The Doom Generation

Some films divide audiences immediately. 'Eraserhead', 'Beyond The Valley Of The Dolls', 'Night Of The Living Dead'. 'The Doom Generation' is one of those movies! I don't know of anyone who has seen it that has a luke warm response. You either love it or hate it, and I love it!

Gregg Araki makes unique movies. Self conscious, self parodying, INTELLIGENT trash. His world is not really our world. It's an exaggerated, surreal version of "reality". Sexy, violent, pop culture bombarded, dream-like, impossible to forget or ignore. 'The Doom Generation' is clever, ironic, disturbing fun.

Personally, I think his next movie 'Nowhere' is his masterpiece, but this is almost as good. Plus we get lots of Rose McGowan flesh on display - not a bad thing! Her performance as Amy Blue ALMOST makes her the 1990s version of Tura Satana! She will never knock off Tura's crown as Queen of Sleaze, but she seems to be having a hell of a lot of fun trying, and I have a hell of a lot of fun watching her!

This was one of the strangest movie I've ever seen, but at the same time, one of the most meaningful. This was a good movie. There was a sadistic violence, a bunch of sex scenes, vulgarity, more graphic violence, more sex, a three way, and an incredibly sad, tragic ending.

If you are able to look past all this (many people cannot, mind you), than you will see a good movie about three teenage tortured souls cruising along the urban pits of Los Angeles, who run into a crazy clerk with a shotgun, a crazy drive thru attendant with a shotgun, a nasty blonde with a sword, and some really scary Neo Nazis, who all think Amy Blue is someone else.

Rose McGowen is Amy Blue, the sexy, angry, speed taking, tough as nails lead character, James Duval is Amy's naive, stoner boyfriend Jordan White, and Johnathon Schaech was Xavier Red, the crazy, dangerous, kinky, and violent source of trouble. If you have a strong stomach, and don't mind harshly sad endings, check it out, but be aware, because you might get grossed out and leave (I almost did). 9/10

Gregg Araki's Doom Generation is a satirical look at a generation that has been played out in cookie cutter versions of Gen X films. Don't get me wrong, Doom Generation is a little more "visual" than let's say, "Reality Bites," but then so is "Nowhere." The graphic nature of the violence and language play into Araki's satire and even the subliminal messages throughout the film play into the hands of those who look upon the "Gen-X" films as hip because we all go to a coffee house. Capitalism is evident in these films because of all the product placement, but we are not supposed to give in to this commercialism. Giving into this wasteland of over-marketed products is what Gen-X'ers say that they will not do while wearing their $60 Tommy pants and sipping on a $6.00 latte. Araki does what any brilliant director would do in this situation: make THE DOOM GENERATION.

The Doom Generation is a stunning, gripping, gut-wrenching movie. It's easy to see why reactions are so strongly polarized, with almost everybody either loving it or hating it. It's scary to imagine what kind of mind would react with genuine indifference.

I admit I didn't read all the reviews already posted for it, but in the ones I did read I was surprised to find so few that mentioned how funny and how charming this movie is. Like it or not, it's primarily a romantic comedy, and if you miss that you've missed what holds it all together. It's extremely intelligent, very dark, very sweet, profoundly erotic, and shockingly bloody. But most of all it's very, very funny. If I'd missed the humor, I'd still like the freewheeling sexiness, but I'd be appalled by the violence. But I didn't miss the humor, so I loved it all.

Everything about it is brilliant: the writing, the direction, even the gory special effects, and every single member of the large cast is perfect, especially the three leads. For a "heterosexual" movie, as Araki labeled it (with some irony, I have to think), with plenty of sex between the girl and both guys, the most powerfully erotic scenes are between the two men alone. There's no sex acted out between them at all, not even a kiss, but the heat is intense and stunning, much more powerful than the explicit sex between either of them and the girl. It's the best proof I've ever seen that eroticism and sex are completely different, and in a movie eroticism is much more entertaining. The sex acts in this movie may be all hetero, but the real heat is as gay as it gets. That's quite a coup.

I for one am glad it's not in widescreen on the DVD. If a movie that's filmed widescreen is shown at 4:3, you do lose information. But a lot of independent movies from that period were filmed at 4:3, so that a "widescreen" version just crops off the top and bottom of the picture, and you actually get less information. (The widescreen version of Gus Van Sant's brilliant Elephant is like that, but fortunately that DVD includes both versions.)

One of my personal favorite films is this tale of a road adventure between a teenage couple and a guy they pick up, leading to lots of sex, gory violence and bizarre events. This one is quite a dark movie, with lots of death and tragedy, but at the same time a brilliant look at the whacked-out characters involved in these harrowing situations. Director Gregg Araki seems to have a knack for these types of movies. His next film was the even better NOWHERE. Definitely Recommended.