I was fortunate enough to catch this film at the Third Annual Sin City Horror Fest in Las Vegas. There's nothing I love better than a movie that truly takes me into cultures with their own languages and customs that I've never been aware of...especially when they're right here in our very own country. And STRAIGHT EDGE KEGGER does that and then some.
As an MTV-head, I know my punk 'basics'. The Clash, Blondie, The B-52's, The Go-Gos, DEVO, most of the bands that started out punk and eventually went "new wave". I learned more later by seeking out the more hardcore but still well-known groups: The Sex Pistols, The Dead Kennedys, Human Sexual Response, L7, Black Flag, etc.
I'd heard quite a bit about the sub-genres and the sub-genres of those, but I knew nothing about the "straight edge" movement before this film. So I was surprised to learn a few things, especially in the form of a punk 'drama' that takes a turn into "survival thriller" mode.
Brad (CORY KAYS) is the co-founder of a "straight edge" group within the local punk scene. For the uneducated - of which I was one - "straight edgers" are about celebrating the music, without the anarchistic, nihilistic trappings: no booze, no drugs, no white supremacist skinheads, no period. It all seems to be on the up-and-up at first, but the co-founder/now-ringleader James (JULIO MONTENEGRO JR. in a riveting performance) has taken things to a 'zero-tolerance', almost fascist level, even beating up on the lead singer of a band while onstage, when they decline his request not to play a song called "Boozehound."
I recently saw a film whose tagline was "Be careful what you believe in." I think that sentiment would've been more fitting for STRAIGHT EDGE, considering the surprising turn the movie takes.
Increasingly disenchanted with James's growing militancy in actions and attitude, Brad falls in with unrepentant partyers Sean (SEAN JONES, who could be the older, boozier brother of Zach Galifianakis), and Sean's neighbor, "Maybe" (EVEY REIDY), who Brad falls hard for. Seeing his protégé "going over to the dark side" snaps something off in James, and this is where the film takes its most frightening turn, when the straight-edge leader demands proof of loyalty in ways that will turn deadly for a lot of people.
So maybe the line I mentioned needs just one small adjustment: "Be careful who you believe in." STRAIGHT EDGE KEGGER turns quickly into a riff on YOU'RE NEXT and GREEN ROOM, but in a more terrifying way. Because the danger and violence comes not from people who you expect it from - home invaders or Nazi skinheads - but from the kind of guys you'd least expect it from, all in the name of 'keeping it clean.' The performances here are great, with Kays, Reidy, Jones and especially Montenegro being the standouts.
Writer/director Zink is surefooted in both his writing and direction, setting up a scenario that is scarily realistic, with a message that couldn't be more relevant than now. And the picture is completely infused with the kind of propulsive, explosive, indie "punxploitation" energy that hasn't been evident on movie screens since such legendary films as BREAKING GLASS, SID AND NANCY or ROCK AND ROLL HIGH SCHOOL.
I predict that STRAIGHT EDGE KEGGER will be one of those films that soon develops a very strong and growing cult following, once it goes into wide release.
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