Plagues and Pleasures on the Salton Sea (2004)

96% of critics liked it
(47 reviews)
78% of users liked it
(457 ratings)

As co-directed by Jeff Springer and Chris Metzler, the documentary Plagues and Pleasures on the Salton Sea travels to the titular body of water for an idiosyncratic look at a decidedly odd locale. An inland ocean with a close proximity to the urban areas of southern California, the Salton once… More As co-directed by Jeff Springer and Chris Metzler, the documentary Plagues and Pleasures on the Salton Sea travels to the titular body of water for an idiosyncratic look at a decidedly odd locale. An inland ocean with a close proximity to the urban areas of southern California, the Salton once clocked in as a veritable paradise - many tagged it "The California Riviera." By the early years of the 21st century, however, the Salton had dwindled to a decrepit ecological catastrophe. Plagues and Pleasures visits The Salton and meets many of its colorful residents, including an elderly nudist, an Eastern European man with revolutionary fervor in his blood, and a devout fellow who sees it as his mission to build a monument to God near the location - all of whom seek peace and harmony with one another. John Waters narrates. ~ Nathan Southern, Rovi

Rating, Runtime: Unrated, 1 hr. 13 min.
Directed By: Chris Metzler, Jeff Springer
Genres: Documentary, Special Interest

In Theaters: Jan 12, 2004 Wide
On DVD: Sep 25, 2007
Studio: Tilapia Film

Critic Reviews

Mark Feeney, Boston Globe
It makes for a strange, but somewhat endearing, melange of the grim and comic.
John Monaghan, Detroit Free Press
Plagues and Pleasures is simultaneously fun and creepy, best appreciated by those who enjoy similar profiles of Detroit's crumbling grandeur.
Robert Horton, Film.com
As documentary subjects go, the Salton Sea was ripe for the plucking: This man-made phenomenon is one of the weirdest stories of the West.
Bill Stamets, Chicago Sun-Times
Chris Metzler and Jeff Springer found a strange place -- in California, of all places -- and made a video postcard about its colorful denizens and ecological calamity.
Fred Camper, Chicago Reader
[An] occasionally lighthearted but always affecting cautionary tale.
Peter Rainer, Christian Science Monitor
This is a startlingly funny portrait of Gothic Americana.
Marty Mapes, Movie Habit
Plagues and Pleasures on the Salton Sea is funny and compassionate, but it shows us a future that could befall any American community that suddenly becomes economically unsound, or politically inconvenient.
Jean Lowerison, San Diego Metropolitan
Narrated by John Waters, Plagues and Pleasures on the Salton Sea is an odd bird -- wacky and poignant, funny and sobering, but this portrait of a forgotten paradise is a must-see.
Amy Nicholson, I.E. Weekly
While the doc flounders as a coherent story of human folly, it's a cheeky travelmercial guaranteed to get the curious to make the road trip to this near-abandoned resort.
Urban Cinefile Critics, Urban Cinefile
a one-off kinda film that is worth seeing for its sheer jaw-drop factor
Rob Horning, PopMatters
[A] thoroughly engrossing documentary.
Noel Murray, AV Club
The movie is engaging for the way it documents the rise and fall of a semi-natural landmark, and especially for the way it shows how people still come to California to remake themselves.
Cole Smithey, ColeSmithey.com
Funny, tragic, and informative Plagues & Pleasures on the Salton Sea is an unforgettable portrait of a desert town turned into a sewer.
Bryant Frazer, Bryant Frazer's Deep Focus
Plagues and Pleasures on the Salton Sea is an engaging, entertaining snapshot of a long, tragicomic moment in American history.
Richard von Busack, MetroActive
Plagues and Pleasures is the best kind of short vacation; you get to lounge with some interesting people, plus you get to learn a little something about the local environment and what can be done to keep it going.
Michael Sragow, Baltimore Sun
Because of Metzler and Springer's appetite for raw experience, what could have been a depressing horror movie is wildly funny and enraging. It's the rare documentary with something for everyone.
Cherryl Dawson and Leigh Ann Palone, TheMovieChicks.com
The documentary is informative and entertaining and gives you both sides of the great debate. You may not want to take a vacation to the Salton Sea, but you'll enjoy the visit there.
S. James Wegg, JWR
Chris Metzler and Jeff Springer's 'sea-umentary' is a compelling tale of human foible, greed and inertia.
Dan Lybarger, eFilmCritic.com
Plagues and Pleasures of the Salton Sea can best be described as An Inconvenient Truth with a stronger sense of humor, a keen sense of the cost of neglect and with a cast of characters who'd make the residents of Twin Peaks seem mundane.
Richard Horgan, FilmStew.com
If Divine were still alive today, he-she might well be wintering on the edge of The Salton Sea.

Read all 21 critic reviews

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Featured Audience Ratings

Eric A

VERY interesting documentary on one of my favorite places to visit. For those who know a lot about the Salton Sea or for those who know little to nothing at all, this documentary will intrigue you.
paul s

Back at the beginning of the last century, mankind had some grandiose ideas and in several areas decided to play god while having no idea of the consequences. Plagues and Pleasures of The Salton Sea is a documentary of one such adventure. Seeing the fertile land of… More
Back at the beginning of the last century, mankind had some grandiose ideas and in several areas decided to play god while having no idea of the consequences. Plagues and Pleasures of The Salton Sea is a documentary of one such adventure. Seeing the fertile land of California's Imperial Valley going to waste do to a lack of water, the government decided to create a man-made tributary of the Colorado River that would feed the valley several hundred miles to the west. For a time this worked well and crops were grown in abundance, until a particularly rainy season poured far more water than the man-made tributary could hold. Funny thing, water seeks a low point, which was an area called The Salton Sink, an alkali bed some 200 ft below sea level. Before the tributary could be tamed, enough water rushed into the sink to form a sea 30 miles long and 20 miles wide. Not to worry, said the government, it's 110 degrees there in the summer, so it will evaporate in no time. Good thinking, except they forgot about all the run off from the Imperial Valley. So there you have it - a mistake that caused a huge inland sea (called a sea because the alkali bed it rests on gives it a high saline content). Developers were watching how Palm Springs grew from a sleepy berg to bustling upscale home of the stars and figured that they could do even better with the Salton Sea because it had something that Palm Springs didn't: water sports. So they stocked the sea with fish, built docks and boating ramps and said come on down and buy a lot. Again, this worked for a time and it looked like perhaps this would become the Riviera of the US (as it was advertised). Unfortunately, yet again there was a rainy year in the late 60's and.... The sea rose 10' and flooded everything. Oopsy. With potential buyers now wary of the next flood, the area fell into decay, which was further exasperated by several dry years in which the sea's saline content rose the point where the fish no longer had enough oxygen to survive - cut to the next scene with literally millions of fish lying dead on the shores, stinking to high heaven. But still there is a beauty to be found there, even today. Much of the sea has been labeled a wildlife habitat and it is a safe haven for hundreds of migrating bird species. The film points out that even with all the dams built along the Colorado River, the county of San Diego managed to push through regulations given them the right to siphon off billions of gallons each year, which will potentially impact the Salton Sea to the point where in 15 years it could very well go dry. Once again the politico's fail to learn from past mistakes (the entire history of the sea is one mismanagement after another), ignoring no only the impact on bird life but the impending ecological disaster of exposing a 600 sq mile alkali bed to the high winds of the area (think of salt blowing all over those green golf courses in Palm Springs, only 30 miles away). This is the point of the film - mankind's hubris in thinking that we can control the environment. This error of judgment is seen all over, from the damming of rivers (and subsequent loss of fish species) to the misguided attempts of the BLM in trying to control horse and wolf populations while ignoring natural selection). Along the way the film also introduces us to some of the wacky characters that still call the Salton Sea home. The area seems full of hermits and free thinkers - those outside the mainstream who can survive primarily by supping on the still abundant fish supply. The film intersperses live interviews along with historical footage in an enticing cocktail that I am glad I imbibed; though I admit that this topic may mean more to me since I've been down around that area many a time.