Straight to Hell

Or: How to get the movie company to pay you and a bunch of your buds to go and have a huge party in Spain.

My ex- and i watched this, and, as soon as we got over the idea that it ought to make even as much sense as "Repo Man", we found ourselves enjoying it greatly.

It helps to be up on your spaghetti Westerns (and not just Leone's masterpieces), including things like "The Stranger Returns", "Any Gun Can Play", the "Trinity" films, "God Forgives, I Don't", "Django Shoots Fast" and so on...

It also helps if you're a New Wave/punk fan.

Even though I am a huge Alex Cox fan, I still had a large problem with even finding this gem. It is definitely one of the most crazy, funny, and unpredictable films ever made. I kept thinking that if David Lynch had directed THE WILD BUNCH you would have STRAIGHT TO HELL. It is chock full of a rogues gallery of unique and unforgettable characters. Basically a group of renegade criminals flee to a little dump town in the middle of nowhere to hide out for a while. The result is chaos and more chaos as they try to escape the hell they've found. Don't expect any traditional Hollywood storyline or plot here. Just sit back and enjoy the ride. And you might just realize that Quentin Tarantino wasn't that revolutionary after all.

P.S. > Norwood is the man!

I'd LOVE to be able to say that 'Straight To Hell' is one of the lost classics of the 80s but frankly, it's almost as bad as the mainstream critics make out. I say ALMOST, because it isn't an entire waste of time. Sy Richardson is as cool as ever, and the eclectic supporting cast (Cox semi-regulars like Sandoval, Berkeley, and Yeager, various musos and the king of weird movies, Dennis Hopper) make this worth watching for the "six degrees of separation" game alone.

Now look, I DO like Leone, and I like punk rock and I love Peckinpah, and I can sorta see what the other comments are saying about it almost prefiguring Tarantino, but there's one BIG problem - the lack of a decent script. For every good moment there four dull ones, and some funny lines or interesting characters wouldn't have gone astray.

So basically, if you watch this expecting the worst you'll enjoy it more than if you expect it to be as great as 'Repo Man'. I also would like to point out that Cox's next movie 'Walker' is a 100% improvement on this one, and almost IS a lost classic of the 80s!

Picked up the DVD of this for £4.49 and it's worth every penny. Not only is this film a better spoof of westerns than Silverado but it contains enough weird and wonderful characters to give Lynch a run for his money.

Firstly you have got the superb Sy Richardson as Norwood(Tarantinos inspiration for Samuel L's Pulp Fiction character?), Joe Strummer as Simms(RIP), and the 'runt' Dick Rude completing the main trio.

Also popping their heads round Alex Cox's casting room door are: Courtney Love(pregnant Velma), Fox Harris, Kathy Burke, Edward Tudor Pole, Dennis Hopper (IG Farben), Grace Jones, Jim Jarmusch, Miguel Sandoval(Eastwood impression), Xander Berkley(priest), Elvis Costello(butler) and the Pogues(Mcmahon coffee gang)...Superb!!

There is also the great setting of Almeira, the funny costumes, Pray For Rain music and the priceless dialogue(regional dilects etc). So stop criticising and just enjoy yourself in Cox country!!

Imagine a parody of a French art film version of a spaghetti western built entirely out of oddly distorted cliches. Expect it to be every bit as incomprehensible as the stereotypical art film. Don't expect it to have a plot or anything close to a normal gag. If this still sounds interesting then you may enjoy it as much as I did, but I warn you that I'm the only person I know who doesn't think this movie is awful.

FYI - if you're wondering about the scenes where characters are described as being "Shikseh", the DVD commentary shows that this is how Cox and the actors thought the word "schizo" should be pronounced. I don't know, maybe it's a British thing, but I found it very confusing when I first watched the film.