Poor Wynona Sue Turnpike...her life is so very sad. Nobody else in the history of cinema has endured such cruel mistreatment(except, maybe Mr. Bill). But through the anguish, there's always her music...and wonderful music it is...a very skewed and countryfried honky-tonk style sent straight from the decimated heart of a hopeful soul, lost in an unfair and abusive world of goddamnsonofabitches and drag queens so ugly they could turn a man to stone. HIGHWAY OF HEARTACHE is a detailed account of Wynona Sue's tragic life...a story sure to bring even the most hardened soul to tears(of laughter).
Set in an absurreal, Crayola-bright world where tacky is the new tasteful, we follow our chain-smoking heroin's episodic descent into heartbreak Hell, a Hell where evil people do evil things to the good and innocent...Elvis-impersonating gynecologists, infidel husbands, abusive parents, and a variety of other mean-spirited characters trammel this good-natured woman who wants nothing more in all the world than her gee-tar, some cigarettes, and a man to love...you will feel this gentle creature's pain(and grin widely with vile, sadistic gratification). HIGHWAY OF HEARTACHE is a blueprint cult-classic, but distribution Hell seems to be the culprit in its perpetual obscurity. It's a riotously funny, grossly offensive picture with some downright better-than-decent original music, produced with resourceful creativity on an obviously very low budget. I'd like to say it's entirely original, but there's definitely some touches of FORBIDDEN ZONE and PEE-WEE'S PLAYHOUSE in the mix, plus, a distinctly John Waters-flavored panache to the entire project.
There are people who will find this film shrill, weird, and hateful, and will therefor dislike it. Well, those folks can go pound sand, because just as many will cherish it for those very same reasons. 8/10.
Set in an absurreal, Crayola-bright world where tacky is the new tasteful, we follow our chain-smoking heroin's episodic descent into heartbreak Hell, a Hell where evil people do evil things to the good and innocent...Elvis-impersonating gynecologists, infidel husbands, abusive parents, and a variety of other mean-spirited characters trammel this good-natured woman who wants nothing more in all the world than her gee-tar, some cigarettes, and a man to love...you will feel this gentle creature's pain(and grin widely with vile, sadistic gratification). HIGHWAY OF HEARTACHE is a blueprint cult-classic, but distribution Hell seems to be the culprit in its perpetual obscurity. It's a riotously funny, grossly offensive picture with some downright better-than-decent original music, produced with resourceful creativity on an obviously very low budget. I'd like to say it's entirely original, but there's definitely some touches of FORBIDDEN ZONE and PEE-WEE'S PLAYHOUSE in the mix, plus, a distinctly John Waters-flavored panache to the entire project.
There are people who will find this film shrill, weird, and hateful, and will therefor dislike it. Well, those folks can go pound sand, because just as many will cherish it for those very same reasons. 8/10.
