Super Badass (1999) Online

I saw this movie at a free screening in a bar in northern Virginia, not far from Cullen's homebase of Roanoke. The folks who screened it have a notorious collection of b-grade (and lower) drive-in styled cult films and they showed two of Cullen's. The first was a terrible black and white short film shot in West Virginia called a Fist Full of Millers. Fifteen minutes of an idiotic bar scene and you had to pray that Cullen was going to do something better with Super Badass. And, its safe to say, that he did.

It's hard to say that Super Badass is a bad movie. Obviously, Charels Cullen, co-writer and director of the film knew that it was mostly a joke. It's production values are laughable (especially any scene involving gushing blood) and the plot line is just ridiculous not to mention the way it plays out--the farm boy turned pony tail super hero--Super Badass.

The basic premise of the movie is the reclusive, eccentric Super Badass being the Mayor's go-to guy when a trio of deranged psychopaths (a clown, a boogie man, and a drug dealer) decide to go on random killing sprees. Take it for what it is, and for that I won't say it was the worst movie I've ever seen of this caliber. In fact, Cullen and the other filmmakers and cast involved were aware of the mostly amateur film-making, but at least it was funny (save the twenty minutes of Super Badass in his hallucinogenic kung fu state of mind). That's what saves a bad movie from being just unbearable. It's the kind of movie you watch with your friends and laugh at.

I'll be honest and say this movie took me 3 sessions before I made it through the whole thing. But, like making it through an excruciating 3-hr artsy Russian film that makes no sense, at the end of "Super Badass" I was left with an odd, inexplicable feeling that I'm somehow superior to those who haven't seen it.

Masquerading as a bad homemade movie with paper thin plot, "Super Badass" at times flirts with sheer genius. If this movie had a 7-figure budget... or even a 3-figure budget... it would be on par with the Coen Brothers ("O Brother"), Tarantino ("Pulp Fiction"), Verhoven ("Robocop") and Zucker-Abrahams-Zucker ("Airplane!") in terms of sheer originality.

It has elements of all of the above... the surreal nature of the Coens, the hyper-violent comedy of "Pulp", the biting satire of "Robocop" and the over-the-top absurdist comedy of "Airplane!"... all wrapped up in a uniquely amateur and raw presentation like you may have done with your pals when you were 16. If you can look past the latter, or perhaps even see it as part of the film's charm and originality, this film will be totally satisfying. And, as I'm doing while I type this review, you may find yourself watching it a second time.

You can't help loving classic cheezy lines such as "I know he's responsible for bringing speed into this city, and if the problem's not corrected it's going to lead to even worse problems. Maybe even... marijuana." The criminal trial of Boogeyman is riotously satirical of our actual court system, with a hilarious verdict. And you'll get a kick out of Lightbulb's horrible accent which constantly changes from Brooklyn to Rastafarian to Irish in one breath ("Oh ho, focken bullseye! Wha' ya got here, mon? Scatter gun for huntin jack rrrrrabbits!").

But oddly enough, what really got my attention were the bizarre poetic moments, such as a surprisingly intelligent dialogue between Super Badass and his hallucinogenic buddy Puppetman, or the oddball pigeon documentary that SB decides he's going to film while killing bad guys, the perplexing cuts to tractor trailers on the highway at odd times (symbolizing... uh... somebody help me out here) or my favorite, the powerful church sermon delivered over top of a violent action scene. I'm not being sarcastic when I say these are moments of sheer brilliance that would rival any pretentious Russian filmmaker, especially since this film is so remarkably UN-pretentious.

"Super Badass" is not for everyone. I recommend it to people who aren't put off by low production budgets (I'm talking basement low). I recommend it to people who are sick of both the predictable Hollywood formula as well as its antithesis, the equally predictable indie formula. Here we see a film that bows to no formula, no budgetary constraints, no technical challenges ...not even good taste. Instead it flows effortlessly straight out of the mind of a very odd yet genuine artist. The director's commentary is a real treat.

The only film I could compare this to is another nice micro budget film "My Dead Girlfriend". SUSPENSION OF DISBELIEF IS MANDATORY!

I watched this film for the first time a couple of weeks ago. It is one of the more original movies that I've seen in quite some time. Super Badass reminds me of the works of John Waters in its surreal, violence driven style. And, like Waters, the violence serves a comic/satirical purpose. It is very over the top and very strange. You can tell that Charles Cullen and his cast and crew were having a ball making the film. It shows through in the performances. It was a nice change of pace from the usual Hollywood fare that is out there for mass consumption. I enjoyed this film a great deal. I can't wait to catch more of his crazy work in the future. He is quite the wild and wonderful filmmaker.

There are thousands and thousands of new and old B-movies out there that often force the viewer to ask themselves "what could that director possibly have been thinking?" Well, Super Badass is definitely one of them. But aside from that, upon viewing, you'll be asking yourself "what white trash underachiever got off the bottle long enough to conjure up something so unambitious, something so meaningless, something so lifeless?" Yet, at the same time, it's awfully nice to see something so shamelessly (and randomly) mean-spirited, and gloriously inept, just stagger along with not a care in the world. I guess you could say I actually kinda liked Super Badass. I just find it incredibly odd, mainly because I've never seen something so completely Z-grade that wasn't of the Horror genre. Super Badass is more crime/action. It takes place in 1957 Mississippi. Super Badass leaves the farm for the big city to become a bounty hunter, and to take hard drugs, but mostly to be a bounty hunter. Super Badass has many foes. Villains such as "The Boogeyman" (just a pathetic lack of originality), and Bucko The Clown (not much better). Super Badass takes some drugs, and some children get viciously murdered by the bad guys, while the parents are pricelessly undisturbed by the sight of their children's graphic demise. Subtle bits of humor like that keep me from hating this otherwise mediocre pile of modern exploitation. He's going somewhere with all of this, I just know it, and at least in Charles Cullen's mind, he has in fact accomplished what he was going for. This guy created a big bunch of nothing, and from what I heard on the DVD commentary, he sounds fairly pleased with himself, and why not? Super Badass, regardless of whatever the hell it is, is far more than most of us have done... alright, well, maybe not FAR more. And I would certainly recommend something a little more worth your while like Basket Case or Teenape Goes To Camp. I don't see myself purchasing anymore of these Cullen efforts, I mean, I get the idea. Despite itself, the unique style, and peculiar attitude of this rebellious flick somehow won me over. 6/10

Super Badass leaves farm life for the big city in 1957's Mississippi to become a hard-drinking, drug-taking, pigeon-filming bounty hunter. His father warns that Death will be riding behind him. Needless to say, a masked guy with a Death license plate does indeed ride behind him. He goes after the likes of The Boogyman, Bucko the Clown, Light Bulb, and various other riff-raff. I feel that nearly any subject matter can be filmed well, if the Director of said subject matter is talented, or at the very least competent. But in this instance the Director Charles Cullen seems to possess neither of those traits. And as suck, those who have the misfortune to suffer through this are in for the longest 70 minutes of your life.

My Grade: F

DVD Extras: Film maker's Intro; Commentary by Charles Cullen, Will Henson, and Kenny Hicks; and a Compilation Tralier for "Boogieman", "Boogieman 2"; "A Modern Day Western"; "Super Badass", and "Night of the Bums"

I will not say where I saw this film, because I don't want Charles Cullen to read this and figure out who I am, but I will say that the movie is a pretty good effort... the sad thing, is the guy is in his early 40s by the time this movie is done, maybe 40/41 or so... if it took him this long to pull off a decent no budget movie, then what is he going to be doing ten years from now... I am a filmmaker, I would put it, a much younger filmmaker than Cullen, and I made a film that I can honestly step back and believe for myself and I have had two other viewers who saw both movies tell me that my movie is by far better. But I am in my 20s. I want to become famous, almost so much so that I do not want to live if I am not... and not just "famous" but famous for creating timeless works of art and pulling off amazing comedy and all aspects of film-making maxed out... this is STLIL POSSIBLE for me. But the sad thing is... is it possible for Cullen? I have tried contacting him before to see if he would want to collaborate on future projects, but the dude is very unpersonable... he will never make the connections necessary to achieve real fame in my book... instead he broadcasts his work over local access stations and really things he can pull a decent audience off of just that... maybe I'll understand when I am older that his level of success is pretty good, but if I do understand by then, shoot me. Still, I would cast him in a future film to be nice to him, because the guy does make an effort and manages to live the life of an artist/filmmaker/actor, without having to live the hell of another job like most people are forced to and convince themselves because of no other option that their lives really aren't that bad, when it is clear that the majority of their waking days go to a profession that they hate. I don't get them/you sometimes!!! Sorry!!! I love all you human beings, but I just don't get how you can go on with life not killing yourselves when you know that you have to WORK at stuff you don't really like most of your waking days. Convince me wrong, please. Casue I just don't get it. HAhahahahaaaaaa.... this comment is so insane...