Lowlife

I love directors who pay tribute to the old school action films of the 70´s. And especially those directors who pay tribute to the Grindhouse cinema as well. There are a number of directors who have given us some wonderful tributes to the video violence of the 70´s, but perhaps the most beloved director of my generation is of course Quentin Tarantino. I remember everything so clearly, it was 1992 and he released his directorial debut film Reservoir Dogs. The cinema posters looked much cooler than any movie at that time, and newspapers talked about this film around Sweden. This film was exactly everything you could wish for, very brutal, very vulgar, and most of all the best characters you could think about. I did not see this film in cinema at the time, but did buy the VHS copy. I don´t know how many times i watched Reservoir Dogs, but i loved it every single time. What made Reservoir Dogs so cool, was the way director Tarantino developed the story, surrounding a bunch of criminals who are gathered to perform a diamond heist. The acting from Harvey Keitel, Steve Buscemi, Michael Madsen, Tim Roth, and so many others gave very strong performances to their characters. And for a diamond heist film, Reservoir Dogs is most likely one of the most intelligent films in this genre, ever made. The dialogue is brilliant, and there are so many classic scenes to love about this film. If you don´t own Reservoir Dogs on DVD or Blu Ray, you have to buy a copy. This is a film you should have in your book shelf, next to your Jamie Oliver cook book collection ( every Tarantino fan have these books, trust me ). Tarantino continued giving us wonderful films such as Pulp Fiction, Jackie Brown, Kill Bill Vol.1, Kill Bill Vol.2, and of course Death Proof. There are other really good films from Tarantino as well, but once thing is clear. His passion for the movies from the 70´s will always be important to me. I always love to see different movie makers who try and bring back the 70´s style. Another good example when you do this right, is from director Ti West´s movie The House Of The Devil. A horror film that pays tribute to the 70´s in a very stylish way, and also manage to capture that classic concept of Satan worship followers. Director Ti West clearly did his homework right, and he shows respect for this horror genre in a delightful way. If you pick up the UK DVD release, you get some really nice commentary tracks to this film, with interesting details surrounding production and locations. It must have been Autumn of 2017, that i was starting to read online about a new film coming called Lowlife. As the reviews of this film turned out to be positive, i knew this could be something special. Unfortunately, Lowlife did not get a cinema premiere on Sweden, so i had to wait until the film came out on VOD. With a style that reminds me of Quentin Tarantino, and a crazy bunch of characters, is Lowlife the perfect summer movie of 2018, or is this a film that no one should give a chance ?

Teddy " Bear " Haynes ( Mark Burnham ) is a local mass murder crime boss, who make business out of illegal immigrants, using their organs for sale. He also makes some of the women become prostitutes. A man named El Monstruo ( Ricardo Adam Zarate ) is a failed luchador, who works for Teddy. He is about to become a father, with pregnant Kaylee ( Santana Dempsey ). El Monstruo hopes his son will follow in the same shoes as El Monstruo´s legendary father, something that El Monstruo failed to do. Teddy keeps doing his illegal business and try to fool motel manager Crystal ( Nicki Micheaux ) to pay for an organ donation, that Crystal needs to save one persons life. But everything falls apart, and El Monstruo turns against Teddy, and have Crystal including others, to join him on the hunt for Teddy. He must pay for all of his sins, and all the victims he have suffered.

Imagine if you mix Reservoir Dogs, with No Country For Old Men and make it into a Mexican version of Tarantino, with immigration issues, and you have Lowlife. Of course these movies are very different from each other, but you can recognize some elements from different movies. Lowlife is a different take on criminals, immigration, society issues and how shitty life can be, using Mexican wrestling figures as heroes. What i especially enjoy about Lowlife, is that the film is told in different chapters, so if you are observant, you will understand what the story is trying to tell us, The influences from Quentin Tarantino shines clear here as well, where different characters get their chance to bring out guns, and make sure their message is told in a very brutal way. One of the main characters known as El Monstruo, played by actor Ricardo Adam Zarate is one of the most interesting characters in Lowlife. He is clearly trying to live up to the legacy of his father, who was a famous Mexican hero. Actor Nicki Micheaux gives a strong performance as the motel manager Crystal, as she is dealing with personal issues. I have to say that the character of Teddy " Bear " Haynes, played by actor Mark Burnham, is one of the coolest characters in this film. He is an asshole and a murderer, who only care about money, but you can´t help to enjoy his character anyway. To use the issue of organ harvesting into the story makes the film more interesting. We know that there is a lot of money to be made, if you can sell illegal organs. And this is something Lowlife manage to bring to the table, how bad it can be if you make business with the wrong people.  Director Ryan Prows have directed a number of short films in the past ( none i have seen myself ). And since Lowlife is his first directorial full feature film, i think he have done a great job. Not only have he managed to find great characters, but he clearly knows how to make a story fun, and tell it in an old school nostalgic way. If his intention was to show the audience a different experience, i have to say Lowlife is exactly what we need this summer. A cool, stylish action film, with some other important ingredients that this film needed to make the audience interested. There are probably some small details that i could think of, that could have been improved. Overall, i think Lowlife is a great choice this summer, especially on Blu Ray, if you want to experience a Mexican Tarantino styled film. I feel like going to Mexico now for some Tequila and Mexican wrestling, after watching this film. That must be a good sign, right ?

Rating: DDD