Filmmaker Alex Cox followed up his previous efforts "Repo Man" and "Sid & Nancy" with this deliberately stylized and off-the-wall ode to Spaghetti Westerns. Sy Richardson, Joe Strummer, and Dick Rude (the last having co-written this with Cox) play an inept trio of hitmen who bungle a job, take it on the lam, rob a bank for some quick cash, and make it to a tiny desert town. There they hope to hide until the heat from their botched assignment dies down, and until they have a prime moment to retrieve the money, which they've hidden outside the town.
Overall, "Straight to Hell" is lacking in the wit and spirit that marked "Repo Man", instead resorting to random bits of oddness, with a generous array of loud & flamboyant characters who often don't care WHO they shoot. This results in a true bloodbath of a finale, which will undoubtedly turn off some viewers. The movie is at the least not boring, and was of some interest for this viewer due to its extremely eclectic cast, which is full to the brim with stars of the music industry. There are also cameos for the likes of Dennis Hopper and Jim Jarmusch (both seen much too briefly). A young Courtney Love (22 at the time) is overly shrill as the protagonists' pregnant female tag-along; Xander Berkeley has a small role, and Fox Harris is a hoot as a REALLY cheesy singer.
Given an appropriate score & assortment of songs by The Pogues and Pray for Rain, "Straight to Hell" is mildly amusing as far as it goes. It really does attempt to get all the mileage it can out of its cast. Strummer (from The Clash) and Richardson are simply too cool for words.
Filmed in Almeria, Spain, where a great many of the Spaghetti Westerns of the 60s and 70s were also shot. The whole thing really does have the feel of an in-joke, except that it's not really that funny (for one thing, actor Biff Yeager plays a guy named Frank and actor Frank Murray plays a guy named Biff). At best, it produces modest chuckles, but not consistently enough.
Six out of 10.
Overall, "Straight to Hell" is lacking in the wit and spirit that marked "Repo Man", instead resorting to random bits of oddness, with a generous array of loud & flamboyant characters who often don't care WHO they shoot. This results in a true bloodbath of a finale, which will undoubtedly turn off some viewers. The movie is at the least not boring, and was of some interest for this viewer due to its extremely eclectic cast, which is full to the brim with stars of the music industry. There are also cameos for the likes of Dennis Hopper and Jim Jarmusch (both seen much too briefly). A young Courtney Love (22 at the time) is overly shrill as the protagonists' pregnant female tag-along; Xander Berkeley has a small role, and Fox Harris is a hoot as a REALLY cheesy singer.
Given an appropriate score & assortment of songs by The Pogues and Pray for Rain, "Straight to Hell" is mildly amusing as far as it goes. It really does attempt to get all the mileage it can out of its cast. Strummer (from The Clash) and Richardson are simply too cool for words.
Filmed in Almeria, Spain, where a great many of the Spaghetti Westerns of the 60s and 70s were also shot. The whole thing really does have the feel of an in-joke, except that it's not really that funny (for one thing, actor Biff Yeager plays a guy named Frank and actor Frank Murray plays a guy named Biff). At best, it produces modest chuckles, but not consistently enough.
Six out of 10.