Originally from the California Salinas Valley, a filmmaker known only as “Moses” started a small studio called The Underground Front. With a strong sense of anti-establishment and a lack of good taste, the studio produces shorts, feature films, and comics. In 2008, Moses directed his first film, a documentary called Transcend, about a struggling filmmaker named Armando Gonzales. He followed this up with 2010’s Exploited, which starred fetish model Mercedes the Muse, who helped found The Underground Front. At some point, Moses and Mercedes’ work caught the attention of Troma Entertainment and Lloyd Kaufman. Troma agreed to distribute their next film, a grindhouse-style anthology with some influence from Bonnie & Clyde. Mercedes would star alongside Jim Schumacher, the bass player for the heavy metal band Brocas Helm since 1982. In 2017, Moses’ Rose and Viktor: No Mercy was released by Troma in June 2017.
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Synopsis
After his band breaks up, bass player Viktor (Jim Schumacher) decides to be a gun-for-hire that kills people for money. Along his travels, he runs into a young runaway named Rose (Mercedes), who her father sexually abused. After castrating her father (Samuel Lopez), Rose joins Viktor as they go around dispensing bloody justice for the right price. They take on a sleazy strip club owner (Michael Sundin), who’s been skimping on the money he owes his girls. An old lover of Viktor’s wants him to kill her husband, a war veteran who sees everyone as a terrorist. As they slaughter their targets, Viktor and Rose hook up with various groupies, get high, and reunite with old friends. At one point, a kid hires Viktor and Rose to eliminate The Pope (Charles Darwin Hepburn). The two set out for The Vatican on what might be their most dangerous job yet.
Review
Going into Rose and Viktor: No Mercy, I had no idea what to expect other than pure cinematic trash. It seems like Moses and crew wanted to make the most trashy exploitation film possible, and they mostly succeeded. Imagine putting Pink Flamingos and Natural Born Killers in a blender, mixing in acid, and that barely sums this up. This film isn’t concerned with having a compelling story, award-winning acting, decent cinematography, or any good taste. If there’s a taboo, it’s put on full display, whether it’s golden showers, violent sodomy, or sexualized fascism. To their credit, the effects are decent despite the low budget, and there are plenty of wince-inducing sequences. If the gross, taboo-shattering imagery doesn’t put you off, the technical shortcomings will make this unwatchable. Granted, it’s hard to judge the film’s technical qualities considering there’s a chance the filmmakers didn’t care.
The camera shakes constantly, and tons of zoom-ins and outs make it hard to see what’s happening. Also, the filmmakers added a digital film scratch to emulate an old grindhouse film, but it feels distracting. The acting isn’t great, but I suspect most of the dialogue was dubbed in post, considering the audio quality. In their defense, Jim Schumacher and Mercedes are having an excellent time and make a great duo. Plus, several segments have a unique look to emulate different film styles, like 30’s noir and 60’s drug movies. You can tell there is artistic merit underneath all the grime and grit; even trashiness is an art. While this film is not for everyone, it’s so bizarre and unlike anything else that it’s oddly compelling. Overall, Rose and Viktor: No Mercy is rough around the edges, but its imperfections make it stand out boldly.
Buy Rose and Viktor: No Mercy from Amazon: https://amzn.to/3VtC2Pe.
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