CRUST (2023)
Label: Anchor Bay Entertainment
Region Code: Region-Free
Rating: Unrated
Duration: 101 Minutes 39 Seconds
Audio: English Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround with Optional English Subtitles
Video: 1080p HD Widescreen (1.85:1)
Director: Sean Whalen
Cast: Sean Whalen, Alan Ruck, Wendle Josepher, Daniel Roebuck, Felissa Rose, Ricky Dean Logan, Rebekah Kennedy, Roxy Striar, Jackson Everest, Chanda Rawlings, Ethan Daniel Corbett. BJ Mezek, Subhah Agarwal, Angela Grace Martin, Yan Birch
Written and directed Sean Whalen (The People Under the Stairs) Crust tells the story of a former child star turned lonely laundromat owner named Vegas Winters (Whalen)who lives in his broken down office at the laundromat, He's a seriously sad-sack, has-been who keeps the leftover socks from customers laundry cycles and uses them to, well, jack off into, clean up blood now and again, and occasionally wipe away his own tear. His only friend in the world is the alcoholic handyman Russ (Daniel Roebuck, River' Edge) who always seems to be at the 'mat. Vegas struggles with self-esteem and mental health issues, made worse when an annoying teen invades his space and videos him jacking off in his backroom, which he does a lot, posting it to social media and making the former child star headline news for all the wrong reasons. Not helping is the toxic relationship with his ex-wife Laura (Felissa Rose, Sleepaway Camp), and another childhood actor named Randy (Alan Ruck, Ferris Bueller's Day Off) who acted on the same TV series with Vegas, and who comes promising a lucrative relaunch of the series, only to mislead Vegas for his own gain.
Things take a turn when while crying tears of anguish into his pile of bodily-fluid heavy socks brings to life a cooing sock-monster who sets out to destroy anyone that hurts or threatens Vegas, giving the sad-sack a bit of pep for the first time in a long time, as does the arrival of a mysterious love interest by way of Nila (Rebekah Kennedy, Two Witches). However, years of abuse and the fear of betrayal, and the influence of his protective sock-monster threatens to make Vegas into a monster himself.
Crust is a fun monster flick, sort of Frank Henenlotter's
Basket Case by way of Kevin Smith's Clerks, it's well-written with tons of zesty dialogue, and it's also solidly directed by first-time director Whalen, with a particularly cast, especially Whalen himself. It's great to see him here, looking a bit like less craggy-faced Steve Buscemi (noy an insult, I love Buscemi), which the B&W cinematography loves, and he turns in a wonderfully moving turn that had me both sympathizing with and then turning against him at certain points, his arc is pretty interesting for sure. I also love how the whole cast know the tone this is going for, a humorous and slightly absurd sock-monster flick with some deeper subtext about mental-health, and it's a banger.
Audio/Video: Crust (2024) arrives on Blu-ray from the newly re-launched Anchor Bay Entertainment, once a seminal distributor who helped bring the euro-cult horror from the likes of Lucio Fulci, Paul Naschy, Dario Argento and Mario Bava to North American VHS and DVD. The relaunch of the brand comes from Umbrelic Entertainment co-founders Thomas Zambeck and Brian Katz, who seem to be focused on a newer culty indie flicks, and Crust is the first one that has come across my desk. The film is black and white and looks terrific, deep black and pleasing grayscale throughout, crisp and well-defined. Audio comes by way of lossy Dolby Digital 5.1 with optional English subtitles. Not a fan of the lossy audio but it does the job well enough, there's not a ton of surround action but it's a solid track.
Extras include a Director's Commentary with Writer/Director /Star Sean Whalen, and a Q&A from Crust Los Angeles Premiere at the Gardena Cinema 9/10/24 with the cast and crew. Another nice addition are the Dorothy video's Whalen made, playing a foul-mouth, chain-smoking version of Dorothy from The Wizard of Oz, which are terrific, these include the 3-min Dorothy: 50 Years Later and it's sequel short the 7-min Dorothy: The Bump and Run. The single-disc
Blu-ray arrives in a standard keepcase with a single-sided sleeve of artwork.
Special Features:
- Director's Commentary with Writer/Director / Star Sean Whalen
- DOROTHY: 50 YEARS LATER (2:37)
- DOROTHY: THE BUMP AND RUN (6:43)
- Q&A from CRUST Los Angeles Premiere at the Gardena Cinema 9/10/24 (23:58)
Screenshots from the Anchor Bay Ent. Blu-ray:
Extras:
