'Lowlife' (2017) – Ryan Prows.

 

This blackly funny, rewardingly grisly, Bukowski-flavoured crime thriller set in the seamier vectors of a vice-corrupted L.A. proved to be a deliriously druggy, surrealistically downbeat surprise! Sinisterly centring upon the outlandishly nefarious activities of supreme skeezoid, slick-haired murderous gangster Teddy 'Bear' Haynes' (Mark Burnham), and his callous trafficking in girls, gruesomely upheld larceny, and ignominious black market organ transplants, a hyperbolic villain so unrepentantly despicable that you simply can't help but secretly admire his asinine criminal chutzpah! This tyrannical, gun-happy skeezer's main enforcer is the charismatically epigrammatic Luchador El Monstruo (Ricardo Adam Zarate), the morally conflicted, fallen son of the legendarily out-sized Mexican defender of the downtrodden proletariat, El Monstruo!

Three seemingly disparate tales of increasingly downward spiralling woe which fatefully coalesce in a spectacularly gruesome fashion in this illicitly exhilarating narrative, delivering up some seriously skewed ultra violent catharsis, a bravura B-Movie bacchanal that luridly recalls the more sublimely gonzo elements of maestros Tarantino, Matthew Bright, and the greatly underrated Gregg Araki! At its very best, 'Lowlife' is no less propulsive than a Frank Miller graphic novel, being a deliriously addictive, high-octane kaleidoscopic concoction of compulsive, hyper-real cinematic overkill. The engaging performances, if not always sympathetic, are winningly kinetic, with especially notable work from Ricardo Adam Zarate, and a truly fabulous performance from Nicki Micheaux as the ex-addict 'Crystal' monstrously overwhelmed by the diabolical machinations of Satanic Skell Teddy Haynes. Powerhouse director Ryan Prows thug-thrashingly terrific 'Lowlife' has the devilishly good sense to know when to be subtle, and it never is! Right on!