In the police investigation of a brutal crime scene, one man was at the center of it all: legendary porn star John Holmes.In the police investigation of a brutal crime scene, one man was at the center of it all: legendary porn star John Holmes.In the police investigation of a brutal crime scene, one man was at the center of it all: legendary porn star John Holmes.
- Awards
- 3 nominations
Kim Marriner
- Reporter
- (as Kim Mariner)
Michael Pitt
- Gopher
- (scenes deleted)
Alexis Dziena
- Gopher's Girlfriend
- (scenes deleted)
Karen LaKritz
- Bartender
- (as Karen Lakritz)
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaIn the movie, Val Kilmer (as John Holmes) wears a chain around his neck that holds a ring. The ring was the actual wedding band that John Holmes gave his wife, Sharon, when they got married in 1965. Sharon loaned it to Val to give him good luck on the movie. When the movie was over, Sharon then gave the ring to Dawn Schiller.
- GoofsWhen John picks up Dawn at Sally Hansen's house, she has with her the little dog, but when they leave running down the stairs, she has nothing in her hands, while he has a briefcase. Then, when they are in the car, Dawn has the puppy back with her.
- Crazy credits"score recorded and mixed by Fredrik Sarhagen" is credited twice.
- ConnectionsEdited from Exhausted: John C. Holmes, the Real Story (1981)
- SoundtracksLa Grange
Written by Billy Gibbons (as Billy F. Gibbons), Frank Beard (as Frank Beerd) and Dusty Hill
Performed by Wes Cunningham
Published by Songs of Mosaic (ASCAP)
Courtesy of Mosaic Music Publishing, LLC
Featured review
A cesspool of a film, expertly made though
I've always thought of this as the Oliver Stone Movie that the man never made. It has the sordid, excessive sleaziness of U Turn, and the studious inquisition into true crime and intriguing Americana that he showed us in JFK. Both films explore the violence and ugliness that peppers American history in different ways, the brash and the academic which often exist in opposite poles colliding in Wonderland, a wholeheartedly nasty account of a stomach churning multiple murder involving one of the most infamous porn stars who ever lived, John Holmes (Val Kilmer). I don't know what the real Holmes was like (besides tell rumours of his anaconda cock), but the version we see here is a sniveling, unrepentant scumbag who is very hard to empathize with unless you flip the nihilism switch on in your brain and lose yourself in it. The film follows his association with a group of fellow undesirables, interested only in furthering their own drug habits by any means necessary, legal or otherwise. John is late in bis career and on the cusp of being a washout, his underage girlfriend (Kate Bosworth) pretty much the only friend he has in the world. He spends his days getting involved in all kinds of smutty business, along with a crew of fellow junkies led by loose cannon Josh Lucas, grim biker Dylan McDermott and timid Tim Blake Nelson. When they collectively catch wind of the wealth of one of John's acquaintances, a dangerous club owning mobster (Eric Bogosian in full psycho mode), the dollar signs swirl in their already dilated pupils. After an ill advised robbery, Bogosian reacts with all the wrath of the Israeli mafia, fuelled by his personal vendetta, brutally slaughtering each and every one of John's gang, letting him live as a branded snitch. The film is based on notoriously grisly crime scene photos which can be seen online, laying speculation on Holmes's part in the killings, and spinning a sinfully chaotic, noisy web of pulpy hijinks surrounding the case. The film is told from two different perspectives, a fractured narrative laid down by Kilmer and McDermott in respective and very different summaries of the event. Ted Levine and Franky G. play the two detectives who take it all in and work the case, and the excellent M.C. Gainey plays a veteran ex cop who they bring simply because he's the only familiar face which skittish Holmes will open up to. This is an ugly, nasty film and I won't pretend it doesn't get very gratuitous both in dialogue and action. It goes the extra mile of obscenity and then some in its efforts to make us squirm, but every time I pondered the necessity of such sustained atrocities, I reminded myself that in real life there's even more of such stuff, and the film is just trying to hit the themes of decay home hard, albeit with a sledgehammer, not a whiffle ball bat in this case. Kilmer is fidgety brilliance as Holmes, a severely damaged dude who hangs onto the last strand of our sympathy by the wounded dog whine in his voice alone. The only time I felt anything for the dude is when he visits his estranged ex wife (a flat out fantastic Lisa Kudrow, cast against type and nailing it) and we see flickers of a dignity in him that's long since been consumed by darkness. One of his best roles for sure. Watch for further work from Michael Pitt, Louis Lombardi, Janeane Garofalo, Scoot Mcnairy, Christina Applegate, Faizon Love, Chris Ellis, Paris Hilton and Natasha Gregson Warner too. This one is like Boogie Nights, Rashomon and Natural Born Killers tossed in together on spin dry. It's a wicked concoction, but you'll need to bring a strong stomach and the foreknowledge that you're going to be spending two hours with some of the most deplorable human beings this planet has to offer. The silver lining is you get to see it all play out in killer style, smoky and evocative 1970's cinematography and dedicated thespians branding each scene with their own lunacy. Tough to swallow, but great stuff.
helpful•132
- NateWatchesCoolMovies
- Jul 18, 2016
Everything New on Max in May
Everything New on Max in May
Looking for something different to add to your Watchlist? Take a peek at what movies and TV shows are coming to streaming this month.
- How long is Wonderland?Powered by Alexa
Details
- Release date
- Countries of origin
- Language
- Also known as
- The Wonderland Murders
- Filming locations
- Production companies
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
Box office
- Budget
- $5,000,000 (estimated)
- Gross US & Canada
- $1,060,512
- Opening weekend US & Canada
- $91,798
- Oct 5, 2003
- Gross worldwide
- $2,466,444
- Runtime1 hour 44 minutes
- Color
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 1.85 : 1
Contribute to this page
Suggest an edit or add missing content