42nd Street Cinema



Street Trash (1987)


J. Michael Muro's satirical hobo-melt masterpiece Street Trash.
Starring: Mike Lackey, Vic Noto, Bill Chepil and James Lorinz in a debut appearance.
I have no idea how many melt movies there are but this along with a 1993 Australian picture Body Melt are the only ones I've seen.

Originally based on a ten minute student film directed by Muro and starring Mike Lackey.
The story beings in a degraded area of lower Manhattan, populated by hobos and scumbags. The owner of a small liquor store cleans out the basement and comes across a case of cheap wine that's over 60 years old named "Tenafly Viper". He decides to sell it for 'a buck a bottle' figuring he can sell it to the hobos, little does he know it's 'gone bad' and whoever drinks it will begin to melt away in a hideous yet colourful fashion. Parallel to this there's a cop who's trying to understand why people are melting and gang of sociopathic hobos living in a junkyard lead by a deranged Vietnam veteran.



Muro's decision to shoot using a steadicam was an expensive venture but evidently paid off, although Muro has yet to direct another film he has become one of Hollywood's top steadicam operators.

A flick that's filled to the brim with credible performances from the ensemble cast, character's filthy visages, skidrow locations, comically disgusting deaths and injuries; including a scene where one hobo is castrated, he then frantically runs around the junkyard attempting to find the severed member while the other hobos play a game of 'keep-away' with it.
I love the use of bright colours during the melt scenes, it seems much more effective and memorable than your typical 'blood red' viscera. Reminiscent to Raimi's Evil Dead II (1987).
Street Trash is probably one of the most entertaining and original exploitation gorefests out there.

7 comments:

Aylmer said...

Q: "I have no idea how many melt movies there are" A: NOT ENOUGH!!! Bring on the sequel Mr Frumkes! Slime City is another good Melt flick.

James said...

I'll have to check out Slime City asap, I also read that Greg Lamberson has made or is still making a sequel to that titled Slime City Massacre.

Nigel M said...

for melt movies how about Incredible Melting Man and Ice Age 2 :)

James said...

holy shit i forgot all about incredible melting man i saw that years ago. i got it on one of those crumby Vipco dvds.

Nigel M said...

I saw melting man when it first came out- watched it at local cinema and enjoyed it at the time- bought the vipco dvd and never made it all the way through it.

Aylmer said...

Incredible Melting Man is indeed the daddy of all melt flicks, but as you said Nigel, it's hard to sit through. Roy Frumkes has been talking up a Street Trash sequel, so hopefully that'll come to fruition (though actually, I'd rather see his proposed "Fiend Without a Face" remake!). Check out Slime City James, it's good trashy fun, and I'm looking forward to "Massacre". And let me take the opportunity to say what a great blog you've got here, I've been visiting often!

Anonymous said...

Don't forget Robert Feust's The Devil's Rain - Lotsa melting there!
(Steve in Liverpool)

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