July 1, 1981, LAPD police were dispatched to 8763 Wonderland Avenue where the bodies of four people were found bludgeoned to death. The story behind the murders would involve the mob, a robbery, drug pushers and the most famous porn actor ever filmed, John C. Holmes. This was the backdrop for the new Val Kilmer vehicle Wonderland.
Directed by James Cox (Rock Star), Wonderland is a film that supposes the final days of those murdered at the split-level home through the involvement of John Holmes and the seedy characters to which he was associated.
For those of you 25 years old or younger, John Holmes may not register immediately as a familiar name, but in the late 60's and early 70's when pornography was evolving into the booming industry it is today, John Homes was simply, The King'. With an endowment of over 13 inches, John gained fame and fortune starring in over 200 porn films and claims of sleeping with over 12,000 women. A quiet and kind man at the beginning of his career, John began using drugs in the early 70's and soon his dependency of heroin and cocaine would associate him with drug dealers and mobsters.
We see John Holmes in Wonderland at the end of his fame. Drugs have overtaken his career and John spends his days looking for his next freebase score. His so-called friends consist of a notorious mob-type Arab, Eddie Nash (Eric Bogosian) and his drug-addicted, crime buddies played with vigor by Josh Lucas, Tim Blake Nelson and an unrecognizable Dylan McDermott, as David Lind.
Spiraling out of control, John begins to pimp out his lover, teenage Dawn Schiller (Kate Bosworth), but when this does not bring enough drugs to compliment his habit, John then hatches a plan with his drug buddies to rob Eddie Nash of considerable drugs and money stashed in Nash's home. Fast forward to June 1981, and John arrives at Nash's home to pick up drugs to street peddle. John excuses himself to the kitchen and unlocks the door to give the burglars access. That night, the gang invades the home of Eddie Nash and makes away with an estimated $1.2 million in drugs, cash and jewellery. The repercussions of John's actions would lead to multiple murders and one of L.A.'s most notorious unsolved crimes.
Wonderland is a slightly better than average film with an above average cast. James Cox had an incredible factual story as to base his screenplay, and is honest enough to tell the story through two sets of eyes (Holmes and Lind), making no assumptions as to the involvement of Holmes in the actual murders. What is unfortunate is how the movie does not work as a sum of all its parts. It's as if the director knew he had a story, but didn't know what direction he wanted to take in order to tell it. It's part rock and roll fantasy, part drug induced paranoia and then it changes pace into a robbery/heist/murder mystery with the police trying to illicit a confession out of John as to the involvement of himself and the other players. We spend the first quarter of the movie through the confession of David Lind and his speculations and the last quarter through the off record report from John Holmes. In between, there is a story of love, failed marriage and a star on the brink of supernova that distracts us from what we have to come back crashing to at the films conclusion.
That said, anyone who has read the book Four on the Floor' or watched the E! True Hollywood Story knows that it would be hard to craft a film from such a fascinating chain of events. There are so many interesting characters and developments in the Wonderland murders (no one was ever charged for the crime) that compacting it into a two-hour film would seem almost impossible or unfair. Maybe that is why the superior Boogie Nights played so well. It represented a fictional account of the circumstances around a porn star turned drug addict, but did it with a flare of knowing when to introduce a new character or tragedy without having to owe homage to a true event. Still, Wonderland is a good experiment and will definitely not bore you even if you are still not aware as to the impact John Holmes had on generations thirty years ago.
Directed by James Cox (Rock Star), Wonderland is a film that supposes the final days of those murdered at the split-level home through the involvement of John Holmes and the seedy characters to which he was associated.
For those of you 25 years old or younger, John Holmes may not register immediately as a familiar name, but in the late 60's and early 70's when pornography was evolving into the booming industry it is today, John Homes was simply, The King'. With an endowment of over 13 inches, John gained fame and fortune starring in over 200 porn films and claims of sleeping with over 12,000 women. A quiet and kind man at the beginning of his career, John began using drugs in the early 70's and soon his dependency of heroin and cocaine would associate him with drug dealers and mobsters.
We see John Holmes in Wonderland at the end of his fame. Drugs have overtaken his career and John spends his days looking for his next freebase score. His so-called friends consist of a notorious mob-type Arab, Eddie Nash (Eric Bogosian) and his drug-addicted, crime buddies played with vigor by Josh Lucas, Tim Blake Nelson and an unrecognizable Dylan McDermott, as David Lind.
Spiraling out of control, John begins to pimp out his lover, teenage Dawn Schiller (Kate Bosworth), but when this does not bring enough drugs to compliment his habit, John then hatches a plan with his drug buddies to rob Eddie Nash of considerable drugs and money stashed in Nash's home. Fast forward to June 1981, and John arrives at Nash's home to pick up drugs to street peddle. John excuses himself to the kitchen and unlocks the door to give the burglars access. That night, the gang invades the home of Eddie Nash and makes away with an estimated $1.2 million in drugs, cash and jewellery. The repercussions of John's actions would lead to multiple murders and one of L.A.'s most notorious unsolved crimes.
Wonderland is a slightly better than average film with an above average cast. James Cox had an incredible factual story as to base his screenplay, and is honest enough to tell the story through two sets of eyes (Holmes and Lind), making no assumptions as to the involvement of Holmes in the actual murders. What is unfortunate is how the movie does not work as a sum of all its parts. It's as if the director knew he had a story, but didn't know what direction he wanted to take in order to tell it. It's part rock and roll fantasy, part drug induced paranoia and then it changes pace into a robbery/heist/murder mystery with the police trying to illicit a confession out of John as to the involvement of himself and the other players. We spend the first quarter of the movie through the confession of David Lind and his speculations and the last quarter through the off record report from John Holmes. In between, there is a story of love, failed marriage and a star on the brink of supernova that distracts us from what we have to come back crashing to at the films conclusion.
That said, anyone who has read the book Four on the Floor' or watched the E! True Hollywood Story knows that it would be hard to craft a film from such a fascinating chain of events. There are so many interesting characters and developments in the Wonderland murders (no one was ever charged for the crime) that compacting it into a two-hour film would seem almost impossible or unfair. Maybe that is why the superior Boogie Nights played so well. It represented a fictional account of the circumstances around a porn star turned drug addict, but did it with a flare of knowing when to introduce a new character or tragedy without having to owe homage to a true event. Still, Wonderland is a good experiment and will definitely not bore you even if you are still not aware as to the impact John Holmes had on generations thirty years ago.