Attack In LA

Attack In LA

Launched from John Colter’s run, Attack in la (formerly Parasites) is a serious examination of class warfare, cultural displacement, the plight of the homeless, and senseless hatred. Screenplay and direction by Chad Ferrin (who directed the famous cult horror movie Someone’s Knocking at the Door in the Breaking Glass Pictures portfolio and the upcoming splatter comedy Exorcism at 60,000 Feet), the movie tells the story of three rich friends who end up on skid row after a tire puncture of their lavish car.

However, the plot is definitely not limited to the surface; when you actually look at the movie, there is no chance at ruining the experience by looking at the unimaginative and poorly designed posters with its imagery of Jones Town which make it all look like a glorification of building socialism through violence, you immerse yourself in a film where you are sprinting next to the main character who is cowering in fear.

Saying Attack in la is gritty is not quite right as critics tend to misuse that term so it has become cliché as such. A more permissive definition would be present that Attack in LA would be a warning for anyone who wants to try and ‘swim’ thru a kiddy pool filled with vomit, syringes, broken glass and piss.

The plot surprises us with an intriguing twist in which Marshal Colter (amateur Sean Samuels) ‘s videos gets uploaded courtesy of three low-life bums residing in the tunnels beneath downtown los angeles, who attempt to rob him and his friends.

It’s hard to believe, but at first, it seems that Marshal and his friends only have to worry about angry migrants and a couple of dirty underwear…as long as they keep their pretty noses out of other people’s business. Obviously, that is not what happened.

I wouldn’t go any further in revealing the plot, except to make it clear that their enormous Scottie, a Frat boy, starts talking sh*t and then soon has his mouth filled with more than he bargained for, after which things don’t go very well for him.

Honestly, I have always been fascinated by the films that get wild during the night, when the common working class is asleep. Be it Scorsese’s good ol’ times After Hours, Joe Carnahan’s fun times Stretch or the 1993 action-thriller Judgment Night, you all know the good stuff always happens in the dark.

It’s the same with Attack in LA, a film that may be seen as a direct commentary on the caste system as well as the race relations of this country. Perhaps, this is Ferrin’s most developed picture and, for sure, one of the only films he made that has a straightforward theme: One should never think of themselves as better than others because the same might be true of them.

At its most basic level, this film is about a battle between the forces of Good and Evil but this time, the role of ‘Good’ is played by an arrogant, educated young black man and ‘Evil’ is a senile war veteran named Wilco. Old bomen, the ‘hero’ of the story, is incarnated by Robert Miano, an actor who has an infinite range of shifting looks, tastes and styles, thanks to Robert Miano’s talent (Donnie Brasco, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine).

All in all, this picture is as ugly and cynical as most movies from this director, but it is also his most beautiful and delicate film. A worse crime, however, is the way this was just dumped onto Amazon Prime with no advertising or effort at all.

As the film unfolds, we witness the systemic abuse that has been meted out to the so called ‘underclass’ and the ‘lows’ that the upper crust is ready to degenerate to when in stress for the first time.

For someone like myself who acknowledges the film industry as both exploitative and hypocritic in the way gratuitous female nudity has been abused for far too long, I would have had no qualms commending Ferrin for choosing to portray extensive full frontal male nudity, but here I commend him because I believe he had other reasons.

Last I can muster, even if a man has a great bang stick between his legs, he will still be brought down to size by someone else. So don’t worry if you have a big swinging dick or a size bigger than a barn’s door.

Peter Berg is said to be an admirer of John Carpenter’s cult actioner’s principles. There is definitely a nod to that movie, particularly when it comes to how each of the film’s kills is unified. More than anything else, it’s due to the 2005 remake of the above movie by Jean-François Richet.

Not that we want to suggest that Attack in LA is not original, for the film’s fearless approach to the subject matter is something that tends to be uncommon in most works today and in the hands of Ferrin it is done quite beautifully. Although the camerawork can be quite heart racing as in being chased for dear life, the film is as blunt as a dilapidated possessed drunkard’s knuckles.

The score is awesome starting from the synth score, the completely unsuitable yet still funny cover songs, “House of the Rising Sun,” etc, and the original pieces created for the third act that are really chilling.

What ‘Attack’ demonstrates most of all is the need for tolerance. If not for one single streight forward and deeply ill-timed remark, the three young boys who take the lead in the first act of the film would most likely have turned out alright. Idelness is even more of a crucible for violence than rage is. The moment during which our lead character is alleged to be a beggar and gets pelted with paint balls by some “Millennial” vloggers is cruel not only because it bares impact, but because it echoes Bum Wars all too clearly.

The racism of Attack is not new, of course, but in some contexts, it appears particularly striking in 2019. Let me not get all political on the subject, but rather than being speculative, the origins of that racism are obvious, one of those whom the self-proclaimed messiah of the sewer people happily became lord and personal savior of, were their instincts. When they did, they became low to what he always viewed them as, “bitches,” “cunts,” “gooks,” “Taco eaters,” etc.

‘Attack’ has the ending Get Out should have had: the kind of ending that does not in the least offer satisfaction, but sharp vexation. And that is something in this day age when everyone tends to walk a safe line.

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