Movie Reviews for Hardcore Collection

Hardcore Collection

	List Price: ~~$19.53~~ Our Price: $19.49 You Save: $10.42 (35%) Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Buy Used: from $16.99 (click here) Category: DVD See more DVD releases

Buy this DVD movie at online store in your country
Canada

Movie Reviews of Hardcore Collection

Movie Review: Fluffy bunnies and rainbows! Yay!
Summary: 4 Stars

For those of you joining the party late, Richard Kern is a New York City based filmmaker/photographer who during the 1980's created a slew of short films that highbrow critics call "cinema of transgression" and everybody else calls "some sick and twisted s***." By fusing the arthouse aesthetic of Godard with grindhouse horror meets porn, Kern created a look and language for the post-punk subculture that grew (festered?) in the Lower East Side at the time. Appropriately, the soundtracks to his depraved fever dreams were often supplied by local underground acts such as Sonic Youth, Cop Shoot Cop, and especially Jim Thirlwell, a.k.a. Foetus. His performers likewise were local art scenesters such as Lydia Lunch, Karen Finley and the late David Wojnarowicz (forgive my spelling if it's off). For my money, though, his greatest star/diva/muse was the inimitable Lung Leg, whose drugged-out, nervous anti-acting virtually invented the "waif look" that models like Kate Moss would later water down for the mainstream.

The films in this collection assault the viewer with sex, violence, sex, and a general atmosphere of scuzz. Did I mention sex? Kern reveled in undressing his punk princesses and putting them in situations guaranteed to make doctinaire feminists howl in protest. In "The Evil Cameraman" a very skinny young adult woman (who nevertheless looks about 13) is bound naked with ropes and tortured by Kern in the title roll. It seems completely awful until you consider that the film depicts Kern as well, evil, a real scumbag. You instead identify with the women and laugh when Kern gets his comeuppance. Likewise, the phone-sex worker portrayed by Lydia Lunch in Kern's masterpiece "Fingered" is completely in control of the pathetic, depraved psychos who call her. She even manages to menace poor hitchiker Lung Leg later on, and the latter's performance is something to behold. Lung doesn't act so much as drift into her "character" like some incredibly strange ghost. By any normal standards she's awful, but as you may guess these aren't exactly normal films. Some, like "Death Valley '69," are music videos that MTV wouldn't touch with a ten foot pole and a hazmat suit. "The Right Side of My Brain" is a psychosexual monologue/rant starring Lydia Lunch during which we get to see way too much of Thirlwell and Black Flag's Henry Rollins. The teeny-tiny "Nazi" is just a striptease by a woman who starts out dressed as a you-know-what. It's contrived and brilliant at the same time. "You Killed Me First," starring Lung Leg as the rebellious teen from hell, with Finley and Wojnarowicz as equally hellish parents, doesn't hold up so well, despite Ms. Leg's weirdly atavistic "performance." Here, contrivance overtakes brilliance by a mile; it's practically unwatchable.

Of course, 90% of human beings will find this entire package unwatchable. These are extreme visions for extreme sensibilities; only hardened shock-hounds need sniff this out (and what a smell! Did something die in here or something?). I assume if you've read this far, you're one of those freaks. So what are you waiting for? Amazon is a store, y'know.

Side note: because of these films, Kern was hired by Marilyn Manson to direct his "Lunchbox" video, and Kern made it to MTV at last. More recently, a friend tells me he spotted Kern's name in the photo credits of an issue of "Barely Legal." (That's right, a FRIEND. I swear I don't read that rag. I mean it. Stop Laughing!) It doesn't seem likely that Kern will ever conquer Hollywood, although that would be a wonderfully sick and twisted idea worthy of one of Kern's films.

Movie Review: Defective media
Summary: 4 Stars

There are 2 parts to my review. One being my opinion on the content. Two being the quality of the disc itself. I bought this dvd for the mere fact that "Fingered" is featured on the disc. That was my sole reason. I was interested in seeing other films by Kern that I hadn't seen, but they all fail compared to Fingered. I would have paid the same price had Fingered been the only film on the disc. The dialog is priceless. The "acting" is priceless. It's so bad that it is FANTASTIC. It is truely one of my most favorite films of all time. I saw this film in 1991 and had searched for my own copy for YEARS, finally acquiring a horrible VHS copy. I was so excited when I learned that I could have Kern's masterpiece on DVD. BUT...

The second part is on the media itself. The disc. There was a defect in the disc itself. I was watching the disc. Watching Fingered to be exact. A couple of minutes in, and the film started freezing and then the dvd would just stop. Finally, i took the dvd out of the player and could notice an anomaly in the disc. No other film was affected on the disc. Just FINGERED! Image my frustration. I would not have cared if the entire disc was affected accept for Fingered, but unfortunately that was not the case. So I return the disc to Amazon and request a replacement. I get the replacement in a couple of days. Lo and behold: the same issue. Obviously, this is a manufacturing problem and has nothing to do with Amazon.

So, the disc is worth buying, but you are taking a chance on a defective product.

Movie Review: truly sadistic
Summary: 4 Stars

This DVD is the collection of Kern's previous two videos with 3 additional shorts which weren't included on Hardcore Vol. 1 or 2. also there is a photo gallery which doesn't include any new photos, only some from N.Y. girls. any Kern fan should get this only for the 3 bonus films, nothing else. the transfer is weak and the sound quality isn't that great but considering that these shorts were shot on Super8 nothing could've been done really. the films are still great and if you are not really familiar with Kern's work they could be shocking. Lydia Lunch is in most of the films and performs quite well. Henry Rollins in his Black Flag days makes an appearance in Right Side of my Brain, which in my opinion is the best film in this collection. Lydia's narration fits perfect with J.G. Thirwell's music. Foetus, Coop Shot Cop, and Sonic Youth provide most of the music. l'm surprised that M.Manson's "Get your Gun" video wasn't included. one of his pictures is though in the gallery. overall this is a dissent DVD. it might make some uncomfortable at times and l had some of those moments myself. feminists should stay away from this one at any cost.

Movie Review: True NY Underground
Summary: 4 Stars

At last you can enjoy the complete R. Kern deathrip films in one DVD package. The visual equivalent of mid-80s NY scumrock. Important, groundbreaking stuff. If only Nick Zedd's work was given the same treatment.