Street Trash
Gore never bores in this scrappy South African remake of a cult 1987 body horror comedy. But the unhoused misfits at the centre of this dystopian story are fighting back, as the mayor exterminates the ‘homeless problem’ one melting body at a time.
Writer-director Ryan Kruger revives the gross-out exploitation of the ‘melt movie’, but also throws in shades of Robocop, They Live and The Warriors. Its tagline “melt the rich” perfectly sums up the added action plot: the unhoused misfits will most definitely take revenge on the cartoonishly villainous mayor, as he exterminates every unhoused person in the city, one melting body at a time.
While the 1987 original was written “to democratically offend every group on the planet”, here bad taste has some limits – with immodesty favoured over immorality. Subtle it is not, but there’s a wholesomeness to the affection this remake has for its central characters – though much more, of course, for its gore. The beating, melting, exploding heart of the film, these sequences – in which people are spectacularly eviscerated from the inside out – keep coming, and keep pushing the threshold. There’s something for everyone (to be grossed out by): torn-off faces, severed genitals and a horny, foul-mouthed imaginary friend. And that’s all in the first ten minutes. All guts, so gory.
– Callum McLean
Content Guidance
This film contains content on potentially sensitive topics.
Trailer
https://youtu.be/XvPsBz0rTzMFilm details
- Countries of production
- USA, South Africa
- Year
- 2024
- Festival edition
- IFFR 2025
- Length
- 85'
- Medium/Format
- DCP
- Language
- English, Afrikaans, Yiddish
- Premiere status
- Dutch Premiere
- Principal cast
- Sean Cameron Michael, Donna Cormack-Thompson, Joe Vaz, Lloyd Martinez Newkirk, Shuraigh Meyer, Gary Green, Warrick Grier, Andrew Roux
- Director
- Ryan Kruger
- Producer
- Justin A. Martell, Matt Manjourides, David Franciscus
- Screenplay
- Ryan Kruger, James Craig Williamson, based on original screenplay by J. Michael Muro, based on original screenplay by Roy Frumkes
- Cinematography
- Fabian Vettiger
- Editing
- Stephen Du Plessis
- Production design
- Monica Rosie
- Sound design
- Rob Brinkworth
- Music
- Ebenhaezer Smal
- Sales / World rights holder
- The Coven