Strand Releasing: The Living End (1992) - Reviewed

Images courtesy of Strand Releasing

Before embarking on what became known as his Teenage Apocalypse trilogy starting with Totally Fucked Up followed by The Doom Generation and Nowhere, New Queer Cinema provocateur and wholly original film artist Gregg Araki in his third official feature as a director and cinematographer The Living End established early on the filmmaker’s penchant for themes of youthful alienation, dumb impulsive aggression and complicated gay sexual content. 
 
Though initially widely attacked by both gay and straight filmgoers for his nihilistic abrasions and near pornographic transgressive sexuality, in the years since thanks to the efforts of LGBTQ releasing label Strand Releasing, his work has had a chance to be reassessed and reappraised for the divisive yet confidently assured cinematic violations of our comfort zones that they are. 

 
Billed in the opening credits as “an irresponsible film by Gregg Araki” and opening on a lone HIV positive gay hustler named Luke (Mike Dytri) who narrowly escapes a gang of Neo-Nazi gay bashers as well as a lesbian trigger-happy cougar in the back of a stolen car, the film jumps over to Jon (Craig Gilmore), a withdrawn and depressed film critic also suffering from HIV. 
 
When an unlikely romantic meeting between the two ends with a police officer dead, the two fugitives go on a cross-country episodic road trip evading capture from the authorities while the clearly psychotic, sociopathic Luke continues to drag Jon further and further down with him into a Hell entirely of his making.  Sometimes Jon will phone his best female friend Darcy (Darcy Marta) for advice but most of the time he’s hypnotized and pulled deeper into Luke’s lawless and desperate netherworld, fully aware of the gravity and consequences of Luke’s actions while conveniently looking the other way for a little bit of love.
 
Simultaneously a rebellious politicized cry of discontent from the gay community around the 1990s, a gritty road movie and a character study about the ease with which a dangerous gay sex god can ruin the life of any random bystander he feels like taking under his insane and murderous wing, the film feels somewhat like a dress rehearsal for The Doom Generation which also saw a homicidal bisexual demon take a heterosexual couple with him into oblivion. 
 
A recurring theme for Araki, the film captures the essence of unrest and caustic realities lived out by many gay characters like the ones depicted in The Living End while also being a cautionary tale about the deadliness of falling into those trappings.  Also a time capsule of the 1990s with a largely industrial score including but not limited to Coil, KMFDM, Braindead Soundmachine, Jesus and Mary Chain and references to Nine Inch Nails, The Living End captures a unique, youthful angst shared by the characters and thus with the audience effectively trampling any sense of hope or redemption.

 
Shot and edited by Gregg Araki himself in 16mm 1.33:1 academy ratio, often filmed guerilla style without permits, the $22,000 microbudget production looks surprisingly handsome despite the heavy grain levels.  Nakedly NC-17 with graphic sexual content that’s by now become trademark with Araki’s work, the film coproduced by both October Films and then-budding outfit Strand Releasing out of the gate means to drop its drawers and wave its bare ass and genitals around.  As keenly interested in the sex of these characters as it is in how the outside world seems to be closing in on their little utopia, Araki’s film has an ear for the aforementioned needle drops and a brooding, somber score cowritten by Cole Coonce and Sascha Konietzko, effectively casting a pall over all the proceedings unfolding.
 
Though the film has a sizable ensemble cast including sneaky cameos by Paul Bartel and Jordan Beswick, The Living End is completely dominated by the two leads Craig Gilmore and Mike Dytri.  Dytri’s musclebound shirtless drifter hiding his stupid crazy eyes behind sunglasses comes across much like Johnathon Schaech’s bisexual drifter in The Doom Generation.  Aimless with a seemingly vacant expression despite being streetwise, Dytri exudes neurotic danger and like Craig Gilmore’s nebbish shy film critic, we gradually start to fear this guy. 
 
Gilmore makes filmgoer Jon into a sympathetic character in over his head, knowing full well the insoluble degree of trouble they’re getting in but still unable to stand his ground with drifter Luke, and Jon’s downfall invariably becomes ever more tragic.  Imagine having an established yet complacent life only to apprehensively cast it all away for a fling.  That’s the crossroad The Living End finds itself at repeatedly over the movie.
 
Released theatrically in 1992 by independent distribution company Cineplex Odeon Films, The Living End proved to be a commercial success, grossing roughly $693,000 against a $20,000 budget and further cementing the contested Araki as a cinematic voice to pay attention to regardless of your leanings.  Making ostensibly gay films that have widespread appeal for straight filmgoers also, Gregg Araki all but began carving out his own unique, still pioneering niche of New Queer Cinema. 

 
Initially hated by the gay viewership before being recognized as one of the torchbearers of AIDS dramas in the early 1990s, The Living End now officially licensed by Strand Releasing represents another deep dive into a gay man’s Hellscape lived in a world where men of both orientations seem to have a vampiric thirst for blood.  Like The Doom Generation and followed by Mysterious Skin, make no mistake this is hard hitting heavy stuff sure to leave you feeling battered and broken.  But if you can stomach it, you’re in for a most rewarding exercise in Araki’s special brand of post-punk countercultural New Queer Cinema and one of the most underrated minor masterworks of the 1990s.

--Andrew Kotwicki