Cecil B. Demented

 Year of Release:  2000

Director:  John Waters

Screenplay:  John Waters

Starring:  Melanie Griffith, Stephen Dorff, Alicia Witt, Adrian Grenier, Larry Gilliard Jr., Mink Stole, Ricki Lake, Patricia Hearst, Maggie Gyllenhaal

Running Time:  88 minutes

Genre:  Comedy

"A"-list Hollywood actress Honey Whitlock (Griffith) is in Baltimore to attend a charity premiere of her latest film, when she is kidnapped by a gang of renegade filmmakers who call themselves "The SprocketHoles" and are lead by charismatic director Cecil B. Demented (Dorff).  The SprocketHoles force Honey to star in their underground film.  Initially reluctant, Honey finds herself increasingly drawn to the SprocketHoles violent crusade against mainstream cinema. 

Cult filmmaker John Waters made his name with deliberately tasteless and offensive underground films such as Multiple Maniacs (1970) and the notorious Pink Flamingos (1972), before moving more towards the mainstream with the likes of Polyester (1981) and Serial Mom (1994).  However, he never lost his campy inventiveness and this is still a thumb of the nose towards Hollywood film.  The target here is the all-pervasiveness of Hollywood film and his dull, predictable mainstream content squeezes out small, independent, creative filmmakers.  It's hard to argue that Waters doesn't have a point, particularly in the modern era, however it is also inevitably dated in the modern world of streaming and online content.  As with such of Waters' work this is scrappy, inventive, sometimes funny, very camp and not all of it works.  It's an enjoyable film, that is definitely aimed at the midnight movie crowd.  Film fans will have fun with the numerous references to films and filmmakers.  The name "Cecil B. Demented" is a reference to pioneering director Cecil B. DeMille, and the slogan shouting SprocketHoles each have the names of a filmmaker tattooed as a kind of badge of membership:  Otto Preminger, Andy Warhol, Herschell Gordon Lewis, William Castle, David Lynch, Rainer Werner Fassbinder, Spike Lee, Pedro Almodovar, Sam Fuller and Sam Peckinpah.  The plot of the film was partially inspired by the famous kidnapping of heiress Patricia Hearst in 1974, as with many Waters films Hearst has a small role in the film.  The cast all seem to be having a whale of a time.  Melanie Griffith is very funny as the obnoxious Hollywood diva turned revolutionary, and Stephen Dorff is convincing as the charismatic, wild-eyed director-turned-guru.   The film also features future stars Maggie Gyllenhaal and Michael Shannon in small roles.  Along with Patricia Hearst, other Waters regulars appear including Mink Stole and future chat-show host Ricki Lake.   It's an enjoyable film that mixes humour from the juvenile to the sophisticated.  John Waters hasn't made a film since A Dirty Shame in 2004, and it's a shame, it would be good to see a follow up to Cecil B. Demented with Waters taking a shot at modern mainstream film.  

Demented Forever!:  Melanie Griffith in Cecil B. Demented