SCORPIO RISING (1964)

Experimental/Avant Garde Cinema Week Day 2

There are several experimental or avant garde films on the 1001 movie list. In trying to figure out how to deal with them, I decided that the best way for me to handle these often tough nuts to crack is just watch them and try to answer ten basic questions about them on my personally devised standardized test. So let us continue with...

Scorpio Rising

1. What happens?
Well, there's this guy working on his motorbike. He seems to like James Dean, Marlon Bradon, skulls, tatoos, cigarettes and...leather...and chains. We see his friends, who also like leather quite a bit... Well, that was an interesting shot they just showed! Then the friends take the motorbikes to a party. Doesn't seem to be many women at the party, but all appear to be having a good time!... Oh, dear...why did they do that? And we see a motorcycle race, interspresed with a film about, uh...Jesus. I mean that literally. Interspersed with a film about Jesus!

Oh, my. Then there's a Nazi chess board..and uh, did I mention that there were 50's and 60's tunes like "Devil in Disguise," "My Boyfriend's Back," "Heatwave," and "Wipeout," playing throughout?

2. Was it heavy? Did it achieve total heaviosity?
It was heavy, though did not achieve total heaviosity.

3. What was your favorite part?
As I mentioned, the musical choices were very good.

4. What was your least favorite part?
I guess I would say all the shirtless leather boys, but I'm just so damn open minded I only had to use the skip ahead on this video three times!

5. Did you get it?
I think so. Wait, I'm not supposed to get it. I'm changing my response to no. Final answer.

6. Might the viewing experience have been enhanced from either prescription or non-prescription medication of some kind?
No, not this time.

7. What about the sex?
There was plenty of underlying sex here. It's just not sex for my team. But you know, everything can't be Ilsa: She Wolf of the SS!

8. What about the violence?
There are a few things happening which you might want to label as violence, but the victims don't seem to be very unhappy about it.

9. Describe this film in one sentence starting with "This is the film..."
"This is the film where these guys like leather and chains and they are into motorcycles and"...on second thought, I probably wouldn't describe this movie.

10. Would you watch it again?
Probably not. But it did make we want to listen to some more Fifties and Sixties tunes!