The Scarlet Worm [Blu-ray]

Print is a hitman servicing the waning days of the wild, wild West. He accepts a job to kill Heinrich Kley, a German brothel owner who administers his own unique form of socialized medicine to the `soiled doves' of his who become pregnant. However, when Print is also asked to take on a protégé - a young gunman whose head may not be entirely on straight - things are destined to go from bad to worse real quick in the Wild Dogs Production of THE SCARLET WORM.

WORM is, definitely, not for everyone. It's a B-movie western clearly with European influences not seen in stateside release in, quite probably, four decades. There are no current box office draws in the cast, and much of its ramshackle Western sets resemble contemporary theme park settings and/or budget tourist trap destinations located anywhere between Benson and Bisbee. At times, the film seems little more than a bloated community theatre production of a spaghetti western ... but don't be fooled, cinema fans, because that's quite probably the way the makers had intended it all along. Shot on a budget of reportedly $25,000, WORM is as much as exercise in film appreciation as it is the art of modern film-making.

In short, WORM came about thanks to the online friendship of a group of like-minded film junkies. They met in various forums, exchanged information about film likes and dislikes, and they decided that their fandom and their friendship deserved something even greater. So they got together and pooled their resources and efforts into making the kind of film they loved and they wanted to see returned to audiences. The end result is not only a film like THE SCARLET WORM but also a handful of similar second rate features with schlock titles like THE MINSTREL KILLER and APOCRYPHA.

What's easy to appreciate in WORM is that the film is lovingly made as a tribute to the kinds of fast and furious flicks rarely seen any longer in cinemas around the world. Nowadays, these films go direct-to-DVD - if they even find a market at all - or they end up in the cheapie bin at your corner super-shopping-megaplex because they no longer fit the bill for what major studios believe box office releases should look like. Clearly, fifty percent of the production relied on the filmmakers appreciation of what had come before, with the remaining fifty percent being a pervasive "it's only a movie, folks" mentality, a mindset sadly lost in Hollywood's increasingly political boardrooms. It's a motion picture made by people who loves motion pictures. WORM is perfectly happy as a three-star production quite probably intended to be a perfect two-star production, and there's absolutely nothing wrong with embracing that kind of cinematic nobility.

The production quality is acceptable, though I thought there was a high degree of graininess to the picture consistently; this may've been deliberate given the fact that the picture is an `oater' as well as an homage to spaghetti westerns, but, in fairness, I wasn't entirely certain that was the case. Sound quality is acceptable, though I found some narration a bit muddled in the pieces that book-end the picture (watch it, see what I mean, and perhaps you'll agree). The DVD includes two commentary tracks along with a brief behind-the-scenes featurette that more appropriately defines where the Wild Dogs Productions Company came from than it does the film (not a criticism, just an observation). Additionally, the disk includes two trailers for WORM as well as attractions for other like-minded exploitation-style flicks. Subtitles are available in Spanish only.

RECOMMENDED for students of film history or those with an appreciation of various film genres. Serious fans of Westerns in general might find a lot to get jazzed about as well though they may struggle a bit (as I did) with set dressing (I say this after having just come back from a vacation in Tombstone, AZ, so I might be a bit jaded more than the average online film junkie)

In the interests of fairness, I'm pleased to disclose that the fine folks at Unearthed Films provided me with a screener DVD by request for the expressed purposes of completing this review.

I purchased this movie not just because I like Independent films but also because many of the actors in it are friends of mine. I may be biased but I don't care. Indie films are terribly underrated by the mainstream film world. Yes they are made on shoestring budgets. Yes they can seem somewhat unprofessional and have amaturish acting. The Scarlet Worm has neither. I would describe it as a surreal Western with an underlying message.
Indies tend to play much more artistically than mainstream films therefore the experience is much more personally felt.
If you appreciate Indies, you will love this movie.
If you don't see or have never seen an Indie film, start with Scarlet Worm and go from there. Don't deprive yourself of the artistic pleasure of this genre of films.

If we were to go by Howard Hawks' rule of a good movie having three great scenes and no bad ones, The Scarlet Worm wouldn't qualify as a good movie. For despite having well over a triplet of great scenes it does flounder with two abysmal expository segments ( each is a poorly written and acted scene involving two nude prostitutes sitting down and explaining the plot).

But despite this couple of embarassing sequences The Scarlet Worm is a damn good movie and a solid effort from Nowheresville filmmakers.

If nothing else, you should watch for a taut dinner scene in which hero and villain face off with their firearms pointed at each others' privates under a table. With the surpringly fantastic acting and crisp dialogue it felt like something we could probably be watching later this year when Quentin Tarantino's Django Western comes out. Aside from its hiccups the real star is the script which ranges from thoughtful to audacious and it doesn't completely lack humor either.

That said, be warned. I know a lot of people that will be immediately turned off by the low budget. And low budget this is. No amount of burlap will hide that fact but if you have an open mind and you're looking for something new from a genre that has long since ridden out into the sunset, check this out. It's well worth it.