Vulgar (2000)

A man who performs as a children's birthday party clown tries to piece his life back together after being gang-raped.

Director:

Bryan Johnson

Writer:

Bryan Johnson

Stars:

Brian O'Halloran, Bryan Johnson, Jerry Lewkowitz

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Brian O'Halloran	...	Will Carlson / Flappy / Vulgar (as Brian Christopher O'Halloran)
Bryan Johnson	...	Syd Gilbert
Jerry Lewkowitz	...	Ed Fanelli
Ethan Suplee	...	Frankie Fanelli
Matthew Maher	...	Gino Fanelli (as Matt Maher)
Don Gentile	...	Sleepy Bum
Thomas W. Leidner	...	Large Bum (as Thom Leidner)
Michael Tierney	...	Skinny Bum
David Gilbert	...	Delinquent #1
Erik Johnson	...	Delinquent #2
Scott Schiaffo	...	Travis Lee
Darin Johnson	...	Boy #1
Brian Hartsgrove	...	Boy #2
Aaron Hakeem	...	Cop #1
Jamie Schutz	...	Cop #2

Storyline

A loser with a crummy apartment, an odious mother, and a job that isn't taking him anywhere (kid's clown), gets a new idea. He decides that he's going to be a clown for bachelor parties. He will dress up like a woman clown and play a joke on the groom. After that the real stripper will come out and everyone will have a good laugh. He goes to his first job (changing his clown name from Flappy to Vulgar). When he opens the door he is knocked cold. What follows is a story of violation, fame, blackmail, and revenge.

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Plot Keywords:

clown | blackmail | bum | homosexual | cult film | 

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Taglines:

Everybody loves a clown... some more than others.

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Genres:

Crime | Drama | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for disturbing sexual violence, some shootings and strong language

Details

Official Sites:

Official site

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

26 April 2002 (USA)

Filming Locations:

Red Bank, New Jersey, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$120,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

$9,377 (USA) (26 April 2002)

Gross:

$14,904 (USA) (3 May 2002)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Chango Productions, Shongo Filmworks Ltd., View Askew Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

87 min 85 min (edited)

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Color:

Color

Did You Know?

Trivia

Only View Askew movie where 'Brian O'Halloran''s character does not have the last name Hicks.

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Goofs

Near the end, when Ed Fanelli dies of heart failure, we can see him moving and breathing even as Will/Flappy kicks him.

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Quotes

Ed Fanelli: All right, ass on the bed now.
[in William's face]
Ed Fanelli: If I gotta tell you again, the wind is gonna be whistlin' Dixie through a hole in your face, you fuck. Me and you are goin' to bed together, that's a fact. I'm gonna make hate to you.

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Connections

References Orca (1977)

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Soundtracks

"Flappy Song"
Written and Performed by Jon Kleiman
Used by permission of S.R.C.S. Music (ASCAP)

User Reviews

Interesting in a Very Disgusting Way

6 out of 10

Finally a movie that actually lives up to it's title. This is a film that cuts no corners and really doesn't particularly care if the viewer ends up liking it or not. In many ways the filmmakers seem to take a certain glee in just how disgusting and 'vulgar' they can make it. There is a different type of motivation here. It's a sort of assault on the viewers senses. It's a test at seeing just how much one person can take. It's crude and ugly all the way through. It's just one grotesque image or comment toppled onto another. Victory to these filmmakers seems to constitute how many viewers it can repulse. This seems especially evident on the DVD version where in the bonus section they proudly display all the rejection letters they have received from all the film festival organizations.

The story involves a hard on his luck guy who works as a clown for children's parties. He decides he needs some extra money so he decides to attend a adult party and pose as a male clown stripper, but it ends up all being a set up. Once he gets there he becomes accosted and eventually raped by three grown men.

The rape scene is actually not as disturbing as you might think. For one thing it is handled very well technically. It has some interesting camera angles and viewpoints. It also comes after so much other ugliness that by the time you get to this part it all seems very status quo. In fact the filmmakers become so obsessive in painting such a over the top tasteless and nihilistic portrait that eventually it all becomes darkly amusing. A good example of this is the protagonists mother who sits in a senior home and spews all every imaginable insult and put down that she can to her son. She seems so mean to her son, who otherwise seems like a nice guy, that at first you cringe at what she says. Eventually though she spews out so many that you just can't help but start to laugh.

There may actually be a message here somewhere. It may be saying that we live in a very mean and ugly world with no chance at defeating it or escaping it. Good guys and innocent people get raped by it all the time (Note how our protagonist is nothing more than an innocent children's clown.) You almost have to get ugly yourself in a way in order to deal with it because you can never really get beyond it. This is evident by the way our protagonist becomes rich and famous and yet his attackers just track him down and try to extort money from him by saying they have a videotape of the attack which they could send out and humiliate him with.

Overall this is a very cheap looking and grimy picture. It's excessively vile nature will be a test to just about any viewer. Yet it is well paced with a nicely compact structure. The dialogue is good and the three attackers are perfect enhancements to the mountain men in DELIVERANCE. If anything it has it's own vision. This is a viable candidate for future cult status.