TOWNIES

Directed, written & produced by Wayne Alan Harold
Photographed & edited by Wayne Alan Harold
Music by Fuzzhead
Cast: Tony Radloff, Lori Scarlett, Shane Koltnow, Jay Geldof, Michelle Sibits & Jeremy Maes

2002/77 mins/Black & White/Dolby 2.0 Stereo
1.33:1/English/USA/NTSC Region 1

Web site: http://www.tempevideo.com

Review from the Tempe Video DVD

Welcome to Schlarb, Ohio... a small town overrun by misfits, freaks, and weirdos! Dickie (Tony Radloff, Killer Nerd) is a lonely dumpster diver who finds companionship in his latest discovery... a young woman's corpse! Pricey (Lori Scarlett, Ozone) is a mute girl with a look-alike baby doll. When she loses her doll after an unsavory encounter, she replaces it with the next best thing... her neighbor's young son! The enigmatic Caduceus sets out to cleanse a nasty high school girl of her wicked ways.

Shot on black & white video which was then enlarged, it looks fair at best. There is a resolution loss due to the enlarging, there is some pixelation, and very noticeable grain. With a $300 budget, perhaps this is the best they could do.

The DD 2.0 stereo isn't much better with crackling, fuzziness, and distortion developing about halfway through the movie.

The audio commentary by Russell, Radloff, and Geldhof don't make the storyline any clearer. They get progressively drunk as the commentary goes on and they recommend that viewers do the same apparently hoping that the viewer, as well as themselves, will forget about this movie.

There are some pieces about Radloff and his nerd personality and apparently he's really this way. Should appeal only to Radloff fans and I can't imagine who they will be.

There are some outtakes and behind the scenes footage that are nothing special. There is also a clip from Harold's next movie, Aberration Boulevard.

Harold's short film, included here titled Payback Is A Bitch, is a basic rape/revenge story that's more coherent and better made than Townies. Also included are the trailers from the movies of Tempe Video.

Finally, there's an 18 minute clip from an Ohio t.v. station doing an interview with Harold, mark Bosco, and J.R. Bookwalter.

Perhaps it's just me - perhaps I just don't get it - but there's nothing I can recommend about Townies. The whole thing seems like an inside joke made while drunk that only the participants understand. It just went over my head. Harold and company may be having a great time making these home videos but I don't. Not even remotely entertaining.

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Review by Brad Vautrinot. All Right Reserved. 2003. ©