Comiendose a Raul

The late Paul Bartel made several interesting and overlooked cult movies in his sadly too short career, including his exploitation classic collaboration with the legendary Roger Corman 'Death Race 2000', but of all his movies he will be remembered for this one, 'Eating Raoul', a minor masterpiece. Shot on a shoe string budget as a real labor of love it is still one of the most entertaining black comedies ever made. Bartel himself co-stars with the tasty Mary Woronov (Warhol's 'Chelsea Girls'), who he had previously acted with in the wonderful romp 'Rock'n'Roll High School' among other things. They show lots of on screen chemistry and make a delightful team, something they obviously realized themselves as they went on to work together several times after this. However they were never better together than in this movie as the uptight but sweet Blands. The Blands have ambitions to open up their own restaurant but have limited means at their disposal. By accident they stumble across a way to get the cash they need using swingers whom they detest. All goes to plan until they encounter the shady locksmith Raoul (Robert Beltran, best known now to Trekkers worldwide). Things then start to get a little more complicated. The three actors seem to love working together and this gives the movie an added zest. The script in witty and unpredictable, and there are some funny bits from the supporting cast, especially Pee-wee Herman sidekick John Paragon as a pushy sex store clerk, and Ed Begley, Jr ('Meet The Applegates') as a horny hippie. This is a wonderful movie, a real comedy gem, that I highly recommend. Paul Bartel R.I.P.

Eating Raoul is so eager to please and never overstays its welcome. Shot for what seems to be $3, it's amazing that the film turns out as nice and polished as it is. Paul Bartel and Mary Woronov play the aptly named Blands. They dream to, one day, start their own eatery, but it seems as if it's just not in the cards for them. After a mix up, they end up accidentally killing a man and, thinking he's a nobody, they take his wallet. At that moment, a brilliant business plan is born and the Blands pose as sexual deviants to lure people to their homes, kill them (with a frying pan) and steal their money. Things get complicated when a young man named Raoul discovers their secret and wants in on their scheme.

The basic concept of Eating Raoul is so damn goofy that it's amazing it works as well as it does, but Bartel and Woronov smartly play everything super straight and it works.

If you consider yourself a dark comedy fan and haven't seen this movie, you need to change that right now.

One of the greatest comedies ever made (right up there with National Lampoon's Vacation, Caddyshack, Dumb and Dumber, and Clerks) that really makes a strong statement about swingers, s&m, rape, murder, and cannibalism without becoming tasteless. This is Bartel's greatest accomplishment. A major cult hit and deservingly so.

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Lengthy description to describe a movie that runs less than 90 minutes, but wow, can't say I've ever seen anything quite like it. I'm sure plenty of people would find this movie dull, as it moves at a snail's pace. It is early 80s B-movie schlock, which is exactly what I liked about it. What's there not to like about a couple with zero sex drive that decides, right after killing a few people, to make their money by advertising sexual fantasies, sexually enticing people, then whacking them with a frying pan before enthusiastically emptying their wallets.

I wanted to see this movie because I knew Paul Bartel was a cult flick God, having seen his master cheese flick Death Race 2000 and his rebellious teacher role in Rock N Roll High School. Shabby dialog throughout, awful (but wonderfully so) dubbing, don't watch this movie to add points on your IQ test. The pace is rather slow throughout, yet Eating Raoul is also goofy and surrealistic. The over the top sexual innuendos and rampant sexual scenes are countered by the bizarre calmness of Mary and Paul Bland (Mary Woronov and Paul Bartel, respectively) as they take care of victim after victim. Not really a laugh out loud movie (except for the botched robbery scene and the hot tub sequence, they were freakin funny) but it will make you chuckle.

One thing that was great about this movie is that even though it was obviously an 80s cult flick, the music was, for the most part, great. It gave a cartoonish feel to large portions of the movie and added atmosphere to the strangeness that permeated throughout. The hammy manner in which the murders take place also adds to the offbeat feel of this film as there is no emphasis on violence and blood. No gruesomeness needed, for if the frying pan does the job, why not use it?

I would recommend this flick to cult movie fans but it's a lot more off kilter than anything you've ever seen. I found much of the humor to be delectably inane, and even though the pace was slow, I had a good time watching this Paul Bartel vehicle. Roles by Buck Henry, Ed Begley Jr and Don Steele (you know, the DJ guy from Rock N Roll High School and Death Race 2000) add to the zaniness of a flick that rightly could offend many but could also be found endlessly amusing, as I did.

Meet the Blands, the aptly named middle-aged square couple. He's a wine expert, she's a nurse, and they need money to finance their dream restaurant. Trouble is, they're barely making ends meet. What's worse, the apartment complex they live in is infested with swingers, back when swingers were as commonplace as yuppies are now. Mary and Paul find the answer to their problems when one of the swingers tries to put the moves on Mary in their apartment. Paul whacks him with a frying pan, killing him, and they discover the fella's carrying a lot of cash. Bingo! Light over heads! What makes this goofy premise work is the absolutely hilarious, dead-on, deadpan performances of Paul Bartel and Mary Woronov as the Blands. They don't give what you'd call comedic performances, but what they say and what they do seems funny, as they are a duo of decorum surrounded by a storm of decadence. Their performances, combined with a witty and biting (pardon the pun) script, make this an absolute delight, a must for lovers of off-beat movies.