Club Life (1986)

Director:

Norman Thaddeus Vane

Writer:

Norman Thaddeus Vane (writer)

Release Date:

March 1986 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Drama | Thriller

Tagline:

It's Where Sex And Violence Do The Dancing

Plot:

A young man from a small town goes to Hollywood to make his fortune. He gets hired as a bouncer at a disco club...

Plot Keywords:

Bouncer | Drug Dealer | Disco | Gangster | 1980s

Cast

Tony Curtis	...	Hector
Dee Wallace	...	Tilly Francesca (as Dee Wallace-Stone)
Michael Parks	...	Tank
Yana Nirvana	...	The Butchettes
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Pat Ast	...	Butch
Jamie Barrett	...	Sissy
Kimberlee Carlson	...	The Butchettes
Kristine DeBell	...	Fern
Kate Finlayson	...	Brunette Fighter
Ron Gilbert	...	Mace
Ronnie Gilbert	...	Mace
Whip Hubley	...	Herb
Jay Arlen Jones	...	Black Punk
Ron Kuhlman	...	The Doctor
Elizabeth Lamers	...	Singer
Sal Landi	...	Sonny
Bleu McKenzie	...	Button Man
Robert Miano	...	Ferd
Lisa Montgomery	...	The Butchettes
Tom Parsekian	...	Cal
Barbara Powers	...	Blonde Fighter
Charles Prior	...	Waiter
Bruce Reed	...	Punk
Valerie Shaldene	...	Girl #2 at racetrack
Yvonne Smith	...	Girl #1 at racetrack
John Vidor	...	Timmy

Also Known As:

King of the City

Runtime:

93 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Australia:M | UK:18 | USA:R

Filming Locations:

Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

MPR

Movie Connections:

References The Karate Kid (1984)

Soundtrack:

Club Life

Dazzling neon 80's time capsule

When this film played on 'Showtime' after hours cinema, it was called 'King of the City'. Since then, it has been one of my favorite teen memories. 'Club Life' is a dazzling visual experience, filmed mostly in a decadent, and very 80's Hollywood nightclub, filled with druggies, pimps, lesbos, and lost souls desperate for a piece of the "Hollywood dream". The story is absolutely classic; Cal, a handsome professional dirt bike racer, decides to go to Hollywood, to "make it", on his good looks and charm. What he finds there is not quite what he expects. He lands a job as bouncer at a flashy nightclub called 'The City', after the owner, (Tony Curtis) sees him beating up a rowdy, dope smoking punk outside the club. After a short while, his girlfriend Sissy turns up in Tinseltown, looking for her man. Before she can find him, she has the misfortune of meeting a very sleazy pimp/pusher, who hooks her on pills, and has her working in a sleazy strip club. Classic! What makes this so great is it's romanticized portrait of Hollywood, glamour and sleaze walking hand in hand. filled with lovable and interesting characters, mostly broken people, who came to Hollywood for stardom, and ended up on the skids, or working on the very fringe of the entertainment business. There is Tillie, (Dee Wallace), the tipsy bleach blond, who dreamed of being a great singer, who ends up singing boozy torch songs at 'The City Club'. She is glamorous, she lies about her age, she drives a Cadillac convertible, and is the girlfriend of much older Hector, (Tony Curtis.) Hector is a good guy, loved by the people of the club, and becomes a father figure for cal. There is 'Tank', an over-the hill pretty boy who talks about his days of hanging out in front of Schwabs drug store in the 50's, hoping to get discovered. Tank likes his bourbon, and the occasional line of coke, but he is a kind and lovable type as well. Pat Ast turns in an unforgettable performance as the butch dyke owner of a sleazy 80's lesbian bar. The story here, after we get to know these interesting characters, is to see who will make it out of Hollywood, and who will meet a tragic fate. The film is beautiful in it's innocence, and portrays a world that only exists in the memory.It's an 80's version of "Valley of the Dolls", the boulevard of broken dreams' for real, and is the most stylish, neon-saturated fantasy since 1982's "Liquid Sky". Filled with dazzling imagery, such as a very hot nude lovemaking session on a glowing blue waterbed filled with live goldfish swimming across perfect, natural bodies. The pulsating 80's soundtrack stays in your head long after you see it, I can still remember the songs, word for word! The film is that memorable. For fans of 80's culture this is unmissable! Of course a DVD for this does not exist, but the old VHS tapes are there if you search them out. It is worth the effort it will take to see this forgotten gem of the 80's. A breathtaking look at a time gone by.