Dead End

THE LIVING END

USA, 1992
Director: Gregg Araki
Stars: Mike Dytri, Craig Gilmore

One of the crown jewels of self-proclaimed “New Queer Cinema” was this piece of shit film about a couple of HIV-positive guys on an angry-at-the-world road trip to nowhere. Jon (Craig Gilmore) is a freelance writer, blocked and frustrated over an article which is past deadline, when he receives an enema in the form of his doctor telling him that he’s tested HIV-positive. He drives around introspectively before encountering Luke (Mike Dytri), who welcomes him to “the club”. The two head off on a petulant romance, leaving dead cops, robbed convenience stores, and plenty of indie movie cliches in their wake.

There’s lighting problems galore, and occasionally muffled sound. Worse, there’s script and style problems, with a banal psycho-social commentary and a very cloying approach to homage, two areas where indie films often shine.

An instantly-dated and shrill polemic that looks a bit like a recruitment video for ACT-UP - you’ll love it or hate it accordingly.