★ 7 / 10
Contemporary Relevance
Surprisingly good, despite the sleazy context and marketing.By modern standards, we don't see many examples here of this "serial killer" in action, but not…
Surprisingly good, despite the sleazy context and marketing.By modern standards, we don't see many examples here of this "serial killer" in action, but not only is there a real attempt to provide a plausible familial backstory for his actions (not that that's an excuse), there's also a complementary discussion around societal factors which exacerbate his feelings of disconnection. This element in particular - for example with the old houses of Bunker Hill being demolished to make way for modern "unaffordable" apartments and office blocks - sounds bang up to date, despite the intervening 50 years.Worth a look.
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★ 6 / 10
A proto-"Taxi Driver" with a pornographic bent
drownsoda90
"Hollywood 90028" follows Mark, a dejected cinematographer in Los Angeles struggling to make it in the business, relegated to shooting porno loops to get by.…
"Hollywood 90028" follows Mark, a dejected cinematographer in Los Angeles struggling to make it in the business, relegated to shooting porno loops to get by. Plagued by loneliness and alienated from his peers, Mark finds friendship in a prostitute named Michele, but his demons ultimately begin to surface in violent ways.This obscurity written and directed by Christina Hornisher has often been branded as a rediscovered lost film, as it was hardly released for nearly four decades and unknown to even the most diehard exploitation enthusiasts. It is a unique film with a strong psychological dimension that is unfortunately never fully realized.The character of Mark is wracked with guilt over the death of his infant brother when he was a child, and is a lonely and withdrawn man for reasons that are apparent. However, the screenplay lacks the connective tissue that could potentially make sense of his pathology. His character in some ways reminded me of Travis Bickle in Martin Scorsese's "Taxi Driver", released a few years later, though Mark's ultimate drive for murder lacks a tangible underpinning.The film is unusual in that, despite largely dealing with masculine rage, it was written and directed by a woman, though it does also offer some exploration of female objectification and the realities of sex work through the character of Michele, another troubled soul who finds some kinship with Mark. It is a langorously-paced affair all around, with some dizzyingly surreal captures of Los Angeles's grimmer underbelly, which is certainly a plus.As the story ramps up to its inevitable conclusion, there is a fair share of tension and a tragic last punch at the audience, but when the credits rolled, as a viewer, I felt ultimately empty. Perhaps this was an intentional choice, or maybe (and more likely) an incidental element of the film stemming from its spacey quality. All in all, I found it to be a character study that doesn't quite work, but its attempts at exploring a number of psychological themes are valiant. 6/10.
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89%
TOMATOMETER
· 9 reviews
89%
AUDIENCE
5.9/10
806
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More psychological than Exploitation