Over the years, there have been many films that have become immensely popular and gained cult status simply because of how insanely terrible they are. Movies like Plan 9 From Outer Space, Manos: The Hands of Fate and The Room are loved not for being great, but because it’s fascinating to put yourself in the minds of the filmmakers to try and figure out exactly what they were going for. Now that people are going to have the opportunity to see director John Rad’s Dangerous Men, this very exclusive group of films is about to get a little bigger:
There’s very little chance that you’ve actually ever heard of Dangerous Men - a feature that was made over the course of two decades and was only given a tiny California-based release back in 2005 – but it’s a film that you should definitely start to hear a lot more about. This is because Drafthouse Films has picked up the rights to the movie, and following its special screening today at Fantastic Fest in Austin, the company has made plans to distribute it in theaters nationwide later this fall.
If you’re having trouble figuring out exactly what Dangerous Men is all about, I can tell you that it has nothing to do with the fact that the teaser trailer above only shows what appear to be random clips. Because the movie was shooting for so long, certain elements of the plot had to change between gaps in production – which ultimately results in the film having about three different stories that practically have nothing to with one another and possess no actual conclusions. At one point it’s about a woman who wants to become a prostitute so that she can become a serial killer specifically targeting men (all of whom try to sexually assault her), but also the story of a cop who is trying to get revenge for his dead brother, but sort of just winds up getting distracted. Believe me when I say that it’s as ridiculous and insane as you think it is, but also disturbingly entertaining.
I had the pleasure of actually seeing Dangerous Men this past summer, and if you’ve ever been even mildly amused by "so bad it’s good" cinema, this is a film that you definitely should seek out. While it seems like John Rad made it to be entirely serious, the truth is that you watch it and wonder if the director has actually ever seen a movie before. It’s a kind of beautiful chaos that you will both marvel at with a cocked head, and cause you to lose your shit laughing.
Dangerous Men will be in theaters nationwide starting November 13th, and there are plans to release the film on video on demand in December. A home video release – on Blu-ray, DVD, and VHS – is being planned for early 2016.
