A year after The Clash announced an indefinite hiatus, singer/guitarist Joe Strummer made an attempt to redefine his career, and cross over into the world of acting, starring in Alex Cox's third feature length movie after the critically acclaimed Sid and Nancy. The film centres around three hit men, who, after an erroneous job, hold up a bank, then seek refuge in a small Mexican village, populated by coffee-addicted psychopaths. The film was a by product of a failed Nicaraguan concert tour, which after being cancelled left a multitude of musicians out of work for a short amount of time. In place of this, Cox assembled a hurried script, a disused location in Almería, Spain, with four weeks of shooting, the purpose being to cast the artists in a low-budget homage to his favourite genre; the Western.In turn, Straight to Hell transpires to be a movie of two very different aspects, the first being the direction and cinematography, which, in keeping with Cox's previous work such as Repo Man, is highly idiosyncratic, reflecting the ethos and influence of the late 70's/early 80's punk movement. Cox merges this with further influence from directors such as Luis Buñuel, Akira Kurosawa, and most notably Sergio Leone; in fact, in one scene there is a clear homage to Once Upon a Time in the West, as a wheezing harmonica plays during a standoff, echoing Ennio Morricone's haunting score. The second aspect of the movie is what proves to be its downfall, as Cox's use of non-actors and poor scripting override any degree of positivity the movie might have. This really is a case of style over substance, and Cox's off-beat direction, is let down by terrible dialogue and irritating characters, one example of which being Courtney Love's character 'Velma', a heavily pregnant, underage love-interest of Sy Richardson's 'Norwood', who screeches her way through the script, mimicking Cloe Webb's character in Sid and Nancy. Her performance is excruciating to watch, think 'DJ Ruby Rhod' in Luc Besson's The Fifth Element. However Richardson's performance as Norwood is the exception of the piece, as his righteous persona and sharp style brings to mind Samuel L. Jackson's role as 'Jules Winnfield' in Quentin Tarantino's Pulp Fiction, predating it by seven years.Straight to Hell could be labelled a surrealist or absurdist comedy, constantly using non-sequiturs, with statements and events having no relation to previous ones, which gives the movie an unpredictable quality, for example, in one scene, Sy Richardson's character dons a pink shower cap in the build up to a duel, for no apparent reason. Other humorous aspects of the movie appear in bad taste, almost becoming dark and sadistic in their use, such as the abuse and eventual death of a young hot dog vendor, and the shooting of his dog earlier in the film. Whereas in other directors hands, this use of ludicrous and bizarre humour could be used to their advantage (for example Terry Gilliam's Brazil) Cox's twist of preconceptions comes across as unoriginal and non-intelligent. The movie itself seems to exist purely on the basis to exploit the audience, capitalizing on the cult devotees that follow the artists in the film, such as Elvis Costello, The Pogues and even Strummer himself being the main attraction, the title of the movie being named after his 1982 single, from the album Combat Rock. Beyond the amateur performances weighing Straight To Hell down, there is a decent movie trying to get out. Cox obviously has a good artistic scope, and a range of respectable influence, borrowing styles from the likes of John Ford, shooting on location, and using wide shots of desolate terrain, composing asymmetrical frames and using the depth of field to his advantage, with the placement of characters and objects contributing to the impression of the depth. His mix of striking and ludicrous imagery is strangely reminiscent of the work of Alejandro Jodorowsky, such as El Topo or The Holy Mountain.Alex Cox released his next movie Walker in December 1987. The film was a commercial failure, ending all involvements with Hollywood Studios, and effectively blacklisting him. With no work left for him in feature films, Cox next found work 5 years later with Mexican crime-drama EL Patrullero. In 1996, Cox was employed by producer Stephen Nemeth to write and direct an adaptation of Hunter S. Thompson's Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, his first creditable project in over nine years, but after creative disputes with not only Nemeth but Thompson himself, he was kicked out of production (the film later being taken over by Terry Gilliam). Cox self proclaims himself to be a 'cult director' and a 'radical filmmaker', in fact the only true cult movie he has produced is Repo Man, which is retains popularity with film lovers because of its originality and ability to distance itself from standard conventions, unlike Straight to Hell, who's cult appeal appears preconceived, as to appeal to fans of the musicians involved.The Clash sang in 1980 "Death or glory, becomes just another story". While there is death and bullets, Straight to Hell lacks any glory, and is easily forgotten in the pantheon of great Westerns, such as The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly, and The Wild Bunch.For more reviews of overlooked movies, please visit: http://avoid-at-all-costs.blogspot.com/

OK, so I usually don't do this, but I felt compelled after watching this film to ward off other viewers who might be interested. I am a lover of bad movies and trash flicks. Troll 2 was hysterical, Showgirls is on my top 20 favorites, and there will always be a special place in my heart for Ray Dennis Steckler (far more deserving than Ed Wood of worst/underrated director). All that said, Straight to Hell sucks. And not in a "so bad its funny" or in any cool cult way (yes Grace Jones, Joe Strummer, Dennis Hopper, The Pogues, and Dennis Hopper are in it). It's boring. Like really boring, and not in an interesting Andy Warhol/European art film way. The plot of a bunch of bungling bandits who encounter a small town controlled by the Pogues that leads to a bloody showdown is muddled by, well, its hard to say. The director's films aren't bad, Walker is totally underrated (oh and do not believe for an instant anyone who states "if you like Repo Man, you'll like this". You won't.)The cast isn't really that terrible either. In fact the bad acting might of worked for the film. Even Courtney Love who gets a lot of sh*t for her obnoxious whiny role might have been mildly entertaining (though there is a lot stacked up against her outside this film I guess to warrant contempt). The setting is well realized (easy, a desert sh*thole). The problem is the execution of the script, if there was one. One does get the feeling this was just a big excuse for some hipster party, and we, the outsider audience, are left with the consequences. But there is no build up in tension, character interactions are proved meaningless or are not developed by the films end, there is a lot of standing around talking about coffee, Elvis, sex, and other pseudo-pretentious whatever, which is fine and dandy except it amounts to squat. Characters come and go, and unless you're REALLY paying attention, you'll get an explanation. And the purposeful jokes fall flat due to the bad execution of timing. The film drags. Even Dennis Hopper's cameo is deadened by the supposed rivalry between the two gangs (and the fact his weapons are useless, another unfunny joke). Oddly enough, the film might of fared better if it focused more on Grace Jones and Hopper, as their (very) brief appearance usually gets credited as the best part in the film. I'm being as honest as I possibly can be, this is an awful movie. If you want bizzarro convoluted Western weirdness, watch Alejandro Jodorwsky> If you want a cameo filled punk film filled with dated pretension, watch Jubilee. Hell, re-watch a movie you really really love instead. Let this film be forgotten. Really.

Apparently this film was made because a bunch of musicians realised that it would be more profitable to make a film than to hold a big tour. I'm not a fan of any of the artists in this film; but to be honest, I'd rather them have done the show - because at least then I wouldn't have had to suffer it! Quite what this film is supposed to be is anyone's guess - the humour isn't funny, and the Leone spoofs aren't very well worked. The violence isn't shocking and the story isn't interesting - so what's the point? It's a shame really because the idea of a bunch of punks getting together and making a film has 'cult' written all over it, but unfortunately this lot couldn't deliver something worthy of the name. There's barely anything good I can say about this movie - not even the desert setting looks nice. There's a small role for Dennis Hopper, which is always nice; but the rest of the performers are all pretty dire. It would seem that the cast and crew thought that their mere presence would lead to a good film so the story isn't important. They were wrong, Straight to Hell is a sprawling, boring mess of a film and it's one that I don't recommend sitting through.

The price of man's obsessions are a trip Straight to Hell (in a rented red import no less). There is no nuance in this movie, just blood, money, coffee, guns and sexual tension. There is a pregnant demon named Velma and a Christ figure named Karl. All but two of the characters in the movie are hardly characters at all, just expressions of lust and obsession. Conveniently they are all played by non-actors (Musicians that couldn't get the backing to do a concert in Nicaragua in '87). Dennis Hopper plays what is essentially Mephistophilis calling all the players home to hell. Sy Richardson's Norwood is the only character who is not ruled by his obsessions. In this morality play that is what separates his fate from everyone else's. An important commentary on our modern world. Or maybe it was just all that mescaline.Seriously folks cut Alex some slack. The picture is beautifully filmed. The people who can't act are given one dimensional roles which is highly preferable to giving someone that has no acting ability a role with weight and importance (Daryl Hannah in Wall Street, Keanu Reeves in Much Ado About Nothing). It's got a fantastic soundtrack and Karl doing the Weiner Dog Song is one of the funniest things ever. Really. Ever.