Street Trash (1987)

A liquor store owner sells alcoholic beverages to homeless people, unaware of what the bottles actually contain: toxic brew.

Director:

James M. Muro (as Jim Muro)

Writer:

Roy Frumkes

Stars:

Mike Lackey, Bill Chepil, Vic Noto

1 win.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Mike Lackey	...	Fred
Bill Chepil	...	Bill The Cop
Vic Noto	...	Bronson
Mark Sferrazza	...	Kevin
Jane Arakawa	...	Wendy
Nicole Potter	...	Winette
Pat Ryan	...	Frank Schnizer (as R.L. Ryan)
Clarenze Jarmon	...	Burt
Bernard Perlman	...	Wizzy
Miriam Zucker	...	Drunken Wench
M. D'Jango Krunch	...	Ed
James Lorinz	...	Doorman
Morty Storm	...	Black Suit
Sam Blasco	...	Jimmy The Cop
Bruce Torbet	...	Paulie

Storyline

When a liquor store owner finds a case of "Viper" in his cellar, he decides to sell it to the local hobos at one dollar a bottle, unaware of its true properties. The drinks causes its consumers to melt, very messily. Two homeless lads find themselves up against the effects of the toxic brew, as well as going head to head with "Bronson" a Vietnam vet with sociopathic tendencies, and the owner of the junkyard they live in.

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Plot Keywords:

liquor | junkyard | melting | homelessness | foot chase | 

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Taglines:

Just when you thought you had seen it all.

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Genres:

Comedy | Horror

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Certificate:

Unrated

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

9 May 1987 (Japan)

Also Known As:

Corps à vidanges

Filming Locations:

Brooklyn, New York City, New York, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$500,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Street Trash Joint Venture

Technical Specs

Runtime:

91 min 90 min (heavily cut) 101 min (unrated)

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Bill Chepil, who plays the cop, was a real NYPD officer before making this movie.

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Quotes

Wendy: [her boss is sexually assaulting her in a chair] Mr Snizer, get off of me!
Frank Schnizer: Aww come on, give me a chance. Jesus Christ. What am I, poison?
Wendy: No, you're dead weight! Now get off of me before my tits come out of my back!

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Crazy Credits

"Thanks, Anita, for taking me to see I Drink Your Blood when I was six."

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Alternate Versions

The 1987 UK video version was cut by 6 secs and removed shots of a man's severed penis. These cuts were fully waived for the 2000 DVD release.

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Connections

Referenced in Making Slime (1998)

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Soundtracks

We Do Things My Way
Written by Tony Camillo
Performed by Tony Darrow
Publishing Etude BMI

User Reviews

Sleazy and disgusting and just plain fun!

Liquor store owner Ed (M. D'Jango Krunch) is nosing around in his basement when he finds some VERY old booze labelled "Tenafly Viper". He figures, what the hell, he'll sell it to his customers for $1 a bottle. But this booze is deadly stuff: when people drink it, they explode into goop in all colours of the rainbow. While the body count rises, the story focuses on two street denizens who are brothers: Fred (Mike Lackey) and Kevin (Mark Sferrazza) who take up residence in a spacious auto junkyard along with various other hobos.

"Street Trash" marks, to date, the only theatrical directing credit for James M. Muro, who went on to Hollywood and became one of the most in-demand Steadicam operators in the business. Basing this movie on a short subject he'd made, he clearly has some real fun with the material. The Manhattan-based production makes some excellent use of locations, and has some very striking characters. Among them is the almighty Bronson (Vic Noto), a psychotic Vietnam veteran with a bunch of flunkies. Sexy Jane Arakawa, a gal with a great pair of legs, is the secretary who takes sympathy on Fred & Kevin and their cronies. Pat Ryan ("The Toxic Avenger") is her horny, scuzzy boss. And Bill Chepil is the surly, hard driving detective working these streets.

The makeup effects are wonderfully gross and effective. There are scenes here so memorable that they remain favourites for fans: Burts' impromptu shopping trip, and the entire "penis keepaway" sequence. One brilliant gag occurs early on when Bronson manhandles a nerdy motorist. The two best characters are thuggish restaurant owner Nick Duran (Tony Darrow) and his smart mouthed doorman (James Lorinz of "Frankenhooker"). Muro and company know that their scenes are some of the funniest here, so they keep their story going during the end credits.

While "Street Trash" took about 13 weeks to shoot, its journey to movie screens took about three years. It proves that filmmaking finesse isn't always everything: sometimes gung-ho enthusiasm and the willingness to pull out all the stops can go a long way too.

Eight out of 10.