The Dark Backward Movie Review

Marty Malt (Judd Nelson) is having a bad day; in fact he's having a bad life. He's a garbage man and a desperate wanna-be stand-up comedian. On the good side, he doesn't feel the need to nurse on dead-girl breasts at the dump as his pal does. When he grows a third arm, the sheer grotesqueness finally gets him the laughs, the agent (Wayne Newton), and the girl that he needs. First-time director Adam Rifkin creates a darkly subversive alternate world a la David Lynch. The critics hated it. But so what! Humorous fat-woman sex and great casting of Newton and James Caan just add to the sick, sick fun. Reminiscent of Brazil and Eraserhead, and as urbanely weird as Jeunet and Caro's Delicatessen.

1991 (R) 97m/C Judd Nelson, Bill Paxton, Wayne Newton, Lara Flynn Boyle, James Caan, Rob Lowe, Claudia Christian; D: Adam Rifkin; W: Adam Rifkin. VHS, LV COL