It's hard to explain Webb Wilder to folks who have never experienced him. He's an offbeat blend of film noir detective, hillbilly nerd, and doofus hipster. He's a man of the people, but also a man with a specific perspective that is at once dismissive of the world at large and sympathetic to man's plight in that world. That's the character anyway as developed in three films by Steve Mims.
Webb Wilder appeared in the early 80's in The Reign of the Saucer Men a weird mystery about a man named Hiwayne Suggs who calls Penney's Department Store security man/itinerant detective Webb Wilder to help him find his lost love the "un-volumptuous" Pristine Suggs. (About the missing Pristine, Wilder says "Even Mars didn't need women that bad.") It seems to Hiwayne's disordered mind that Pristine has been kidnapped by aliens based on the many flying saucers that have been reported in the area.
But a quick investigation by Wilder proves that the disappearance of Pristine has a more common explanation, one that speaks to the needs of all women for romance and all men for pride and recognition. This is a clever mini-movie that showcases a South that never was, overcome by dingbat media and loaded with peculiar folks filled up themselves with peculiar passions. It's a hoot.
The movie played on Night Flight on USA Network many times. It eventually was followed many years later by the second Webb Wilder adventure -- Horror Hayride.
This is a much more elaborate story and Webb Wilder now is a roaming musician who is called upon it seems in times of crisis by the powers that be. He's called in this time to help the Governor save his daughter from a would-be moviemaker, a man who seeks to make the ideal highway safety movie. This desire makes those around him upset, especially an undercover Highway Patrolman Travis Byrd who becomes Webb's sidekick in this tale of the underbelly of "Nashvegas".
It turns out that a little movie company named "Antebellum Skin" is at the root of the mishief in this tale of woe, and after getting drugged and cracked on the noggin for his efforts, Webb is finally to uncover the mystery and save the day of course. This features some great Webb Wilder music in the background, and has some fantastic dream sequences revealing the inner psyche of Wilder himself. One dream is really a "trip" after Webb's coffee is spiked, and offers a full-color video for the song "I Had Too Much To Dream". Among Webb's dreams also are some spacemen and a mysterious flying disk. It's truly very strange.
Both of these stylish gems are in glorious B&W (save for the aforementioned video segment) and it's the ideal format for this noirish nonsense. These are great fun, even if the acting is a bit lean in places. There are some real pros here, but enough amateurs to keep it very real. These are unabashed and unashamed attempts to create something fresh from some very familiar elements. And it all works quite well.
There is a third installment of the Webb Wilder canon, a movie called Scattergun but this one by Steve Mims hasn't yet been released on dvd. I've seen the movie twice at various Webb Wilder concerts and it's a crafty tale of gambling gone awry, a curious kidnapping, addled hoods, and the pain of family. Great stuff indeed.
For more information on these fantastic little films see this link.
Rip Off
No comments:
Post a Comment