Woodyanders Review of The Ghastly Love of Johnny X

The Ghastly Love of Johnny X (2012)

Just your average Grade B sci-fi horror noir comedy musical

[9/10 · 30 April 2014]

Ripe to bursting with a gloriously kooky, vibrant, and unbridled vigor and creativity, this wonderfully offbeat and imaginative tale of brooding intergalactic bad boy Johnny X (a delightfully puckish performance by Will Keenan) and his band of merry juvenile delinquents comes complete with a terrific femme fatale named Bliss (smoothly essayed with saucy aplomb by slinky marvel De Anna Joy Brooks), a fancy piece of alien technology that can resurrect the dead, several snazzy song and dance numbers, a loving affection for 50's kitsch that never degenerates into smug and smirking low camp, loads of zingy hepcat slang ("Let's scramble"), an uproarious sense of off the wall humor, and even a few moments of surprisingly touching pathos amid all the jaw-dropping lunacy. Director/co-writer Paul Bunnell brings a splendidly idiosyncratic sensibility that mixes elements of so many different genres into a remarkably cohesive and entertaining whole that's both unclassifiable and irresistible in equal measure. Moreover, it's acted with tremendous zest by a top-rate cast, with particularly praiseworthy work from Creed Bratton as groovy undead rock singer Mickey O'Flynn, Reggie Bannister as sleazy and shameless rock'n'roll music promoter King Clayton, Les Williams as square nice guy soda jerk Chip, Jed Rowen as angry lackey Sluggo, and Kate Maberly as fawning groupie Dandi Conners. Popping up in neat bits are Paul Williams as smarmy talk show host Cousin Quilty and Kevin McCarthy in his final film role as the stern The Grand Inquisitor. Crisply shot in gorgeous black and white by Francisco Bulgarelli, further galvanized by Ego Plum's robust'n'rollicking score, and done with a winning feeling of pure heart and sweet sincerity, it's a stone gas that's eminently deserving of cult classic status.