Chiasmus cult cinema trailers - "Reservoir Dogs" (1992). *These will be ongoing posts, courtesy of the A.Glass DVD collection. As I offer via Chiasmus Cult trailers, my summarized overviews*

The quintessential Generation Xer director/screenwriter and purveyor of cult/grindhouse cinema of the 1970s and 1980s is of course Quentin Tarantino.  So, if you are a Gen Xer, do you have memories of discussing with your fellow 20 something friends, how "Reservoir Dogs" (1992) and "True Romance" (1993), were linked via the directorial debut of Tarantino's Reservoir Dogs, which also debuted his screenwriting career, starting with True Romance?  Whilst sitting around one late evening listening to Nirvana?  And being excited that a new and exciting director is emerging, which we can all relate too.  Well, did you?  For the other Gen Xers, whose Teen years were filled with seeing as many VHS video nasties as you could muster, including the category III Hong Kong movies of the 1980s, more so the blood soaked shootout movies ala John Woo, with the heroes in distress covered in blood clinging to each other, in a bloody embrace, aware that this has clearly influenced Tarantino.  All the while listening to Pantera.  Then, True Romance wouldn't have thrilled you as much as Reservoir Dogs would have, and yes, you would have seen the comparisons, while being aware that Tarantino, who has a small role in Reservoir Dogs as "Mr Brown", will become that new and exciting 1990s director, which the other half of Generation Xers and fans of underground VHS releases could also relate to.

Despite the many comparisons, and even plagiarism to the noir, criminal, shootout movies of the prior decades, "Reservoir Dogs" does stand alone as a melodramatic depiction of violence, with our ongoing fascination and romanticism of the criminal underworld.  Tarantino cleverly upped the ante, and gave the audience that the once Video Store employee had being dying to do, bring in the ultra violence of those obscure 1980s straight-to-video productions, and grindhouse bloodiness from the 1970s.  Never seen before in a major Hollywood production, apart from Tarantino's idols of Martin Scorsese and Brian De Palma stylized projection of sex and violence on the big screen.  But, it was Tarantino's said reworking of that familiar storytelling, and tweaking its origins, which in turn gave Reservoir Dogs an original and unique perspective of the crime genre.

Created on a small budget of $1.3 million, with famed actor Harvey Keitel, who plays "Mr White", co-producing, claiming in an interview that when he saw the script, after Tarantino's long time producer Lawrence Bender gave it to his acting teacher, who then in turn gave it to his wife, who then handed it to Keitel, and thought the screenplay, read like an obscure piece of art, which intrigued him to contribute to production, and play one of the main roles.  Tarantino's rise from Video Store employee, to heavyweight Hollywood director, would certainly be because of Keitel's co-production with Reservoir Dogs, which assisted in the movie ramping up the amount of credible actor's, such as English actor Tim Roth, as the undercover police officer "Mr Orange", and the incredibly talented Steve Buscemi, as "Mr Pink", who doesn't like to tip waitresses, but adheres to the 'heist' protocol to the end, and well, you should know by now how Reservoir Dogs concludes in its dramatic and bloody finale.

"Reservoir Dogs" is very much a Tarantino cult classic, an early 1990s romanized reflection of the ambitions of Generation Xers, who may not have had a counterculture to follow, but developed a thirst for creative aspirations.  And at the time, were looking towards Tarantino as that figurehead role model, that made it from being a store clerk to directorial powerhouse.  As we all eagerly awaited his next project in the years that followed.  

___

(A.Glass 2025)

All CHIAMUS Cult Cinema trailers/commentary to date: chiasmusmagazine.blogspot.com/search/label/Chiasmus%20cult%20cinema