The Ghastly Love of Johnny X

When I saw the trailer for this over a year ago I had to watch it. Unfortunately, living in rural America, it never came to any theaters near me. When it hit Vudu for purchase I snagged it almost immediately. Anyway, here goes.

If you love campy sci-fi humor you will love this movie. The musical aspect also give a nice touch and is well done. The choreography is also top notch.

If you appreciate odes to an era gone by where campy sci-fi flicks were plentiful then you cannot go wrong with this film. When comparing this to modern flicks in the same vein, it holds up well. While Repo The Genetic Opera remains my favorite indie musical, The Ghastly Love of Johnny X holds up well. I give it a solid 9/10 stars with zero reservations.

I think this was a very fun retro movie and a tribute and spoof of the 1950's sci-fi and juvenile delinquent movies. Creed Bratton was very funny as a zombie entertainer. It has a GREAT look to it in scope and the 2.35:1 aspect ratio. The music is good and I really enjoyed this. Some of the film score and songs stayed with me many days later. It also was very nice to see Kevin McCarthy and Paul Williams in this movie. The very last film shot on Kodak Plus X 35mm black and white film stock. A very entertaining film. Very campy. I think this film will continue into the future as a major cult film. I am so glad it was shot on real film stock and not on digital format equipment.

There are a lot of issues with this oddball movie, but the first thing that should be mentioned in any review of it is the wonderful performance of De Anna Joy Brooks, who pretty much single-handedly makes this movie kind of worth watching. In a film with a serious identity crisis, she is the one person involved who seems to understand how the movie should be played, a knowledge apparently not even possessed by the director.

It's hard to know exactly what this movie is aiming for. There are elements of 50s B-movie biker flicks, Ed Wood-style train wrecks, and Broadway musicals, but there's not a sense that the director knows how to mix these together. While it has cheesy sci-fi elements, it doesn't appear to want to be a send-up of bad movies, like the brilliant The Lost Skeleton of Cadavra. The musical numbers contain some pretty good songs (notably What's Up With Johnny) but are undercut by a lack of performers who actually know how to dance (only the guy with glasses looks like he's had any training). The biker elements are neither extreme enough to be parody nor effective enough to generate much drama. The movie also suffers severe pacing problems; scenes or individual shots just go on too long, and I'd trim a half hour from the hour and 45-minute movie.

Also, the "b" movie effect they seem to be going for is undercut by really nice choreography. Yes, it's strange to fault a low-budget movie for well-framed shots and beautiful lighting, but it just underscores the sense that there is no real vision for what this movie should be.

Or I should say there would be no vision if not for Brooks. Giving a funny, sexy performance, she offers a stream of snappy patter and knowing glances that makes every moment with her on screen work. Every time she is gone, the movie turns into a muddle.

There are a few other good performances in the movie, mostly from the older, more experienced actors (I love Paul Williams' bit as a kooky talk show host). But many of the bit actors have limited acting chops, and the guy playing Johnny lacks the bigger-than-life presence needed for the role.

I hope Brooks and the cinematographer have a chance to put their talents towards a worthier project.

I had first head about Johnny X a couple of years ago and had been wanting to see it, as I have been a fan of Will Keenan since TERROR FIRMER. I didn't know too much about the movie going in other than it was a sci-fi, and it was supposed to be the last movie ever, ever, shot on real black and white FILM. Not digital, but true film stock, lots of little pictures in a row, film. I had been meaning to look it up but had kind of forgotten about it until I actually came across it at my local library - which, I have to say, has an awesome taste in movie selections - and immediately grabbed it. Popping it in, we are treated with Kevin McCarthy (aka The Bad Guy from UHF...) sentencing Will Keenan to a horrible punishment for his crimes... Earth! *this is not a spoiler, this is the first minute of the film* I was also super excited to see that JX starred Reggie PHANTASM Banister and Creed THE OFFICE Bratton in juicy roles as well. Overall this is a really fun homage to 50's sci-fi that gets just about everything right, from the costumes to the cars to the sets to the songs. It updates a few things here and there (mostly the effects), but keeps that camp feel that makes watching old films so much fun. If you "got" and enjoyed THE LOST SKELETON OF CADAVRA, JX will be right up your alley. If you like watching MST3K, but sometimes more for the 50's movies themselves, you'll love this. Highly recommended.

A decade in-the-making, The Ghastly Love of Johnny X really comes together in the details. In order to make such a concept pop, this one needed as much research as guts and gumption to see it over the line, and filmmaker Paul Bunnell has obviously invested a significant amount of time and money into making sure his film rises to its many, many sources of inspiration. I can see John Waters in here; I can see alien invasion films; I can see the big monster movies of the atomic age; I can see West Wide Story; I can see James Dean's oeuvre; I can even see a bit of Frankenstein and Re-Animator. The fact that Bunnell has managed to rope all these influences together into one cohesive package is a feat that deserves 'high five' recognition. The songs by Ego Plum and lyricist Scott Martin aren't quite that of Bacharach or Leiber & Stoller, but they're tight, finger-snapping ditties that recall the show tunes of a bygone era and ornament the film perfectly without overwhelming it. Ultimately, The Ghastly Love of Johnny X is just too unique and beautiful not to recommend. You may like it, you may not. Either way, I guarantee it will be unlike anything you have seen before.