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 PARIAH
(Indican Pictures)
1998. Drama. Approx 103 minutes.
NR, violence, sex, brief nudity. White
man Steve and Black woman Sam are a happy couple involved in a blossoming
bi-racial relationship. After returning from a date, the loving couple is
jumped by a group of skinheads, who beat Steve and make him watch as each
skin rapes Sam. After the incident, Sam deals with it in her own special
way (don’t want to blow anything here) and Steve does the same. As the
group of skins continue their violent rampage over the next few months,
Steve learns their ways and becomes one of them in the hopes of destroying
them. Along with handling Steve’s infiltration, the skins must also deal
with a group of black men who are trying to kill them, and a huge group of
gay men who wish to do nothing more than beat them silly. Can Steve pull
off his plan, or will he succumb to the way of the skin?
Good flic here with an even better soundtrack (DI, Reagan Youth,
Social Unrest, Minor Threat, etc). The only problem is, there may be some
morons out there who associate punk rock with skinheads and racism. Ah
well, if they do, they’re numbnuts anyway, so who cares? I must write,
watching the Steve and Sam attack scene is troubling and it disturbed the
shyt out of me. It is not graphic, but
witnessing the enjoyment the skins got out of the violence and the “all
to real” feel of the scene bugged me. Watching the helplessness of Steve
is also horrifying in itself. Pariah also depicts that not only are the
skinheads violent, but so are the black guys and even the gay men.
Although, the gay men are more or less out for
revenge so who can blame them?. Watching the inner workings of the
skinheads is also odd, but rather entertaining. What’s the deal with
skinheads always playfully jumping
all over each other, then getting pissed and fighting? Odd behavior
indeed. They already have enough people who want to harm them, one would
think they’d at least get
along with each other while enjoying playtime. The acting is great all
around, but Damon Jones (Steve) is at times melodramatic. David Lee Wilson
(Skinhead David Lee) and Dave Ward (Skin Leader Crew) play great menacing
skinheads. Look for former TSOL lead singer Joe Wood in a rather
impressive cameo. Unfortunately, other than Lex (Anna Padgett), the female
skins are nothing to look at. As much as I liked this movie, I was most
disappointed by the lame “..this movie does not condone
racism..”disclaimer at the end of the movie’s credits. This disclaimer
is unnecessary and if some idiot thinks this movie is an act of racism
veneration, then screw ‘em. If you like Penelope Spheeris’ “Suburbia,” you’ll
definitely dig this flic. Edgy, nasty, and at times troublesome, I say.
– Denis Sheehan
Note; I got the following a day after
posting this review; “The disclaimer at the end of the film you mention,
has been removed and will not be in the videos and dvds going to stores in
April. The producer and director were forced to put that disclaimer on
when the film played at film festivals and the vhs screener you watched
was a dub from the print. David Ward, who plays the lead skinhead, was
murdered on April 2, 1999 exactly ten days before "Pariah"
debuted in Los Angeles. The man who murdered Dave has his trial start Mar.
15 2002. Everyone associated with the film loved Dave and miss him. Thank
you, Shaun Hill Producer --
Pariah."
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