Hollywood 90028
Mark (Christopher Augustine) is a cameraman trying to break into the movie business while avoiding his mother and sisters back home. He does well with the ladies, but leaves a trail of strangled corpses in “Hollywood 90028.”
Laura's Review: C+
Twenty years after her death, writer/director Christina Hornisher’s 1973 feature, which played drive-ins in the 70’s and 80’s as "The Hollywood Hillside Strangler" and "Twisted Throats," has been given a 4K restoration from an original print as well as a theatrical release. While many have praised the film as some kind of lost masterpiece, in reality it’s more of an exploitation film with lots of montage and few synced sound scenes set to a dated, campy score by “Conan the Barbarian’s” Basil Poledouris. It’s mainly of interest for its depiction of an L.A. which no longer exists.
We meet Mark leaving an L.A. eatery with a hippie chick (Dianna Huntress) who unwisely invites him into her home. Soon she’s nude, being caressed all over by the clothed man whose hands linger at her throat long enough for a short realization to dawn in her eyes. Cinematographer Jean-Pierre Geuens goes in for a close up of porn-stach’ed Mark’s intense baby blues, laser-focused on the kill.
Mark, who drives around in a matte black VW convertible with a wooden frame across its mid-center, works for the sleazy, obese Jobal (Dick Glass) shooting cheap nudies in a barren warehouse, the sound of film running through his camera prominent on the soundtrack. Hornisher emphasizes the male gaze not only via Mark’s viewfinder but the binoculars Jobal uses while ‘directing’ from a balcony.
Things take a turn when Mark meets new girl Michele (Jeanette Dilger) during a (hilariously campy) sadism shoot, the two sharing dashed Hollywood dreams and a hike behind the Hollywood sign. An invite for coffee lingers into ‘dinner’ (spaghetti with meat sauce, an iceberg lettuce salad and what looks like a gallon jug of Mateus, another amusing throwback) but while this one appears to be special, Mark still stops for a hitchhiker, Gretchen (Gayle Davis), whose non-stop talk and mention of siblings results in her not returning from a rented sailboat outing.
In addition to wondering why the cops haven’t cottoned onto Mark, who has witnesses for every encounter his dates don’t survive, Hornisher’s vague psychological profiling of a boy oppressed by an all female household doesn’t pass muster (there is also talk of a brother who died young with little explanation). A tour of L.A.’s Bunker Hill as its old Victorian homes are falling to ruin is fascinating, a trip to the zoo less so. A montage of Mark sitting in front of large outdoor painted murals, including a giant ashtray, is visually interesting, but lacks an expository rationale.
The film’s two part climax features an artsy lovemaking scene fractured by sectioned mirrors, Mark finally disrobing alongside his lover, but the finale itself is unsurprising and the film’s much commented upon final shot may provide a bit of a jolt mostly due to the abrupt edit which introduces it. “Hollywood 90028” is an interesting time capsule and an unusual subject for a female filmmaker of the time, but it is also a film the MST3K team could have a field day with.
Robin's Review: C+
Grindhouse Releasing releases “Hollywood 90028” in Alamo Drafthouse theaters on 6/14/24 – click here for theaters and play dates.
