Living in big cities is tough, and Los Angeles may be one of the toughest. Sure, the glitz and glam of Hollywood and the sandy escapes of public beaches can create a sense of elegant calm, but the truth about living in LA is far from those champagne wishes and caviar dreams. It is a brutal and massive metropolis that is expensive to live in and filled with all kinds of characters that feel ripped right out of the movies you’d expect them to be in. That isn’t to say it’s all bad, but there is a reason why they call Hollywood Blvd the boulevard of broken dreams. Like New York in the 70s, LA was going through a transformation that led to a change in the culture around safety and exploitation. One film that captures the transition from the free-love 60s to the murderous 70s is “Hollywood 90028.” Recently getting released on Blu-ray by Grindhouse Releasing, is this piece of 70s nostalgia worth remembering to put on your shelves?

WHAT’S IT ABOUT?

A struggling photographer takes a job in the porn industry. Unable to handle the degradation, he begins murdering young women to vent his frustrations.

HOW IS IT?

All the glitz and glamour prescribed to Los Angeles can often overshadow the seedy underbelly of Tinseltown. One where anonymous people appear and disappear, all with the hope of making it in the entertainment industry where fame has a single-digit success rate and an overwhelming majority of people either leave the city or pivot to more sustainable careers. “Hollywood 90028” does something that few films about La La Land do, demonstrate the constant struggle that comes from treading the entertainment waters and taking jobs that pay the bills, but don’t fill the proverbial cup of passion. For all the stark grit presented on screen, “Hollywood 90028” is also a plodding and sad film. Much like its characters, it meanders through the normalcy of living in LA aimlessly searching for meaning and obfuscating that with cheap exploitation thrills. It’s a film that you can respect for its honesty even if it is a bit of a slog to get through.

We follow Mark, a cameraman in LA bouncing around from nudie shoot to nudie shoot to make ends meet while struggling with not pursuing more “honest” film work. Mark also has a knack for meeting women and killing them, for reasons that are not made super clear. When Mark meets Michelle on the set of one of the films he is shooting, he falls for her and their tryst leads to some depressing conclusions that we won’t spoil here. Suffice it to say, “Hollywood 90028” is a movie about living and dying in LA, figuratively and literally as it highlights the mundane aspects of young people seeking stardom in the entertainment industry. The look of LA in the 70s is almost unrecognizable to the LA we know today, for the most part, and it is wonderfully captured here like a time capsule taking you back to a time some weren’t even alive for. The commentary on the struggle for acceptance in the entertainment landscape as well as the way it breaks people down is the film’s most salient point. It’s a shame then, that this thread isn’t explored more in favor of long, drawn-out scenes that do more to develop the location than the characters.

The biggest issue with “Hollywood 90028” is that it’s boring. To call it a horror movie would be a stretch as there aren’t many deaths in the film, and they happen as more crimes of passion than straight-up psychopathy. It is not entirely clear why Mark kills women, with some allusions to the notion that his work in nudie films is causing his adverse reaction, but from the very start of the film he picks up a woman, takes her home, and then strangles her before we are even made aware he works in nudies. There are moments, like the first shooting scene where the director is not just overbearing, he is made to look like he is on top of you in the shot and it drives home the fear and true-to-life horror of being on display for people you don’t know in your most physically vulnerable state. It’s arresting and impactful, but the film doesn’t swim in that side of the pool most of the time instead preferring to play it safe in the shallow end. One could argue that “Hollywood 90028” is more of a dramatic thriller than a horror film, and perhaps the reason it gets lodged into the horror and exploitation genres has to do with the various X-rated cuts of the film included on the disc. There is a stark difference in approach between the main feature version and the various cuts, mostly that the main feature is the most subdued.

HOW DOES IT LOOK?

Grindhouse Releasing has been a go-to place for exploitation fans to get the best possible versions of their favorite Grindhouse-era films. Since the acquisition by MVD, it is fair to say that Grindhouse is still up to the same old tricks and we love to see it. The transfer for “Hollywood 90028” is outstanding as the 4K scan for this release came from the original 35mm negative print. Retained are the hallmark signs of shooting on film, like the subtle grain and slightly washed-out colors, but those are by design as most if not all imperfections have been eliminated here. We haven’t observed previous print qualities, so we can only assume this is the best the film has ever looked. Images from this release are used throughout this review.

HOW DOES IT SOUND?

The 2.0 DTS-HD audio included is a perfect track for the laid-back feel of the film. The music has a jazzy psychedelia sound to it that stands out in the best way and provides a pitch-perfect tone for the somberness of the film and the story. There are a few commentary tracks included as well as English subtitles, and for this release Grindhouse has also included a CD of the music from the film.

ANYTHING SPECIAL?

Grindhouse Releases are usually stuffed to the gills, and “Hollywood 90028” is no exception. One of the first features we took in was the Los Angeles: Then and Now which is a 4-minute side-by-side shot comparison of locations in “Hollywood 90028” and then how they look today. It’s a fascinating feature, and one that provides interesting perspective about how a sprawling metropolis like LA can change over the course of 50 years. The most noticeable difference is the removal of many murals seen in the film in favor of what are now office buildings. It’s a bit depressing, but is complimented by some shots of places that haven’t changed much to even things out.

The next feature we checked out is the kind of thing we go gaga for, an hour-long documentary about the about The Making of Hollywood 90028. This features interview with members of the cast and explores the earliest stages of production as well as how some of the lead actors got involved. Historically, the reason why the movie is so dark has a lot to do with the recency of the Manson murders and how that upended much of the care-free and innocent parts of the city. It also sets the tone around how a film like “Hollywood 90028” gets distributed, but also highlighting the amount of luck is involved in getting one’s film not only noticed, but released. Fans of film history, specifically cultural context and those who enjoy hearing about the actors’ perspective will get a lot out of this. A full list of special features included in this release are listed below:

Bonus Materials

Provocative, in-depth interviews with stars Christopher Augustine, Jeannette Dilger, Gayle Davis, editor Leon Ortiz-Gil, and Tom DeSimone
Audio commentaries by Marc E. Heuck & Heidi Honeycutt, and Shawn Langrick
Shocking alternate scenes from the original X-rated version
Experimental 16mm short films by director Christina Hornisher
Outtakes, still galleries, theatrical trailers, and radio spots
Liner notes by cinema historians Marc E. Heuck, David Szulkin, Richard Kraft, and Jim VanBebber
BONUS CD - original soundtrack album by Basil Poledouris - newly remastered in stunning 24-bit/192khz sound from the original master tapes
AND OTHER SURPRISES!

LAST RITES

“Hollywood 90028” offers a fascinating glimpse of early 70s LA that houses a subtle, but sober view of how Hollywood chews people up and spits them out. It moves at a slow pace, which may deter some viewers, but the total package here from Grindhouse Releasing is easily worth the price even for the marginally curious.

THE GORY DETAILS

Thank you to the fine fiends at MVD Entertainment for providing a review copy for the crypt! Hollywood 90028 is available now and can be purchased via MVD DIRECT!

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Nov 4, 2020

Matthew Orozco