Naked Trip

NAKED TRIP is an edgy excursion into the territories of crime/noir and European Trash Cinema with some visual quotes from Jean-Luc Godard's 1965 science fiction classic ALPHAVILLE. George Eastman is on the run from the UK mob, fleeing through various downscale locales in an economically blighted England that tourists never get to see, bumping into sex workers, gangsters and characters out of movie history. It's not where he's going that counts, or even if he gets there, it's the journey, the ride, the trip.

The seedy characters and locations are well observed by director Alex Bakshaev. It's unpredictable, a quality which I always rate highly. Clocking in at under an hour I wanted it to continue just as it ended. That's something that almost never happens when I view most contemporary films. There are a number of names and characters in this film which evoke the transgressive oeuvre of Italian exploitation kingpin Joe D'Amato. NAKED TRIP has an atmosphere, characters and plot which reminded me of one of my favorite D'Amato titles, PLEASURE SHOP ON 7TH AVENUE, which also dealt with horny lowlifes on the run from the mafia. An engaging, no-budget blend of Art-house and Grindhouse.

Refreshing and recommended!

Don't waste your time. For a film called Naked Trip: On the run from the mafia. There was no nudity and the mafia was only shown in a couple of scenes. Was really disappointed in the film. To me it didn't feel like I was watching a film noir. The acting was horrible. The score wasn't great, nothing stood out in this film for me. The shots took you out of the film at times.

The movie mostly takes place in the bedroom where the characters dry hump each other fully clothed or sitting up talking. Only a couple of scenes had them going somewhere to escape the mafia.

I would give a 0/10 but you can't give a 0.

The story Bakshaev gives us in "The Trip" is a simple character study that exploits heavy art-house composition with classic noir framing. The characters are somewhat static, but the main protagonist manages to be entertaining, and dynamic. All be it Bakshaev's Eastman, played by Jason Impey, is a self-absorbed, somewhat eccentric personality that seems almost flippant toward is situation as a failing film auteur. Still the cast give committed, decent portrayals.

The special effects, and the soundtrack offer a mixed bag of surrealism and experimental transitions, that bookend very classic cult driven scenes that rely mostly on character development and dialog to draw us into the story. The soundtrack really sticks out on this one, I think it is a signature style that Alex Bakshaev embraces. It was the musical choices and sound affectations that I noticed in his "The Devil Of Kreuzberg", which really stands out in that movie. "The Trip" has an equally interesting score that sets both the cult tone of the film, as well as the noir story.

Overall "The Trip" highlights the very creative talent that Alex Bakshaev possesses as a film maker. Cult cinema is an obvious passion of the director with a heavy influence in Dada-eque art-house style of story telling. There is some substance and direction missing in the characters developmentally that seems to prevent them from completely coming to life, and allowing for you to truly connect to them. That being said the lead character is very entertaining-mostly in the fact that he is so self-absorbed that the danger and lack of success never seems to completely bother him. The only thing he cares about is getting his film made. And even that passion and commitment seems to be chaotic. Still "The Trip" will not appeal to every cult film fan, but I enjoyed the creativity of Alex Bakshaev's style of story telling and the heavy experimental theatre that he incorporates.