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From his scripted "Masters
of Horror" episodes -- "Cigarette Burns" and "Pro-Life",
both directed by the great John Carpenter -- to Toetag Inc's "Maskhead,"
Scott Swan has displayed a natural ability to tell us creepy,
entertaining horror tales. He continues that tradition with a
movie that he directed under the radar, within an
extraordinarily short time span and without any type of budget.
His first feature length work, "Big Junior" is exactly
the type of flick you'd find at the bottom of the dusty bargain
bin of your local mom and pop videostore. And I mean that as a
good thing!
The film's titular character, Big Junior (Hans Bruno) arrives in
Los Angeles from Texas with a ton of heroin he wants to unload.
Along with a big .357 Magnum, he arranges a meeting with local
drug dealer and degenerate, Skip Fawn (Matt Vonhornsleth). Skip
brings along his prostitute girlfriend Lainey (Lilah) to the
seedy downtown motel room where the exchange will take place.
They hit it off at first and everything looks as if it will turn
out well for both parties involved. As time passes and the
evening grows restless, things intensely spiral out of control
-- and all that Big Junior can think about is "revenge." The
film chronicles the atrocities that blossom from the moment
where Big Junior is crossed. It was a mistake the other
characters will soon regret. As the story accounts the deadly
day and night in the life of these vile characters, "Big
Junior" is a deranged crime story told with gross perversity
and a sick sense of humor.
There has been
little hype surrounding the film. Leading up to its December
1st DVD release, the filmmaker's website blog advertised a few
one-sheet character posters, a fairly brief plot description, a
page from the shooting script, and a photograph with the cast.
Not too much info was given, but most surprisingly a trailer was
not even made for the film. Not even a single frame from the
film was seen, as many genre fans purchased the DVD blind. "Big
Junior" was all but a mystery. Taking a page from Toetag
Inc's marketing strategy, the first 250 DVD's ordered would
include a rare 4 x 6 photograph taken on set and 5 random DVD's
would ship with a prop from the shoot. According to the
director, it is available to a limited 1000 copies. Once these
copies are sold, this particular version will supposedly never
be available again. The version will be retired by the
director, eventually altered and re-cut. As a result, this rare
and unusual version of "Big Junior" is a one of a
kind viewing experience.
Scott Swan's screenplay is best described as coked-up Quentin
Tarantino with David Mamet-sharp wit and John Waters vulgarity.
He uses the type of politically incorrect monologues that are
bound to raise some eyebrows along the way. The dialogue goes
from talk about Lee Marvin to sexual innuendo. In his work,
sexuality can be a strong theme. Skip offends Big Junior by
insinuating he is "gay." This immediately brings a sense of
irony to his "punishment," and it leaves its viewers uneasy and
on unquestionable edge. This sequence is dead serious, but
there are times when the script has its fun. Such as the song
Big Junior sings to Lainey: A song about "niggers," which he
believes is the sweetest word in the world. I can even picture
Tarantino shaking his head with that one. We are not supposed
to laugh at some of these moments, but the movie unfolds in such
an unconventional way, we cannot help but laugh at times.
Although "Big Junior" feels very much like a play with
its single setting, its script often makes the viewer to forget.
When you work with
only four actors, the small cast is looked at closely to dial in
performances that carry the story. The film firmly rests on the
shoulders of Bruno Hans, who plays Big Junior with the kind of
mean-spirited wit that would make David Hess proud. He has a
devilish smirk, a wide-eyed intensity and a morbid sense of
humor. All of his facial expressions, tics, and quirks give the
character of Big Junior a trademark originality. Richard Ramos
plays his Mexican friend, Angel, whom he invites to the motel
room to keep Laney company. Ramos does a fairly terrific job.
He is a wild card, since we never really know what he is capable
of. Lilah gives a spot-on authenticity to the role of the
hooker, as she gets in way over her head and crosses the wrong
person. As Skip, Matt Von Hornsleth is solid. He does different
roles throughout -- he plays a happy-go-lucky drug dealer who
thinks he runs the town, then he is scared shitless when his
plan backfires. It is in these performances, which hit
different notes throughout, where the movie finds a balance
between shocking horror and dark comedy.
To the untrained viewer of extreme horror, "Big Junior"
is sure to offend and shock. Many of us have seen it all. The
majority of us fans have a strong tolerance for violence and
gore -- which makes it extremely tough to shock us. If you are
watching for sheer shock value, the film will more than likely
come as a disappointment. Advertised as "beyond a normal
concept of extreme," the finished product is not as shocking as
the selling endorsement would suggest. Sadly enough, the film
lacks a gore factor. With some strong trademark gore effects by
Toetag Inc., I think this problem would have been easily
alleviated. Due to the lack of budget, its lack of gore is
understandable. There is a scene later in the movie where there
realistically should've been far more blood than what was
actually shed. The fact the movie was filmed in Los Angeles,
any helping hands in this department were regrettably out of
reach. While "Big Junior" may not fulfill the most
fiendish imaginations of the most hardcore exploitation fans,
there is absolutely no denying its mean streak. Shot in one
location throughout, the fly-on-the-wall approach makes its
viewers feel like voyeurs.
This is a mean, twisted little bastard child of underground
filmmaking. With no budget whatsoever -- quite possibly, this
is the cheapest movie ever made -- everyone involved in the
production pitched in and made due with what they had
available. For Scott Swan's directorial debut, it is a labor of
love from all. It shows you how you do not need millions of
dollars to tell a story, or to entertain viewers. If this movie
actually had a budget, I am sure the gore effects would fill a
void here. "Big Junior" does not fail because of its
lack of gore or shocking violence that pushes the envelope. It
works as a slice of life. Don't expect a gorefest. Don't
expect an exploitation film that will break any new ground and
reinvent the wheel. Expectations of such things would lead to a
possible disappointment. "Big Junior" is not a perfect
film by any means. It's not totally hampered by the budget, but
there is a significant moment that truly begged for a bigger
effect. Despite financial woes, "Big Junior" is a
filthy, confrontational horror film wrapped in modern film noir.
Available through Evilflix.com, "Big Junior" is presented
in a limited DVD edition by Scott Swan. The disc features a
creepy, nightmarish short film by Scott Swan known as, "Ghost
of the Woman." There is an interesting featurette, showing
us a brief behind the scenes look at the shoot and it reveals
how they made feces for a scene in the movie. No trailer is on
the disc, as it was not made at the time of the release. This
only version of the movie, limited to 1000 copies, will never be
available again. "Big Junior" is a fun, nasty flick that
deserves to be discovered for many years to come!
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