The young filmmaker, Ash Christian, pulls together every absurd, sly, and politically incorrect idea that pops into his zany head, and the end result is Mangus!; a comical throwback to the midnight movie mania of the 1970s, a la John Waters. This is a fine installment to the demented queer cinema fad, but unfortunately, midway through, the bad taste runs low and the quirky concepts become too over the top.
Mangus! is about a Jesus Christ theater nut, who after an unfortunate accident, becomes paralyzed in a wheelchair, ruining his chances of being the star of the high school production of “Jesus Christ Spectacular,” which is a parody of the famed production, “Jesus Christ Superstar.” Writer/director Ash Christian creates an oddball community of trailer-park misfits, queens, and lets not forget, politically incorrect depictions of paraplegics. Mangus Spedgwick comes from a somewhat broken home, living back and forth between his biological and stepparents. His starry-eyed dream is to both play, and in state of disallusionment, transform into Jesus Christ; even if he has to carry a bag of his urine onto the stage with him.
The best part of the ultra-low-budget indie flick are the crazy supporting characters, which include parts played by Heather Matarazzo (Welcome to the Dollhouse 1996), Jennifer Coolidge (Best in Show 2000), Leslie Jordan (Sordid Lives 2000), and lets not forget, the iconic filmmaker of the crème-de-la-crème of bad taste, John Waters (Pink Flamingos 1971), playing a cameo as the real Jesus Christ. Furthermore, Ash Christian provides a satirical observation of suburban life in a small Texas community.
Due to budget restraints and a tight crew, the film was shot on HD cam, and when dealing with the digital medium, it can be tricky to enrich the quality of the image. As most filmmakers know, digital provides a very flat image, as opposed to the rich texture of film. Technically, I felt Mangus! was a rough cut to a more ambitious and polished piece of work. Some of the interior shots were a bit dark and blurry, or flooded with too much light, and could’ve used a few color corrections in post-production. In addition, the slow-motion effects in a few scenes were a bit jarring and superfluous. A little trim here and there on the final cut could’ve benefited. Indie films with a shoe-string budget and a small time-frame to complete for the festival circuit will invariably have a few rough edges. These minor flaws aren’t what I really look for in independent cinema. Story, originality, and character development are what truly matters.
Mangus! contains many laughs and bizarre plot lines, but towards the end, some of the offensive humor feels like a one-trick pony. The film left me craving for a more outrageous variation of comical, musical, melodramatic, and even gruesome genres. What the audience is walking into is a flat-out black comedy, what I really wanted out of Mangus! was an ambitious horror-musical-comedy. Overall, the film is quite the original invention, but I wanted more of a hodgepodge of polar genres.
Mangus! is premiering at the Dallas International Film Festival and is definitely worth a look. Ash Christian’s ideas and oddball visual grammar has midnight movie cult-status written all over it, and the more films he makes and the bigger budgets he’ll acquire, the more polished they’ll become.
**1/2 (out of four stars)
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