Subway Riders

Series of bizarre murders occur in the New York subway. On the edge detective (super cool Robbie Coltrane) trying to solve the crimes, and his drug addicted wife. Saxophonist getting on the nerves of his call girl neighbor. Lonely woman attracted to the killer.

Murder mystery, poetic narrations about loneliness and yearning. Tilted camera angels, playing with colors and lighting, seemingly unnecessary shots of the city and fast editing, occasionally out of place soundtrack, cheesiness of B-movie slashers - nothing makes sense, but it all fits together perfectly.

'Subway Riders' is by no means classical narrative murder mystery. The story is not important. It is just an excuse to create the mood, and atmosphere. It is a wonderful experiment with style. Style over substance, and yet there is something deeper in that film.

'Subway Riders' is not an easy film to watch. You have to be in some special mood, and without any expectations because it's not your regular thriller. There is no way to analyze this film (at least I can't). If you are into experimental cinema then 'Subway Riders' is something to look up. It is a wonderful treat of unconventional film.

My review was written in May 1981 after a Greenwich Village screening: "Subway Riders" is an atmospheric feature, which in its stylistic fashion accurately captures the feeling of big-city anomie today with a nod to the cine-noir approach of the 1940s. Filmmaker Amos Poe demonstrates a flair for sustained mood and expressive dialog, but at nearly two hours pic is overlong.

Melodramatic tale focuses on a street-corner alto sax player, who takes to shooting down his listeners at night. Fragmented subplots deal with the tough and cynical cop tracking him down, the cop's' strange drug-addicted, a nasty prostitute neighbor of the sax man and her girlfriend, and a mysterious blonde (with young daughter) who weaves in and out of the other characters' stories.

Picture sustains a mood of despair, but is laced with black humor. Lengthy monologs hold one's attention at first due to flavorful writing, but ultimately become wearying in later reels. The sax player is played by both John Lurie and director Poe in different scenes, a ploy that fails in the contrast between Lurie's credibility with his ax and Poe's no-fingering mime.

Supporting cast is effective, with an arresting, uninhibited turn as the junkie wife by Susan Tyrrell. Both she and director Poe deserve credit that name thesp blends comfortably into an "underground" ensemble.

Johanna Heer's neon-lit interiors are quite striking, but film's technical credits generally reflect its extremely low budget. Commercial chances seem limited to midnight and campus dates.

This experimental neo-noir thriller is more interested in style and atmosphere than in its narrative, but it does fascinatingly capture the mood and feeling of urban life.

This needs to be released on DVD. Very much worth your time as an early Robbie Coltrane vehicle. A Humorously befitting forerunner prior to his enrollment in the excellent BBC "Cracker" series. Also featured is Lance Loud the ex-front man of New York's, Max's Kansas City mainstay "The Mumps" in his first film. The Mumps were an important precursor in the New York punk rock scene. I haven't seen this film since the mid eighties. It did embark on some areas of slasher sleaze and cheese which were no different than Abel Ferrara or Herschell Gordon Lewis' era of excellent exploitations in independent film. I would like to see this again someday!

Night streets. Saxophone player is letting the sounds from his horn fill the empty streets, and there's a killer on the loose. Hard boiled cop on the edge trying to solve the horrendous crimes, while his marriage falls apart. Neighbors who are annoyed by the sax players midnight's improvisations.

'Subway Riders' is crime thriller directed by one of the No Wave Cinema pioneers Amos Poe. Interesting is that No Wave Cinema emphasized the mood more, than style and storytelling, but 'Subway Riders' is all about style. And the story itself is quite interesting, although incoherently told. Darkly lit (or even without any lighting at all) scenes that are mostly under- or overacted, tilted camera angels, unnecessary jump cuts, seemingly pointless scenes between minor side characters mixed with long scenes of someone driving a car, or drinking a coffee. But all this mess is put together so well, that it turns 'Subway Riders' into entertaining piece of art that mixes loneliness, sadness and madness with sax sounds, and gory crimes.

If you have to watch a moody experimental film on rainy night, then let it be 'Subway Riders'. But don't expect your regular '70's/'80s slasher thriller. This one stands much higher.