In theory, "Wonderland" has everything to be an absolute favorite of mine. The plot revolves around a notorious (and bloody disgusting) true-crime murder case, the cast is full of familiar but non-obvious B-actors/actresses (Val Kilmer, Tim Blake Nelson, Ted Levine, Carrie Fisher, Eric Bogosian...) and the lead character is one of the most controversial anti-heroes of 70s exploitation cinema. Unfortunately, though, the film is a desperate cult-movie wannabe, and the fairly unknown James Cox directs with an arrogance and pretention as if he's God's gift to cinema.
John Holmes was a pioneer of the adult film industry - and proud carrier of an enormous member - throughout the 70s, but by the early 80s he was constantly broke and under the influence of drugs. The further downwards spiral even led, in the summer of 1981, to Holmes getting linked to the brutal Wonderland murders. Fascinating, for sure, but the script is poor and incoherent, and the overload of supposedly cool techniques (blitz editing, split screens, etc...) is quite annoying. Personally, I doubt this film would have even existed if it wasn't for the success-hit "Boogie Nights".
John Holmes was a pioneer of the adult film industry - and proud carrier of an enormous member - throughout the 70s, but by the early 80s he was constantly broke and under the influence of drugs. The further downwards spiral even led, in the summer of 1981, to Holmes getting linked to the brutal Wonderland murders. Fascinating, for sure, but the script is poor and incoherent, and the overload of supposedly cool techniques (blitz editing, split screens, etc...) is quite annoying. Personally, I doubt this film would have even existed if it wasn't for the success-hit "Boogie Nights".