Buh-dum chhhhh!

The Dark Backward introduces us to Marty Malt, (Judd Nelson) a stand-up comic wannabe, as he's bombing like Enola Gay in a nice but under-filled gin joint. His jokes are non-existent and his delivery stinks. His accordion playing buddy Gus (Bill Paxton) claims that he's hilarious and that the audience, like Gus, must have been laughing on the inside. But no reason is given for Gus's loyalty, or for his opinion, other than quickly mounting evidence that Gus is completely insane.

So the two friends conspire to launch Marty's career while working their shared jobs as garbage men in a world seemingly buried in garbage. They aren't very good garbage men, either, which is all well and good, because Marty soon grows a third arm from his back which grants his budding show-biz career a new lease on life.

Except that we don't give a hoot about Marty's career. Nelson plays him as such a nothing nebbish that one; we don't care if his inexplicably hot girlfriend (Lara Flynn Boyle) dumps him, and two; we don't care if his flop-sweat drips into our martini glass, just get him off the stage already!

Unfortunately that leaves us with Gus. Paxton gives (I say without hyperbole) possibly the most over-the-top performance in the history of cinema, and it starts wearing after only a few seconds. Really, Paxton may have been trying to upstage the extravagantly vile production design, but if you upstage extravagantly vile, what do you get?

James Caan turns in the only few laughs available as Dr. Scurvy (yeah, real sophisticated wit here) and Wayne Newton actually shines as a basely opportunistic talent agent, but those two actors are awash in a sea of flotsam, and not worth clinging to.

Throw into the mix a ton of childish gross-out humor (including a fixation on side-show freaks) that borders on (if not crashes through the fence of) offensive, and you're left wondering why?

Will Marty be able to parlay his newfound, three-armed freakishness into a real Hollywood dream, as people (for no apparent reason) seem to think? You'll be hard-pressed to care, for a variety of reasons. The Dark Backward buries what I can only assume to be semi-trenchant social commentary (written by a 19-year-old it seems) inside a shaggy-dog story that is itself buried under piles of garbage, rotten meat and adipose tissue.

If it's not weird-for-weirdness-sake, I'm at a loss. There's no emotional entrance into the story, as the characters are really unlikable caricatures, the plot, such as it is, has no engine - no sense of progress or growth, (even with the new arm, which actually does nothing for Marty's act). The performers (due to monumental production design) have a ton of scenery to chew through, and by and large the actors keep up with the task. Lastly, the world of Dark Backward is just plain disgusting. It's a lot to ask an audience to put up with.

Sure, there are a few grace notes of delicious wrongness, like Gus's behavior in the dump, but for each one of those, there are universal, overweening stupidities, like the omnipresent company, 'Blump's' (products like pork juice and squeezable bacon) that places really poor advertising in high-traffic areas like the aforementioned dump.

Ultimately The Dark Backward does very little but severely annoy the viewer - to little thematic end. If there is a point to all the nastily arch shenanigans, it shouldn't be so thoroughly concealed that sane viewers are driven away. And if there isn't a point, then why go to the trouble to gather Nelson, Paxton, Newton, Caan and Boyle in one movie? I mean, what a cast! A cast cast adrift in sea of offal. How awful!

Buh-dum chhhhh!

The DVD

Video:
The Dark Backward is presented letterboxed in a widescreen 1.85:1 ratio. It's a dark movie, literally and figuratively, but also is imbued with garish color. It looks great. The transfer is sharp and clear, with lovely deep dark blacks and all the rotting meat and carnival-esque colors practically glow.

Sound: Dolby Digital stereo audio shows off the grinding circus music to good effect, while ambient noises are utilized well, particularly the weird moaning and whining sounds from Malt's apartment, which had me frequently thinking my baby was crying upstairs.

Extras: Director's Introduction is a silly and shambolic 3-minute piece recorded especially for the DVD release.

Basics consist of English and French subtitles, 12 chapter stops and Previews for Silent Hill and Clive Barker's The Plague (which looks vaguely promising).

Blump's Squeezable Documentary is a fullscreen presentation totaling about 30 minutes. It consists of the usual talking head interviews, with astute editing between heads (Writer/ director Rifkin, Producer Wyman, Nelson, Paxton and Newton) that weaves an interesting and quite funny tapestry. Paxton stands out with his recollections of playing the over-the-top Gus.

15th Anniversary Q & A after an LA screening in 2006 is also fullscreen and runs about 40 minutes. Rifkin Nelson, Paxton and Wyman dredge up more amusing factoids, prompted by ravenous audience members. More good will is generated as the quartet has an obvious good time and still shows clear enthusiasm for their benighted movie. The audio is pretty poor, as might be expected from such a piece of informal archival material.

Deleted Scenes roll on for about 17 minutes, and continue with the wild tenor of the movie. If you enjoy the movie, you'll be happy for more, if you are put off, you might want to skip these.

Outtakes (gag reel) cover another 6 minutes of ground, and provide a few extra laughs from under the grime.

Cannes Promo Shorts constitute 5 repetitive minutes of Nelson working up his lame schtick, backed by Rifkin. These were put together on the fly in hopes of wooing investors attending the film festival.

Catch My Dreams Clip Compilation is actually a 3-minute weird rap video inspired by the movie, with the expected clips forming the video component. The song isn't so hot (no Grammy nod imminent) but it's pretty funny hearing plot elements in verse form.

Animation shows a color version of the very Itchy and Scratchy-esque cartoon from the movie. As this was filmed in 1990, I'm not certain which creation came first? When was the first Itchy and Scratchy cartoon shown on The Simpsons, anyway?

Cast and Crew Commentary Track includes the usual miscreants, Rifkin, Wyman, Nelson and Paxton (sounds like the Nixon crew, dunnit?). The gentlemen further solidify the fact that they loved making this film, while most of the viewing world hated it. They almost seem proud of this, and manage to keep up a nearly non-stop rollicking recollection as they sit in a room together and reminisce while watching. One would think after the documentary and Q & A that a commentary track would almost be superfluous, but it isn't. It's actually the nail in the Dark Backward coffin - for fans of the film, this generous selection of extras mandates that you purchase the disc. For everyone else it almost makes you want to like the movie - maybe someday they'll release a Dark Backward disc that contains only the extras, skipping the painful genuine article.

Final Thoughts:
The Dark Backward languished on video shelves behind a terribly confused (and rightfully so) promotional scheme - for good reason. It's a very sickly, goofy, but deadly earnest adolescent mess of a movie - containing little plot, either no control or too much indulgence for a symphony of awful performances, and a vile worldview that could have stood just an ounce of judiciousness. On the other hand, it sounds like possible nirvana for trash-cinema enthusiasts.

It isn't. The Dark Backward is a very problematic film, with numerous rabid fans and far more numerous detractors. Are we detractors missing something? As a film it's terribly good at being bad, but so bad it's just bad. But it's so bad that it almost circles 'round itself into good-bad. But not quite. Writer/ Director Adam Rifkin's record speaks to this, too, as his only other credit of note is Detroit Rock City. While this special edition release is of high quality, only already avowed fans will need it. The Dark Backward gets points for enthusiasm, and massive deductions for everything else (including egregious overuse of circus music). If you already love this movie, you'll need to own this disc. If you like bad cinema, you may get a few kicks. But if you like movies that are more than just screaming and vile putrescence, you'll skip it.

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