STREET TRASH

It's completely disgusting, but this ultra-low budget 1985 horror/action/comedy, shot on low-cation in authentic skid row environs, remains one of the funniest, most entertaining and original exploitation gorefests ever made.

Life is tough for folks on the street, but gets even tougher when insane cannibal Viet Nam vet Bronson (Vic Noto) becomes a petty tyrant, organizing the winos into more aggressive activities, especially for young bums like Fred (Mike Lackey) and his kid brother Kevin (Mark Sferrazza), who don't follow his orders.

Liquor store owner Eddie thinks he's found a ready source of found income when he discovers an ancient case of Viper wine in his crawlspace and decides to palm it off on his filthy clientele at a bargain dollar a bottle. But the hooch turns out to be no bargain - it's turned dangerously toxic, melting down or even exploding any hapless soul who happens to take a swig.

Extremely tough guy Bill the cop (played by real life ex-NYPD Bill Chepil) is assigned the unenviable task of finding the reason for the bizarre deaths - as well as the murders committed by Bronson and his gang.

Most of the bums hang out in the crumbling salvage yard of Frank Schnizer (R.L. "Pat" Ryan), which is actually run by sexy secretary Wendy (Jane Arakawa), a girl who has a soft spot for the runaways among them.

The wild ranting and eccentric behavior of the bums accounts for most of the comedy, from the creative shoplifting techniques of old Bert, to one of cinema's finest games of penis keep-away. There's also plenty of gags - and chills - of the gross-out variety, which aren't limited to those involving the Vapor victims. Despite the outrageous circumstances, the ensemble cast delivers credible, natural performances all around, particularly Chepil in his lone movie role. James Lorinz (Frankenhooker) steals all his scenes as a lippy little weasel in the employ of Mafioso Nick Duran (Tony Darrow).

Based on his student film short, director Jim Muro decided to shoot the entire film with a steadicam - an expensive rental, but innovative and versatile enough to be a good deal in the long run. Though Muro has yet to direct another feature, he's gone on to become one of Hollywood's top steadicam operators. The wretched and creative special make-up effects are the work of Jane Aspinall and Mike Lackey.