- Director: Ryan Kruger
- Writers: Ryan Kruger, James C. Williamson
- Stars: Sean Cameron Michael, Donna Cormack-Thomson, Joe Vaz
REVIEW
Ryan Kruger’s redo of the 1987 melt film is a dystopian, bizarre, darkly satirical, and at times it is pure insanity. It’s also fucking disgusting and that’s a good thing.
Street Trash has plenty to say about the state of the world and none of it is good. Set in a dystopian Cape Town, things are bleak. High unemployment, lack of effective government, and out of control crime. The rich getting richer and the poor getting crushed. With all this, of course comes the large contingent of homeless people and Mayor Mostert (Warrick Grier) has secretly developed a very disgusting way of getting rid of the city’s homeless. By melting them.
Just trying to survive is the motley crew of homeless that have banded together. Ronald (Sean Cameron Michael), Alex (Donna Cormack-Thomson), Chef (Joe Vaz), Wors (Lloyd Martinez Newkirk), Pap (Shuraigh Meyer), Wors (Lloyd Martinez Newkirk), Pap (Shuraigh Meyer), 2-BIt (Gary Green) and his imaginary friend Sockle (Ryan Kruger). This crew inevitably comes up against the authoritarian forces of the city when the plan gets released.
This film pays homage to the original in look and with the gore with all the effects being practical, giving the film that retro feel but it also makes for gnarly special effects to can’t be created any other way than by being done practically. The breakdown of bodies is impressive and there are few VERY gross moments. The acting is good, with all the heroes having a good chemistry as a group but the bad guys being only one note villains.
As a blunt sledgehammer of an allegory for how the government and society treat and view the homeless, Street Trash is effective without really getting too deep into the side issues beyond the fact that governments would prefer homeless disappeared rather than attempting to fix the issues surrounding it. These issues are treated seriously in the film which puts it at odds with the vulgar comedy that pops up, it doesn’t mesh together. Kruger directs this well, but it doesn’t feel as fluid or pulsing as it should and that may be due to the tone of the film never being able to settle on what it wanted to be.
An uneven film, that is still a fun watch, Street Trash both over and under delivers.
Street Trash is available on digital November 19, 2024.
Ryan Morrissey-Smith
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