Spun (2003)
Three days in the life of Californian speed freaks, kind of Breaking Bad but more insane. Jonas Akerlund's film makes Roger Corman's The Trip (1967) seem normal by comparison. Spun is a film made up of crazy characters and even crazier editing.
You know those weird interludes of colour and images that show up in Rob Zombie movies? Well this is ninety minutes of them. Akerlund cut his teeth in music videos and it shows. However it's not a bad thing as it makes Spun feel and look totally original. Although it's a film with a clear anti drugs message it's also brilliantly funny with it and also extremely crude to boot with some imagery you'd think they'd never get away with even rated 18.
For a low budget indie production Spun has an incredible cast in Jason Schwartzman, Mickey Rourke, Mena Suvari, Brittany Murphy (And her green dog), John Leguizamo (You can't unsee him wanking into a sock), Patrick Fugit, Deborah Harry, Eric Roberts and Rob Halford as a sex store clerk.
Spun begins as it means to go on music wise with a wonderful drive through California as Billy Corgan in his Zwan guise sings an soothing acoustic version of Iron Maiden's The Number of the Beast in it's entirety during the opening titles. Zwan also perform numbers by Pat Benatar and UFO whilst the likes of Ozzy Osbourne, Motley Crue, The Hellacopters, Bathory and Satyricon (Who are in the film) add to the films fascination with me.
Like Trainspotting on overdrive Spun is as much a trip as it's subject matter and proves an incendiary feast for the eyes and ears.
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