Search - Straight to Hell on DVD

Larry W. (Blackettle) from NAMPA, ID
Reviewed on 5/7/2010...

Oh this is bad in so many ways. It starts in Spain maybe. You have an actor trying to be Samel Jackson from Pulp Fiction. Then you have a little keystone cops stuff. And then GROSS Courtney Love come on the screen and each time you see her you feel like you just got a bad case of VD. She ozzes of filth. (shudder). Ok then the movie really really falls off track, it moves to an old movie lot that hasn't been repaired for 60 years. It appears camaras were set up and maybe 100 very low rent actors were given some drugs and filmed for a few days as they stumbled around the set. Then the whe mess was cropped and spliced together. Once a really hot girl was filmed getting her neck bitten. I thought, ah Dusk to Dawn but no she didn't turn into a vampire. Then they showed her getting ready to wash a motorbike in a skimpy outfit so I was hopeful maybe some T/A. Nope nothing. I finally gave up. I never did see Dennis Hooper as I just turn the whole pile of film off. Your preschool kids could make a more I interesting film. I'd be ashamed to have been involved with this mess.

2 of 2 member(s) found this review helpful.

Clever, hilarious, and surreal parody of Italian Westerns

hewhoshouldnotbenamed | Seattle, WA United States | 02/20/2002

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Alex Cox's "Straight To Hell" is such a strange and unique pop film that I'm not quite sure how to go about reviewing it. Perhaps if I can break down the elements. The film is based round the time of its release and deliberately has all the cliches of the typical 1960s Italian "Spaghetti" Western; the mood, humour, and style is like that of Jim Jarmusch (who plays "Mr. Dade" in the film), David Lynch, and the Coen Brothers; and the cast is a wonderfully entertaining group of New Wave/Punk Icons and edgy, idiosyncratic character actors; the plot: 3 Hitmen and a pregnant girlfriend oversleep and miss their scheduled "hit" and deside to rob a bank to make up for the loss of money, which leads them to hide out and bury the money; the setting: a virtual "Ghost Town" in Spain--I say virtual, but there are a few occupants: a Spanish tavern keeper, hardware/general store owners consisting of a sexy Latin lady and her war-crazed, half-a-man husband, a Priest and Coffin maker, a mobile butler who consitently serves coffee, a flamboyant singer (ala Liberace), a singer/songwriter who sells hot dogs, the gun-slinging, violent, and caffeine-addicted Mac Mahon Gang, and a few crazed others. Acknowledging the cast during the film is quite fun in itself, from Joe Strummer, Sy Richardson, Dick Rude, Elvis Costello, The Pogues (all of 'em!), Courtney Love, Jim Jarmusch, Dennis Hopper, Xander R. Berkeley, and Grace Jones to others who you'll probably see in a Jim Jarmusch film or in Alex Cox's Sid & Nancy. The soundtrack is a pseudo-Western and Latin mixture of Pogues, Pray For Rain, and Joe Strummer, which works excellently in the film, as well as outside it. Cult stars, guns, black humour, violence, coffee, and a surreal Italian Western setting is what's in store when you go "Straight To Hell". Hilarious!"

¿Ningunas drogas aquí, el derecho?

Matt Davies | Toronto, ON CANADA | 05/12/2001

(4 out of 5 stars)

"DAY ONE - THE INTRODefinitly one the most ill-received and underated movies of it's time. I first heard it was going to be realesed on DVD a couple months after the (awesome but lacking in the extra's) Repo Man Collector's Edition came out. I was excited, since all I had was the shoddy first edition VHS tape, which neither pan's or scans and just sits in the middle of the screen cutting off about 50% of every shot (not to mention the opening credits - for years I thought it was was called, RAIGHT TO HE)DAY TWO - THE MOVIEThis is a movie for people who like movies out of the ordinary. Hell, this movie is just flat out fun to watch. I mean whats not to like; Senseless Violence, Schickzo Storeowners, Inept Hitmen, Even More Inept Gang Members, Cheesy One-Liners, Clever Swearing, Amazing Photography, Beautiful Set-Designs, Badass Acting, and the WIENER KID!. Not to mention Blood, Money, Coffee, Guns, and Sexual Tension. Reviewers slammed it hard when it first came out, hopefully this time they'll look at the movie for what it is and realize it's comedic genius, it's ground-breaking design, and it's overall greatness. Oh yeah if you don't know the story it's basically this; three hitmen and an overly-annoying girl (played by pre-star, post-stripper, pre-plastic surgery-miracle, Courtney Love, in the only good thing she's ever done), who makes Nancy Spungeon look like Mother Teresa, blow a hit, rob a bank, and hide out in a small, desert town inhabited by a gang of coffee addicted outlaws named the McMahons, a killer caberet singer, a sadly misunderstood weiner kid, a bar keep who finally get's some business, a priest with more bullet belts than John Rambo, a crazy sadistic storeowner with a hot french wife, and the town butler who makes sure everyone has a fresh cup of coffee at all times, no matter the sercumstance.DAY THREE - THE DVDThe picture and sound on this disc are going to get a 10 out of 10 no matter what, since all my tape does is skip and hiss. But the picture on this is excellent, as well as the color and contrast, it's like watching it in a theatre. The sound is clear as can be and it is presented in widescreen format at 1:85:1 ratio. The difference between this and the video is night and day. There's only 3 extras one the disc but they are each interesting in their own right, I only wish they included some deleted scenes and onset (I think Anchor Bay is against this for some reason). First up, the Audio Commentary with Alex Cox and Dick Rude, not the most groundbreaking commentary but it is very funny and an interesting listen. They both joke on the movie, each other, and some of the cast. Also, you get to here some pretty cool stories about the filming and the people involved with the movie. Alex and Dick also teach an important life lesson, when in need of a comedic moment, just throwing a rock and hitting someone is a surefire way to get a laugh. Next is the very cool 20+ minute documentary called Back to Hell, in which they go and interview about 15 or so of the cast and crew and ask them some questions about the movie. Here, you get to here some hilarious stories (most of which involve the maming of Zander Schloss, who, by the way, finally hit puberty), there were parts in here that had me killing myself laughing. There's a couple of deleted scenes thrown in for good measure as well. Finally, there's a short video promo(for the studio who produced the movie, I presume) of the Pogues version of the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly theme made up of clips from the movie and home video footage of the making of it.My only complaint of the entire DVD is the cover.... uggghk. The thing looks like a grade 8 student who's project was to make a video cover using only Photoshop and a copy of Pulp Fiction. Personally they should have stuck with the original video cover of the Joe Strummer drawing with the town burning in the background. Which is sadly, nowhere to be found in the contents of the DVD, they do however include a tiny mediocre japanese poster featuring some of the cast members and the soundtrack (and original poster) artwork.FINAL DAY - THE LAST COMMENTSIf your a fan of Alex Cox or a fan of cult cinema in general, I highly suggest you pick this up. If you have the old VHS version, toss it out (photocopy the cover first then glue in on the DVD case) and get this instead."

Drug induced western spoof

Poor Napoleon | TX United States | 04/14/2001

(3 out of 5 stars)

"Making sense of this spaghetti western parody is about as easy as witnessing Shane Macgowan performing all his songs coherently and bearing a perfect set of teeth. Well, you can at least do the first part by watching Straight To Hell. In fact, Alex Cox recruits quite a number of well known celebrities to make came appearances in the film. The Pogues play a family of caffeine addicts, while Grace Jones and Dennis Hopper make notable cameo appearances. Also, Elvis Costello appears here and there as Hives the Butler. The film is full of amusing moments, but the storyline is almost nonexistent. That's okay, it's an Alex Cox film. What does make this movie worthwhile, despite it's weak story, is Alex Cox's form. His main characters are played out well, with Richardson, Strummer, and Rude giving good performances. Courtney Love's performance, however, leaves much to be desired and is a far cry from some of her later film roles. What one will find here, amongst all the incoherent ruble, is a film that must have at least been seen by Quentin Tarantino (and of course, only a video junkie of his stature would have seen this film).Not a great film, but certainly influential. Alex Cox has great form and the host of indie celebrities are amusing.-Tim"