making, LATIN BOYS GO TO HELL lies somewhere between a gay coming-of-age drama and a cheesy exploitation spoof. It might be faint praise to say that if Ed Wood were to make a "gay" film without wire-strung special-effects, this self-important movie would be it. The story deals with two cousins, Justion and Angel (Irwin Ossa and John Davila), one of whom is a closeted gay with a crush on the other, and how a series of events causes violence. Such images as castration, religious icons, and a tacky Latino soap opera are all intertwined in a vain attempt to give some meaning to the threadbare storyline. While Ossa and Davila show some promise as upcoming actors, Mike Ruiz (as Carlos) is so embarrassingly bad that it destroys whatever pitiful potential the film has in reaching audience approval. Troyano, a director of previous short films, seems completely disinterested in either her characters or subject matter; one wonders what her aim was in working with this project at all. Shot on a shoestring budget throughout Queens and the Bronx, the film's technical limitations would have been forgivable had it had a subject matter with heart. Ultimately, LATIN BOYS really has nothing to cheer about -- either in its ambition or execution. MY SCORE: 1

No budget "drama" about a bunch of uninteresting gay and straight Latino guys in NYC.

This film just does about everything wrong. First of all--the title. When you give a film that title you're almost promising the audience this is either going to be high camp or a sex movie. It's neither. We're supposed to take this as a serious drama. Think about this--"Latin Boys Go To Hell" and "serious drama". It doesn't exactly mix. The plot is a predictable yawner about a gay guy after a straight guy. This plot has been done to death and is so old. Also, the straight guy isn't even remotely good-looking but the cute gay guy is in love with him. Also, except for some mild butt shots, there's no nudity or sex--although the poster has one of the hunky actors with his shirt off. The dialogue is lame, the pace of the film is too slow (even at 71 minutes) and most of the acting is abysmal.

If you're going to do a film about gay Latinos have a little something more interesting to tell (and show). A definite 1.

Cleverly titled, and not without some merit, this 1997 flick also has it's hellish features. The sound quality is very poor, and the photography (or the transfer) is muddy. I liked some of the performances, especially by the guys playing Angel and Justin - who register some genuine on-screen chemistry. The script has a few nice ideas (look for the death imagery, some sly, some sledge-hammer obvious) but the dialogue veers toward the cliché more than the clever and in the final reels the subplot about a vain model and his jilted lover turns into silly melodrama. As usual with a Strand DVD, the minimum effort is applied to the packaging. The film isn't quite 'hell' - more like a visit to purgatory.

...about a cute young gay man obsessed with an ugly straight guy, I'm going to...While this is well done for an amateur film, the story leaves a great deal to be desired. The straight cousin is a skinny, ugly guy even I wouldn't be attracted to...and that's saying quite a bit. Too bad as the acting isn't all that bad, and the film itself is relatively well made, considering they must have had an extremely small budget. And there is one very, hot scene.

I think a lot of people have missed the joke with this film - it doesn't pretend to be anything but silly inane rubbish with a thin plotline. This to me is completely obvious. I loved the trashy characters, it really reminded me of my experiences going to niteclubs frequented by the ethnic population in Melbourne. The soap opera grabs ('Dos Vidas') are the highlight, great dramatic over-the-top dialogue and the film is an absolute hunk-fest. Hey, sometimes you just want to tune out and not have to think!