Gas-s-s-s - Or: It Became Necessary to Destroy the World In Order to Save It (1970)
This sloppy, chaotic, satirical mess is now only famous for ending the long time association between prolific exploitation icon Roger Corman and American International Pictures, the prime purveyor of cinema shlock since the 1950's through the 1970's.
Together, Corman and AIP ground out cheapo junk as fast as they could shoot it and release it....but their output also included some genuine quality.....groundbreakers like "The Wild Angels", "The Trip", and Corman's lushly produced Edgar Allen Poe films with Vincent Price.
Of the two moguls running AIP, Samuel Z. Arkoff reveled in cinematic drek, but his partner James H. Nicholson began to fancy himself as a would be David O. Selznick, hoping to slap his name on classier projects and somehow meddle and improve the usual fast-buck AIP movies.
According to Corman, Nicholson took to tampering and re-editing 'Gas-s-s-s', which Corman had taken actual artistic pride in (an unusual attitude for the most practical and savvy of cash conscious filmmakers....) Thus ended AIP's marriage to Corman who went on to form his own successful film company. For AIP, its Golden Age was fast coming to a close, as big studios started making far better popcorn munching movies than AIP could ever hope to achieve....(such as "Star Wars" and "Jaws".....)
'Gas-s-s-s, was written by George Armitage, who'd later go on to direct some darkly funny movies of his own ("Miami Blues", "Grosse Pointe Blank") A post apocalyptic, dystopian satire, the film imagines the aftermath of a bio-weapons accident that has killed off everyone over the age of 25.
Hey, Gen Xers, Milennials, Gen Zs, Gen Alphas! Want to see what the world would look like in 1970 with nobody left alive but Baby Boomers? Guess what? It's every bit as f***ed as you knew it would be.......
And this might very well be what Corman and Armitage had in mind.....a cautionary tale for young boomers to 'be careful what you wish for' with more than few subtle hints that they'd be no better at running the world than their elders.
What unfolds on screen - a freeform, making-it-up-as-they-went along carnival of quirky, self-absorbed idiots wandering from place to place (mostly the American Southwest). Along the way, nuggets of actual sharp wit are sprinkled into the swirling mix of random pandemonium, but you'd need tweezers and a microscope to isolate them.
And who needs to work that hard? But every so often the film does land a few of its jibes, including the idea of fascist dictatorships set up by golf club members and high school football players. Offscreen, God drops a few gag lines, sounding like a Catskill Resort comedian and on screen Edgar Allen Poe and his beloved Lenore wander through the film on a motorcycle. (Please don't ask us to explain any of that.....the film doesn't either.....)
You can extract a bit of fun spotting the future stars in the cast (Cindy Williams, Talia Shire, Bud Cort, Ben Vereen) but that doesn't make the interminable 78 minute running time go any faster. Shapeless and desperate to make itself hip, the film collapses into nothing right before your eyes.
1 star (*) and that star is only because Roger Corman, George Armitage and their cast had nowhere to go but up......and many of them did.
No comments:
Post a Comment