Bernard Perlman, Bill Chepil, Clarenze Jarmon

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69% liked it

3,794 ratings

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50% liked it

6 critics

Unrated, 1 hr. 43 min.

Directed by: James Muro, Jim Muro

Release Date: January 1, 1986

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DVD Release Date: September 26, 2006

Stats: 304 reviews

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Flixster Reviews (304)


  • September 20, 2008
    Way out there on the black humor scale.
  • November 12, 2007
    I don't remember how I ran across this film, either from an ad in Fangoria or Rue Morgue, or maybe from a website somewhere mentioned offhand in those quirky 80s horror gore flick sort of lists. But I know the concept and the cover drew me in, as, hey, it's neon melting people an...( read more)d gore.

    So, this movie starts with a liquor store owner rummaging through a condemened building and finding a crate of "Tenafly Viper"--60 year old alcohol which has gone thoroughly bad. He decides to sell it for a buck a bottle to the winos, bums and so on living around there who are his most frequent customers. One of them steals a bottle and we soon see the effects of Viper on the human body--it begins to spew neon liquids and melt into a hideous puddle of goo. From there we are introduced to the rest of the characters, composed primarily of these same bums and winos. Bronson (Vic Noto) is a Vietnam veteran who sits on a throne in a junkyard, lording over many of the other bums with his human femur knife and "wench" (Nicole Potter), with right hand man (who he abuses regularly, of course) Wizzy (Bernard Perlman). Our "hero" of sorts is Kevin, younger brother of Fred (Mike Lackey) the sarcastic, sneaky and self-interested bum who steals the Viper in the first place. Kevin is friendly with Wendy (Jane Arakawa), secretary to Frank Schnizer (Pat Ryan, also known as Mayor Belgoody in The Toxic Avenger) who owns the junkyard that most of them live in.

    We are then treated to intertwining plots about those characters and cop Bill Janes (Bill Chepil) who is tough, angry, violent and yet somewhat sympathetic as he tries to do something about Bronson, and a fun subplot about Nick Duran (Tony Darrow) a mobster who takes a dislike to a doorman (James Lorinz) who does not stop the man who leaves with his girlfriend from a restaurant, and Burt (Clarenze Jarmon), friend of Fred and Kevin. There are great little episodes throughout, one of the best of which is Burt's shopping trip to get food for the two brothers, and one which is notorious but I shall hopefully leave a surprise for some readers (what few of you will take ANY interest in this...) as it wasn't for me.

    The closest word to give someone as a frame of reference here is easy: TROMA. This is not a Troma movie, but that is a perfect comparison to make. This is more in the style of the earlier Troma work, like The Toxic Avenger and Class of Nuke 'Em High. Both are of course still comedic, but the violence is a little more aggressive and disturbing (at least at an early age) and a lot less cartooniness. Humour is present here, but there's a meanness to almost every character--heck, for a while we're convinced even Bill the Cop is a jerk, or that Burt will turn out to be one, or that all of the characters we might actually like are going to die. This is not the case, and lines are eventually drawn well enough. I was sort of trying to feel out the movie as I went and figure out which of these angles it was going for, and ended up happy with the choice it made, and once I started thinking Troma, that helped a lot. In case you haven't gathered, it has absolutely zero concern about offending people, but doesn't seem to be openly racist or anything like that. It certainly broaches the subject, and I don't know that it doesn't come off sexist, but if you're looking at these films for anything except entertainment--if you're pulling life philosophy out of them, you've got problems.

    It's fun if you like this sort of thing, surprisingly well acted, nice to see Pat Ryan, and the melting is great. There's a great mood and atmosphere to the whole thing, and the score is a wonderfully froggy, burbley, plastic tube-y, ultra-80s synthetic score, and some wonderful camera work and style--which, considering the director is BAFTA-nominated James Muro (who was one of James Cameron's favourite camera men in the late 80s and 90s for instance), this is no surprise, one great scene has glasses attached to the camera for a great POV shot. Make sure you watch that awesome scene mixed into the credits.

    Oh and just to freak some people out: Bryan Singer was a PA on this film.

    Yes, THAT Bryan Singer.
  • July 16, 2007
    How can you not like a movie that has winos melting in every color of the rainbow plus an unusual game of catch with an unusual...item. At it's core it's a black comedy with alot of gore but don't be surprised if you feel like taking a shower after watching this.
  • July 25, 2008
    From the makers of the Toxic Avenger is another gross out low budget B movie centering around a group of bums that end up drinking some tainted booze known as Viper from a local liquor store that makes them explode and start to melt away if you liked Toxic Avenger or any movie fr...( read more)om Troma Studios this one is worth taken a shot at
  • February 14, 2008
    This scared me rigid as a young boy...shouldnt have been watching this sort of thing really but who cares.
  • November 20, 2009
    Horrible acting, Horrible character building, Horrible down time and last but not least........Horribly AMAZING death scenes! There was only one saving grace for this underground cult classic, and that was melting and decapitation. Way too much story involved in this movie. The f...( read more)irst 20 mins and the last 20 mins of this flesh melting film were enjoyable. However, the hour and 20 mins in between in which the movie gives a story behind every single piece of street trash involved was quite a downer. But nevertheless, I am a sucker for that old cheesy 80's bloody DIY goop and gore. Some of the kill scenes had me reminiscing of Peter Jackson's "Bad Taste", which is never a bad thing. I wouldn't recommend this movie to anyone who doesn't appreciate B horror.
  • September 25, 2009
    This is a movie that doesn't really know what it's trying to be, but succeeds despite, or, perhaps, because of that fact. It's almost like three movies working together for the greater good. One of those movies that you have to show someone in order for them to get it. And if ...( read more)they don't get it, then that's their problem. The camera work is awesome, the colorfully gory meltdown scenes are fantastic, and the characters are about as hilariously politically incorrect as it gets. This is eighties low budget horror at it's finest. A little side note, the director, James Muro, went on to become one of the most successful Steadicam operators in the movie business, working with such directors as Oliver Stone, Martin Scorsese, and James Cameron to name a few.
  • September 7, 2009
    Street Trash is a sleazy 80's dark horror comedy about bums who purchase and drink this liquer called Viper from a neighborhood liquer store for $1. Little do they know that this drink is like acid which turns them into multi-colored goo within seconds of their first sip. ...( read more)The gore effects are really quite impressive, but it's in the comedy where the film truly lies. Like I said before, it really is quite sleazy and offers some nude scenes, an almost shot of bum gangbang, some necrophilia and even some hot potato with a random bums dick which was chopped off by self proclaimed bum leader Bronson (Vic Noto) because he accidentally pissed on him. I found the shopping center scene with Burt (Clarenze Jarmon) quite hilarious when he has a verbal dispute with an old lady and a associate of the store about shoplifting meat out of the frozen food section. Street Trash doesn't really stay on the plot of the Viper liquer that much and offers short stories into the various characters throughout the film. It basically doesn't center around one specific character. Something that makes Street Trash stand out among the dark comedy genre.
  • August 16, 2009
    Entertaining to the end.
    Pretty creepy homeless chick.
    Troma-esque.
    Pretty un-p.c.
  • August 7, 2009
    Disgust feast! Like when Troma meet John Waters..

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Street Trash Trivia


  • In the movie Street Trash what was the name of the booze that made the bums melt and explode?  Answer »
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