I found Adam Rifkin’s, The Dark Backward, like I found most the odd movies I love today; staying up late as a child and flipping through the plethora of channels beamed to me from space. All it would take is an interesting visual to flash by the screen and I would put the remote down and let the madness in. Imagine with me now that you are me, devouring all things dark and different, and you happen upon a movie where Judd Nelson has grown a third arm out of his back. You can be assured I am not coming out of this one dry (that was not meant to be taken as masturbation).

TDB is a very grim fairy tale about show business and the disgusting people that inhabit it. Of course that is an over-generalization, but if you are like me, an artist in the biz, you will understand that this world can be very ugly. The filmmaker uses this idea to his advantage and creates one of the foulest, grimiest and rotten worlds I have ever had the pleasure of being a part of.

I’m not a big fan of writing movie synopsis’s, so here’s the movie in a micro-nut shell. A horrible stand-up comedian grows a third arm and starts to get noticed. Boom. There ya go. That should be enough to want to eat this flick up. What’s even more amazing is the cast! Judd Nelson, Bill Paxton, James Caan, Lara Flynn Boyle, Rob Lowe and Wayne “Danke Schoen” Newton! Each actor plays a character more repulsive than the next, and it is mighty enjoyable to watch. They are let loose into the world and all seem to have a blast chewing the scenery.

The Dark Backward is one of my all time favorite under-appreciated gems. It twisted, hilarious and gross. Now go watch it.

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Much Love

Travis

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