Roadkill (1989)
Picture: C+
Sound: C+ Extras: A Film: B
I really enjoyed this movie, and I’m not entirely sure
why. Bruce McDonald’s first feature length movie can be amateurish at
times, pretty much on the level of a college film. It’s largely
incoherent and thrown together haphazardly - but it is enjoyable. Those
making it had a lot of fun, and it really shows through.
Apparently, much of the same cast and crew came back
together in 1991 to make his next movie, Highway 61, so you can tell
things were close-knit. There are some interesting cameos - including
Joey Ramone and Nash the Slash (he also composed the soundtrack). A
sticker on the box proudly touts Joey‘s appearance, and although his time
onscreen is memorable and funny, I’d say that he clocks in for less than a
minute of camera time.
The soundtrack includes a lot of cool stuff - the most
well known bands on here are The Ramones and Cowboy Junkies, but it also
introduced me to some new artists as well. I’ve looked up as much as I
could find on Nash the Slash, which wasn’t very hard, as it seems he’s well
known in Canada. The majority of his work doesn’t match what you see him
performing on stage in here - though that song can be found on his latest
studio album, Thrash. Some people who are turned onto his music
through this film may be disappointed if they dig into his catalogue looking
for more of the same. However, I was very pleasantly surprised to find
that he’s quite diverse and also creates scores for some silent films (sadly, I
recently missed an opportunity to see him perform his score for Nosferatu live
in Toronto).
Nash’s score here is effective, but there are many
rock songs throughout by other bands. I think it was Leslie Spit Tree-O
that makes a live appearance in here as well, but I’m not familiar with them
either. If nothing else, this movie is a good exercise in broadening your
musical horizons. The sound here is clean, but is only Dolby Digital 2.0
stereo. I can’t blame them for not upgrading it to surround sound, as
this was a low budget movie to start with, and primary focus is on the music -
which stereo handles just fine.
The monochrome picture here isn’t the greatest, but I
don’t think it’s the fault of transfer - like I said, it was low budget, so the
camerawork isn’t always that great and choice of film stock was likely
limited. There is some smart photography used in some scenes, as pointed
out in the commentary - cheap and easy methods of getting professional looking
results. Most noted was the appearance of a crane shot, actually
accomplished by just standing on the roof of a building and panning the camera.
The extras here are pretty nice for a movie not really
noted by the mainstream - there’s at least one trailer, along with two short
films also by Bruce McDonald. It would’ve been nice to have some of the
songs available in their entirety separate from the movie - but that’s not
usually standard practice anyway. There’s a full-length commentary as
well - it’s actually pretty fun to listen to for a while, but as the movie
progresses, they run out of things to say in some spots. Still worth
listening to even though the director wasn’t present for the session.
I do recommend this DVD, it’s a great presentation and I
can see watching it again sometime. Though I haven’t checked the retail
price on it, I’m sure it can’t be anymore than 20 dollars - which may be a bit
much for a movie you’re not entirely familiar with, but I think it’d be worth
the risk in this case. After watching this, I wish I’d have picked up a
copy of Hard Core Logo when I had the chance. I can’t say I’d enjoy
everything by this director, but it would’ve been nice to check out,
even just out of curiosity.
- David Milchick
