Movie Details
| Title: | Hollywood 90028 | |
| Director: | Christina Hornisher | |
| Year: | 1973 | |
| Genre: | Exploitation | |
| Times Seen: | 1 | |
| Last Seen: | 11.11.26 |
Other Movies Seen By This Director (0)
| Date Viewed | Venue | Note |
| 11.11.26 | Blu-ray | This Screening is part of event: DVRfest 2026 Next up is this exploitation film about a photographer who strangles women meeting a nice girl on a porn shoot and developing a relationship in the cold hard unforgiving big city. A lot has changed in 20 years, man. This is the type of movie I would've raced to the Alamo to see on a Wednesday night circa 2006 or 7 because while it's certainly in the exploitation genre with the tits and murder, it's also got some other things going for it which makes it a bit of an unpolished gem. Back then it would've been a rare discovery, virtually unknown in most circles, and only available on bootleg VHS or perhaps someone ripped it and put it up on cinemageddon or karagarga. Now, it's available in a 2-disc set from a 4k restoration with a criterion-level essay in the booklet and an accompanying CD of the score. I honestly don't know if that's better or worse. Yes, it's available for all to recognize what makes this film worth talking about, but the thrill of the hunt is gone. No more snobby bragging rights to find a copy. Also no excuse to see it if you want to, or at least buy a copy and let it sit on the shelf for 10 months. So like many low budget films through the years, this movie has some amazing location photography, particularly of the old bunker hill victorian mansions (at their lowest state, looking condemned and perhaps days away from demolition) and the hollywood sign when it was all tagged up because you could just go up there and hang out. Another interesting aspect about this movie is that it's made by a woman who wrote and directed it, and according to imdb it's the only feature-length she was able to make. Maybe I'm projecting but the sex part of the sex and violence is photographed a bit more tastefully in my opinion than your average fare. The scenes where the main guy is photographing the nudie films in particular manage to be provocative but not vulgar. The special features include snippets from an X-rated cut of the film (not altogether uncommon from what I understand, where hardcore scenes may be inserted to extend the film's run in porno houses) and those are 1) not hardcore, but 2) artistically shot. I think I actually preferred the X-rated versions because they served the scenes better. And before you call me a pervert, we're not talking about seeing full penetration or anything. You don't really see anything more than in the main cut other than more provocative poses and maybe more skin, like peoples legs and torsos or whatever. I mean there are boobs for sure but... you know, what, let's move on. Many aspects of the film do betray a shoestring budget and cheap construction, like the lighting's not always functional and it's all post sound so often scenes take on more of a montage feel because the dialog plays over footage of people facing away from camera or, in some cases, like running away from the camera but they still sound close right in your ear. And the score does sink in after a bit but there are a couple passages, particularly the beginning titles, that rely on this dischordant piano that reeks of cheap 70s softcore or something. There are other tracks that aren't so bad though. At first I was wondering why in the hell they included a CD for this crap but by the end I got it. It's not like Goblin doing Susperia or Deep Red or anything but I bet fans of 70s scores would find value there. And... without spoiling anything... I have to say the ending hit. It's one thing these cheapo films can do so well is to throw a total shocker in there and cut the film like 30 seconds later. Which biker movie was it... Black Angels maybe? I remember seeing one biker movie at a Weird Wednesday where there's this big fight at the end and then I think someone dies or something explodes or something? and the end credits play over these reaction shots of all the characters at the fight looking shocked like "wtf just happened" then the movie ends. That's pretty sweet. ok... time's getting away from me via distractions like fixing something to eat and taking the trash out but I'm hopeful I can keep chugging and get some more movies in tonight. Let's see what's at the top of the pile. |
