Shredder Orpheus

My review was written in May 1990 after watching the movie on AIP video cassette.

The Greek legend that produced arthouse faves "Orpheus" and "Black Orpheus" crashes to Earth in the idiotic punk sci-fi feature "Shredder Orpheus". It's for fans of in-jokes only.

Helmer Robert McGinley also toplines as Orpheus, a band leader (of the Shredders) in a post-apocalyptic world where hipsters live in shanty towns known as the Grey Zone. McGinley's underdeveloped script posits an easy enemy, the Euthanasia Broadcasting Network, which involves Cronenberg-style philosophizing) out of his "Videodrome") as weak satire.

Punk tv programmers want Eurydice (Megan Murphy) for their new show. The underworld in this sci-fi universe is a place where people's memories are shredded faster than you can say Oliver North.

Orpheus becomes a tv star playing an electronic lyre instrument supposedly invented by Jimi Hendrix. Heroine disappears after Orpheus violates the "Don't look back" warning and gazes at her; rest of the film is him searching for her. Finale involving skateboarders is stupid.

Apparently McGinley didn't watch Jean Cocteau's 1950 classic very closely since he leaves out the poignant role of Heurtebise (played eloquently in "Orphee" by Francois Perier). He also fails to find any equivalent to Cocteau's inspired anachronisms, and is instead content to littering the dialog with advertising slogans and catchphrases.

Acting is amateurish and technical quality, mixing film and video footage, subpar.

Wow. They told me it was bad, but I had no idea.

We've started a tradition. We found one copy of this movie, and we just pass it from person to person. Whoever has the movie watches it, and then passes it to someone else deemed worthy of seeing this unique, creative, horrible movie. Hopefully it'll travel 'round the world a few times.

It's painful. Really painful. It's even beyond so bad it's funny. Well, okay, sometimes it's so bad it's funny. But most of the time it just gives you that feeling that there's something sucking at your brain from the inside.

Wow. Watch it, then pass it.

This movie is a masterwork of nonsense. It is the funniest movie I've seen in years. Of course, none of the humor is intentional, but that's why it's so great.

As for genuine positives, some of the shots looked kind of cool. One of the actors, the one who plays Orpheus' dad, isn't too bad. That's it though, everything else is pretty bad.

The low quality of this film is what turns an otherwise bad movie into a magnum opus. The "skate-rock adventure" to end all skate-rock adventures.

The story? Oh, no, no, no. There is no story. They skateboarded on camera and added the film around it. What little plot there is, it's really corny. Basically, it's a retelling of the myth of Orpheus and Eurydice, but instead of ancient Greece we get storage containers in Seattle. No spoilers on the particulars, because I think if you haven't seen it, you owe it to yourself.

The characters are laughable. There's a really offensive portrayal of a disabled veteran, three villains that look like Rocky Horror Picture Show was eaten by Son Of The Mask, a skater who has a weird whispery voice that isn't convincing, and an overacting producer character. Just to name a few.

The set design is nonexistent. It's bad skater gear and cheesy setpieces all the way, and I wouldn't change a thing.

The cinematography is the best aspect of the film, but it's still not very good. There are a few interesting shots, but there's no discernable personality to it. Also, the DVD copy is formatted so that the image is letterboxed on either side into a 4:3 aspect ratio. The film is closer to a 16:9 aspect ratio, so there are also bars on the top and bottom. The whole picture is slightly above the center, it looks bad.

This is why I'm officially asking whoever owns the rights to this film to please redistribute it on Digital and Blu-Ray. I know a remaster is probably asking too much, but the film must be seen. It needs the widespread love it deserves.

If I were rating it seriously as a film, I would give it a 2/10, but it's more than just a movie. It's an experience.

Shredder Orpheus. Shredder. Orpheus. Shhhhhhhhredder Orrrrrrrpheus. What is a shredder, you ask? One that shreds, I would reply. Shredding is the subtle art of using one's skateboard to tear a path of gnarly tricks and bodacious bust-a-moves wherever one would go, a parking garage for example. Orpheus, well, he's the mythical figure that went down to hell to retrieve his dead girlfriend, Eurydice, and failed to avoid looking back at her while leading her out, thereby losing her once again to Hades. What do you get when you combine these two seemingly unrelated topics?

The most flawless cinematic masterpiece ever created by the hands of man.

Robert McGinley's ingenious social commentary on the effect of television on the emerging generation X of the world through the medium of The Euthanasia Broadcast Network is one of the many things that makes this film worth lobbying to be released on DvD. I would be willing to shell out any amount of cash just to hear McGinley's commentary on what it was like to film such scenes as "Thrashing the Euthanasia Garage" and "Today's used cars are better than ever", not to mention the prolific, heart-wrenching introductory war-torn speech by the Janus-influenced character of Axel.

The music to this movie is amazing. The sound that Orpheus produces from his futuristic, Hendrix created magical axe has such an effect on the people around him that the very reality around them is distorted, which you can see by the special effects that far surpass any that ILM or any computer could whip up nowadays. Rash's inspirational drumming shows that McGinley really has his pulse on the youth of today, or of the future for that matter. One can only imagine what sort of gruelling preparation that actress had to go through to learn the complicated sixteenth-note triplets and paradiddles that grace our ears from the rusty metal orchestra.

The film ultimately questions about what it is to be human and experience real life and true emotions. From the tear-jerking meeting of Orpheus with his dead parents (who sadly did not get to see their son's beautiful wedding ceremony in the Grey Zone) to the jaw-dropping, majestic finale of Orpheus' orgasmic confrontation with the chainsaw-wielding Furies, this film is a must-see, if not a must-own as well.

This movie is one of my favorite cheesy movies. I stumbled upon this movie in a video store started in a trailer in the small town I live. (The store only lasted about 6 months max.) I've never been able to find a place to rent it again. I'll never forget the beginning when the "rock star/skater" sings a rock version of "Nobody likes me, everybody hates me, I think I'll eat some worms." It's all very simple but fun. Don't completely take my word for its entertainment, I haven't seen it in nearly ten years (I was 13 at the time) although my tastes have generally stayed the same.