\u201cThey sing! They dance! They\u2019re juvenile delinquents from outer space!\u201d<\/p>\n
Paul Bunnell\u2019s \u201cThe Ghastly Love of Johnny X\u201d is a lovingly demented homage to 1950s sci-fi and beach-bop cinema, the kind of movie destined for a long and fruitful afterlife as a latter-day cult classic, one worthy of comparisons to the work of Ed Wood, Russ Meyer and other purveyors of venerated trash.<\/p>\n
Locally financed and starring a cast of predominantly unknowns, \u201cJohnny X\u201d was the toast of this year\u2019s Kansas International Film Festival psychobilly, where it scored the coveted Audience Award for Best Narrative and consequently earned a limited theatrical release.<\/p>\n
The movie, gorgeously shot on what may have been the last of Kodak\u2019s black and white film stock, opens with an intergalactic tribunal passing judgment on wild man Johnny Xavier (Will Keenan) and his gang of crooning alien greasers, known collectively as the Ghastly Ones. After much deliberation, the Grand Inquisitor (Kevin McCarthy) exiles the Ghastlies to the furthest, foulest corner of existence: a nondescript planet called Earth.<\/p>\n
Enraged at the prospect of being grounded for eternity, Johnny\u2019s ex-girlfriend Bliss (De Anna Joy Brooks) splits from the gang to embark on a cross-country elopement with a love-stricken soda jerk named Chip (Les Williams), but not before hijacking Johnny\u2019s Resurrection Suit \u2014 a mind-control device that also has the power to raise the dead.<\/p>\n
On the run from a vengeful Johnny following a jazz-handy diner brawl worthy of \u201cWest Side Story,\u201d Chip and Bliss take shelter in a theater owned by King Clayton (Reggie Bannister), an unctuous Hollywood concert promoter obsessed with resurrecting the career of rock \u2019n\u2019 roll gargoyle Mickey O\u2019Flynn (Creed Bratton from \u201cThe Office\u201d), whose undead Elvis look must have taken inspiration from real-life superstar Unknown Hinson.<\/p>\n
The pacing occasionally lags and the lead performers are amateur at best, but the fun they\u2019re having quickly turns infectious. Brooks and Williams in particular possess a madcap brand of chemistry, one featured prominently in a duet titled \u201cThese Lips That Never Lie.\u201d Scott Martin, the film\u2019s composer, certainly has a gift for writing infernally catchy doo-wop numbers.<\/p>\n
B-movie regular Jed Rowen channels the Three Stooges as Sluggo, Johnny\u2019s clumsiest enforcer, while fans of Brian De Palma\u2019s camp musical \u201cPhantom of the Paradise\u201d may recognize songwriter and Bob Balaban clone Paul Williams, who appears here as sardonic talk show host Cousin Quilty.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Ghastly Love of Johnny X\u201d also features the final performance of acting legend Kevin McCarthy, who lived just long enough to complete his scenes as the Grand Inquisitor before passing away in 2010. His career, which arguably peaked with the original \u201cInvasion of the Body Snatchers\u201d back in 1956, lends special significance to his appearance as a grim, emotionless overlord.<\/p>\n
When \u201cJohnny X\u201d screened at KIFF, Bunnell called the film a labor of love, a salute to the high-concept, low-budget movies that inspired him as a child. That love is evident in every frame of his bizarre, wonderful creation.