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Lust In The Dust
Starz / Anchor Bay // R // March 26, 2001
List Price: $24.98 [Buy now and save at Amazon]
"Lust In The Dust" was, I think, the first review I'd ever read by Joe Bob Briggs. Nine years after first reading "Joe Bob Goes Back To The Drive-In", I remembered nothing about the film, but the title sounded familiar enough for me to grab it from the screener pile.
Divine plays Rose Velez, a former dance hall gal with a heart of gold who's on her way to the sleepy hamlet of Chile Verde in search of a legendary gold stash. After being ravaged by a gang of ne'er-do-wells, she meets up with the not-particularly-talkative gunslinger Abel Wood, and the two head off to Chile Verde together. There, they discover that the townsfolk, led by the town's only whore, Marguerita, aren't too skilled at keeping the secret about the gold, which is protected by a vague limerick. Treasure, gunplay, whores, liquor, ye olde western taverns...everything that made the west what it is...or, was. At least, Phoenix was pretty boring the last time I headed out that way, but that's neither here nor there. "Lust In The Dust" is a raunchy, campy pleasure, hysterical from beginning to end. Unlike similar farces, writer Philip John Taylor uses gags as part of the plot and to advance it further, rather than simply using a one-line story pitch as an excuse to string a bunch of somewhat-related jokes together. The acting's not the greatest, but Divine's hamming it up is all part of the fun. Though shot on just $2.5 million, the production values seem decent enough, and some of the cinematography manges to be pretty impressive. All in all, I guess this would be a great disc to pull out at 2 AM and watch with some drunken buddies. Watching it alone at 8:30 PM on a Sunday night wouldn't be the best way to go, but...well, it worked for me. Anyway...
Video: If a Western's nae in Scope, it's crap! Cinematography has always been a significant part of the Western, and yup, "Lust In The Dust" is in 2.35:1...and with the Anchor Bay logo on the case, it's not surprising that the transfer is anamorphic and quite nice-looking. Continuing their trend of giving overlooked films the best presentation possible, Anchor Bay has "Lust In The Dust" lookin' incredible -- razor sharp and bursting with color. Some infrequent and very light grain, hardly unexpected from a film of this age and budget, appears from time to time, but "Lust In The Dust" looks wonderful, surpassing my somewhat-high expectations. Unless Anchor Bay happened to produce a hi-def master while doing this transfer, I can't imagine the film looking any better in the foreseeable future.
Audio: "Lust In The Dust" sports a Dolby Digital mono soundtrack. The audio shows its age a bit, not sounding quite as full or rich as other mono tracks I've heard recently, but it's serviceable. There's no hiss or distortion, and the sound effects, dialogue, and music all come through fairly well.
Supplements: A featurette entitled "More Lust, Less Dust" is the featured extra, running 15 minutes and free of the typical promotional crap on most DVDs. Surviving cast and crew members are interviewed, with occassional audio comments from director Paul Bartel and Divine interspersed throughout. I prefer to hear more about pre-production than to just see shots being setup or filmed, and "More Lust, Less Dust" provides quite a bit of information about the genesis of the film, casting decisions, financing...things along those lines. Nedra Volz' screen test is just one of many highlights. Definitely one of the best featurettes I've seen, and without the star or the director to contribute a commentary, this is the next best thing. Also along for th' ride are cast/crew bios and an anamorphic theatrical trailer. The trailer must not have been produced in-house at New World because it doesn't royally suck. I have a pretty decent number of the post-Corman New World DVDs that Anchor Bay has released, and this is the only one where the trailer would've gotten me in the theater.
Conclusion: I've seen enough Westerns to know that I don't much like them, but I've still managed to sit through the proper amount to pick up on most of the satire in "Lust In The Dust". I've had the displeasure of watching far too many Western-themed comedies, and this and "Cannibal: The Musical" are the only ones I'd ever feel the urge to watch again. Not for everyone, but for those of you with enough interest to delve this far into the review, "Lust In The Dust" is probably a pretty safe bet. Recommended.
Divine plays Rose Velez, a former dance hall gal with a heart of gold who's on her way to the sleepy hamlet of Chile Verde in search of a legendary gold stash. After being ravaged by a gang of ne'er-do-wells, she meets up with the not-particularly-talkative gunslinger Abel Wood, and the two head off to Chile Verde together. There, they discover that the townsfolk, led by the town's only whore, Marguerita, aren't too skilled at keeping the secret about the gold, which is protected by a vague limerick. Treasure, gunplay, whores, liquor, ye olde western taverns...everything that made the west what it is...or, was. At least, Phoenix was pretty boring the last time I headed out that way, but that's neither here nor there. "Lust In The Dust" is a raunchy, campy pleasure, hysterical from beginning to end. Unlike similar farces, writer Philip John Taylor uses gags as part of the plot and to advance it further, rather than simply using a one-line story pitch as an excuse to string a bunch of somewhat-related jokes together. The acting's not the greatest, but Divine's hamming it up is all part of the fun. Though shot on just $2.5 million, the production values seem decent enough, and some of the cinematography manges to be pretty impressive. All in all, I guess this would be a great disc to pull out at 2 AM and watch with some drunken buddies. Watching it alone at 8:30 PM on a Sunday night wouldn't be the best way to go, but...well, it worked for me. Anyway...
Video: If a Western's nae in Scope, it's crap! Cinematography has always been a significant part of the Western, and yup, "Lust In The Dust" is in 2.35:1...and with the Anchor Bay logo on the case, it's not surprising that the transfer is anamorphic and quite nice-looking. Continuing their trend of giving overlooked films the best presentation possible, Anchor Bay has "Lust In The Dust" lookin' incredible -- razor sharp and bursting with color. Some infrequent and very light grain, hardly unexpected from a film of this age and budget, appears from time to time, but "Lust In The Dust" looks wonderful, surpassing my somewhat-high expectations. Unless Anchor Bay happened to produce a hi-def master while doing this transfer, I can't imagine the film looking any better in the foreseeable future.
Audio: "Lust In The Dust" sports a Dolby Digital mono soundtrack. The audio shows its age a bit, not sounding quite as full or rich as other mono tracks I've heard recently, but it's serviceable. There's no hiss or distortion, and the sound effects, dialogue, and music all come through fairly well.
Supplements: A featurette entitled "More Lust, Less Dust" is the featured extra, running 15 minutes and free of the typical promotional crap on most DVDs. Surviving cast and crew members are interviewed, with occassional audio comments from director Paul Bartel and Divine interspersed throughout. I prefer to hear more about pre-production than to just see shots being setup or filmed, and "More Lust, Less Dust" provides quite a bit of information about the genesis of the film, casting decisions, financing...things along those lines. Nedra Volz' screen test is just one of many highlights. Definitely one of the best featurettes I've seen, and without the star or the director to contribute a commentary, this is the next best thing. Also along for th' ride are cast/crew bios and an anamorphic theatrical trailer. The trailer must not have been produced in-house at New World because it doesn't royally suck. I have a pretty decent number of the post-Corman New World DVDs that Anchor Bay has released, and this is the only one where the trailer would've gotten me in the theater.
Conclusion: I've seen enough Westerns to know that I don't much like them, but I've still managed to sit through the proper amount to pick up on most of the satire in "Lust In The Dust". I've had the displeasure of watching far too many Western-themed comedies, and this and "Cannibal: The Musical" are the only ones I'd ever feel the urge to watch again. Not for everyone, but for those of you with enough interest to delve this far into the review, "Lust In The Dust" is probably a pretty safe bet. Recommended.
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