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Nov 13, 2015 By Jason Wilson Web Exclusive

Schlock movies and being “so bad it’s good” are staples of event cinema. These films become ritualistic. Ed Wood was a universally panned director but his legacy is more forgiving because he put so much of his heart into the subpar art that meant the world to him. If a “bad” movie seems to have been modeled that way on purpose, audiences are smart enough to spot the inauthenticity.

Looking only at the release date and the finished product, it would be easy to dismiss Dangerous Men as such a contrived film. One designed to capitalize on fans of z-cinema and the days of grindhouse merged with 80s cheese. It is a convoluted, poorly acted, shoddily made mess of a movie. And it was someone’s dream to make it. That person was John S. Rad. An Iranian immigrant, Rad spent nearly 25 years making Dangerous Men before needing to rent out space to be able to show it during its initial run in 2005. He died only a couple years later.

It carries a ridiculous premise. Mina and her fiancé are attacked on the beach by a pair of bikers. The fiancé dies after killing one of the bikers. The remaining assailant takes the woman with him, where she tricks him into letting his guard down with the promise of sex and plunges a knife into his back—several times. This event sparks a new career choice for Mina: she becomes a fake prostitute who murders her johns. Meanwhile, her fiancé’s policeman brother tracks down some bikers related to the killing. The two stories seem like they’re supposed to be interconnected, but they aren’t woven together with any depth or care.

That really shouldn’t be beside the point, either. Even movies that have garnered midnight cult status like Troll 2 or The Room are not considered good movies. The events behind them are classic, but to watch one of them alone at home would be a nightmare. The same goes for Dangerous Men. Every aspect is poorly executed. The music is random and often tonally incompatible. The scene on the beach where the bikers attack is accompanied by a lighthearted score antithetical to the goings on. In other scenes, it looks and sounds like Rad has spliced in porn clips – wait for the introduction of biker Black Pepper.

One interesting theme the film touches on, which is present in its title, is shifting gender politics. Mina, at least, is not portrayed as a cowering or weak victim. She takes matters into her own hands in a role that would traditionally be given to a man. That she gets to be the vigilante antihero is an interesting choice.

Dangerous Men is a terrible movie that gets intriguing with the extra-textual information of the director’s biography. Knowing the story behind the movie doesn’t make it any better, but it does give it more of an element of curiosity and it could endear it to midnight audiences. The nonsensical climax could leave audiences baffled and cheering, but if you’re not a fan of garbage cinema, even for the fun of it, Dangerous Men is best to be avoided.

drafthousefilms.com/film/dangerous-men

Author rating: 3/10