Week 9 (Aug 16 – 22) – Cinema of Transgression: “none shall emerge unscathed” -Nick Zedd
Acting as an unflinching, guerrilla-style love letter and farewell card to Manhattan’s most infamous thoroughfare, Richard Kern’s short film plunges headfirst into the chaotic, neon-drenched underbelly of early-1980s Times Square. The picture captures a relentless, documentarian drift down 42nd Street, interspersing raw street-level footage of now-shuttered grindhouse marquees, adult bookstores and open-air vice with sudden, jarring bursts of absurdist violence. Amidst the endless sea of pedestrians, marquee lights and crumbling storefronts, the film unfolds as a surreal, transgressive portrait of a gritty urban ecosystem on the verge of extinction, blending documentary realism with the uncompromisingly warped aesthetic of the Cinema of Transgression.
The film’s infamous, tongue-in-cheek violence—such as a character being repeatedly stabbed in the eye with a skewer directly through a cushion of raw ground beef—showcases Kern’s signature black humor and punk-rock disregard for traditional cinematic polish.
Populated entirely by non-professional actors, street denizens, and downtown artists who embodied the grit of pre-gentrified Manhattan, the cast serves as a living testament to an era when Times Square was a feral playground for outcasts, hustlers, and cinephiles. This preserves a priceless historical record of pre-Giuliani Times Square, showcasing legendary, long-lost exploitation houses, neon-lit peep shows and fast-food joints that have since been entirely erased by corporate Disneyfication and modern commercial redevelopment. Plus, there are marquees and posters for Dirty Looks, Garage Girls, Scarface, Oh Those Nurses, Valley Girls, Karate Warriors, Black Magic, The Forest, Vigilante, Chained Heat, Vault of Horror, Assault With a Deadly Weapon, Dragon vs. Needles of Death, War of the Wizards, The Executioner and Sudden Impact.
You can watch this on YouTube.
