The book was banned in Boston in 1962 due to obscenity (notably child murder and acts of pedophilia), making it among the last works to be banned in that city, but that decision was reversed in 1966 by the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court. It was also banned in Los Angeles and several European publishers were harassed.

“The boy looks into Mugwump eyes blank as obsidian mirrors, pools of black blood, glory holes in a toilet wall closing on the Last Erection.”
― William S. Burroughs, Naked Lunch

The film like the book follows Bill Lee (alter-ego of William Burroughs) an urban exterminator evading authorities as he flees from authorities on his travels as he deals with a drug addiction and a talking typewriter. Bill is introduced to different characters on his travels and the film becomes more surreal and subversive as it marries events from the book with real life events from Burroughs’ own life. A film best served by its director and its ensemble cast: Peter Weller, Judy Davis, Julian Sands, Ian Holm and Roy Scheider all delivering genuinely absurd and sleazoid characters.

Foul language, offensive behavior, violence, sadism and drug addiction (heroine, hashish, oxycodone) all displayed in their proper harsh lighting serving as instruments in a splatter-surrealistic and non-linear collage of vignettes and parallels between the real life author and William Lee the exterminator.

“Did I ever tell you about the man
who taught his asshole to talk?
His whole abdomen would move up and down,
you dig, farting out the words.
It was unlike anything I ever heard.
Bubbly, thick, stagnant sound.
A sound you could smell.
This man worked for the carnival,you dig?
And to start with it was
like a novelty ventriloquist act.
― William S. Burroughs, Naked Lunch

 

Let’s give Peter Weller his praise. He’s actually a much deeper actor than people give him credit for. For a better appreciation of this go and search for his interviews and commentary of any of film and you’ll understand a person that fleshes out characters and doesn’t just memorizes scripts. Here, Weller, gives a straight-faced portrayal of a detached man in a weird world while embodying the essence of Burroughs himself.

In his review for The Village Voice, J. Hoberman wrote, “Cronenberg has done a remarkable thing. He hasn’t just created a mainstream Burroughs on something approximating Burroughs’s terms, he’s made a portrait of an American writer”. Jonathan Rosenbaum in his review for the Chicago Reader wrote, “David Cronenberg’s highly transgressive and subjective film adaptation of Naked Lunch … may well be the most troubling and ravishing head movie since Eraserhead. It is also fundamentally a film about writing – even the film about writing”.

Naked Lunch gets an approval from me. So, sit back, enjoy and always keep your finger on that REWIND button.

SamHaiNe’s “Natural City” is still available for digital purchase at SamHaiNe.bandcamp.com

In the spring of 1989, a film that was supposed to make waves in the creature feature genre only made ripples. Critically lambasted, George P. Cosmatos’s Leviathan didn’t even make its budget back in theatrical revenues. It didn’t help that it was the year of multiple underwater sci-fi films. Audiences and critics looked forward to James Cameron’s The Abyss instead. However, despite its flaws, are there elements that might entice the modern viewer?

In the beginning, we find out that a crew of Tri-Oceanic Corp is at the end of a three-month underwater operation. These crew members are tired, and the majority are eager to return above shore. During what was to be a final job, a crew member salvages a safe from a downed Soviet submarine (funny now as the film is set in 2027, and the Soviet Union would collapse in 1991 in reality). A celebratory occasion turns into a nightmare. The crew learns too late that the submarine was scuttled deliberately for humanity’s sake.

The film features a strong selection of character actors, whose interaction with each other is one of the film’s strong points. Peter Weller (of Robocop fame) stars as Steven Beck, the geologist supervising the mining operation. Richard Crenna is the company physician with a troubled past. Ernie Hudson, Amanda Pays, Daniel Stern, Hector Elizondo, Lisa Eilbacher, and Michael Carmine round out the rest of the crew.

Special note goes out to Hudson and Stern. Hudson plays his character Justin Jones as sarcastic, antagonistic, but ultimately caring. However, what happens to him near the end though is so dumb that even Hudson voiced his concerns to the director. For most people used to Stern as his character in the Home Alone films, his role as Sixpack might be a bit of a shock. He plays one of the most one-note, scuzzy characters. It’s surprising that the crew would have tolerated his presence for that period without coming to blows. It’s fitting that his actions lead to the crew’s outcome. Meg Foster also shows up as the Tri-Oceanic CEO who may or may not have the crew’s best interests in mind.

Visually, the film is fine. Unlike The Abyss, the filmmakers utilized dry-for-wet shooting for most of the scenes. Unless you play really close attention, it’s difficult to tell the difference. Furthermore, few of the action scenes occur underwater, with most occurring within the mining facility. Thus, there’s more of a necessity for a believable sound stage, which the production provided.

Obviously, for this type of film, the focus is going to be on the creature effects. In honesty, there are both good and bad elements of the Stan Winston design. The mutations that affect the crew are still praiseworthy years later. Though critics derided the film as an imitation of previous films, the effects are still nightmare-worthy up to a point. That point is when the audience sees the final reveal of the creature. With that as the look, the director and cinematographer probably should’ve left it underwater and in the dark. What was freaky and out-of-this-world looks cheap by the end. This became a rushed production. However, the director and studio knew this, and there should’ve been a decision to not have the climax in daylight.

Praise goes to Jerry Goldsmith for the music. He begins by invoking the mystery of the ocean with a swelling orchestral score featuring whale calls. Of course, as the terror progresses, he utilizes more tension-based pieces. During the chases, I think there’s even a tinge of pulsating synth, though the horns and strings remain prominent. I even give props for the concluding piece, “A Lot Better.” It however sounds more appropriate for a classic western or the end credits of a triumphant sports film. The director and composer likely felt that they needed music to match the visuals of the survivors departing in victory.

Leviathan was and is never going to equal likes of Alien, The Thing, or The Abyss. Yes, it’s derivative and a bit mindless. Not all films however have to be classics. Some are above average flicks to put on for some thrills and showcasing of the talent, whether it’s acting or effects. If you’re not into creature features then I cannot recommend this movie as a must-see. However, if you like B-movies with mostly top-grade production, then you might want to give it a view. Moreover, it’s one of those movies that feels tangible unlike the CGI-reliant features that are dominant now. That buoys this underwater feature up a little.