Street Trash

Watched April 3, 2015

1987
Starring: Mike Lackey, Mark Sferrazza, Jane Arakawa

Whoa! I did not know what I was in for when I randomly chose to watch Street Trash. As someone that watches a lot of low quality movies, I first figured that this was just lumped into the horror category. But that still didn't seem to fit and I still had a hard time describing the movie.  After reading into the history of the movie, it helped me categorize the movie which is trying to offend everyone. I'd put it into an offensive exploitation category. I didn't even know the melt category of movie existed, but that is apparently what this movie is too. Street Trash could not be a better title or more literal for this movie. It wants to offend everyone.

Homeless alcoholic Fred (Mike Lackey) lives in junkyard, in a room build from cars and tires with his younger brother Kevin (Mark Sferrazza). They have lots of friends on the Brooklyn streets who are also homeless alcoholics. It kicks off with Fred stealing some booze from the local liquor store and being chased around. While being chased he steals some money from another bum but loses most of it when he has to hide in a garbage truck that almost crushes him. He loses the stolen booze and most of the money he stole, leaving him with a single dollar.

The junkyard is run by an obese guy and his assistant Wendy (Jane Arakawa) who actually does all the work. Wendy is friends with Kevin and tries to help him out with food and work sometimes. Mostly she helps out by making sure the cops aren't called on them. The junkyard is actually controlled by crazy Vietnam vet, Bronson (Vic Noto). All the bums have to pay Bronson in cash or booze. He has a lady that he treats like shit and she is rough looking even by homeless standards, at least all the guys have clothes.

The local liquor store owner unearths an old case of Tenafly Viper, a mysterious booze, and puts it on sale for $1 a bottle. Since it's the cheapest drink around, the local homeless population starts buying it. But as soon as you drink it, it melts, explodes and completely destroys your body.

The local cops, who are the worst, find the first man melted by Viper and start investigating what could have done this. The lead detective, Bill (Bill Chepil) immediately suspects the homeless population, since he hates all of them.

Fred meets a lady vomiting in an alley outside a restaurant and she's so drunk she thinks Fred is her  boyfriend. Fred takes her back to his junkyard tire shack and they have somewhat consensual sex. The sounds of them having sex lure all the other homeless perverts to watch. After Fred is done he pushes the woman away, all the other men grab the woman. They drag her off screen, gang rape and kill her. She is found on the side of the river later by the junkyard owner, who then rapes her corpse. 

It turns out her boyfriend was a mobster and he takes it into his own hands to stop the guys who killed his girlfriend. Bill the cop goes to confront Bronson,who is convinced knows how the homeless men are melting. They get into a brawl but Bronson stabs the cop in the back with his carved femur shiv then chokes him to death. Bronson has his cronies to bury the body and they happen bring him some Viper in tribute. Bronson's girlfriend grabs the booze first and takes a swig, she immediately melts into disgusting goo. 

 Bronson thinks that Kevin is responsible for the death of his girlfriend. At that moment Kevin happens to be about to have sex with Wendy. (They never kiss, she just kisses his belly, it's totally weird.) Bronson chases Kevin around the junkyard storage building for awhile but Kevin manages to escape being murdered. Fred shows up and throws some Viper onto Bronson's face, melting a portion of it. Bronson is about to kill Fred when Kevin lights a gas canister that shoots through the air and decapitates Bronson. 

This movie it nuts. It's interesting having homeless people as the main characters as it doesn't glamorize it at all. The melt special effects are great and disgusting.  There is an extended scene where Bronson rips off a guy's dick and they all play hot potato with it around the junkyard. I can't say that I liked all of it since I haven't completely been desensitized...yet.