When I started watching this film, I thought I was going to see a documentary about the end of Johnny Thunders, famous, indeed legendary junkie rock’n’roller. Instead to my surprise, it turned out to be a horror movie and a pretty good one at that, a weird, druggy, violent riff on the last moments in New Orleans of the guy who basically epitomized the New Yawk RNR style (somebody whose look any number of stinker bands like Motley Crue copped).
Leo Ramsey is letter perfect as the protagonist, from the thick accent, the sharp suit, and the bantam rooster mullet. Most of all, he accurately and excruciatingly portrays the miseries of heroin withdrawal, as Johnny staggers around NO in an increasingly more desperate search for methadone. Despite his degenerate drug addiction, Thunders yearns to get clean and be reunited with his daughter. I really felt for him as it becomes increasingly more apparent he was on a downward spiral to hell, doomed never to see his family again. As I said, this is a horror film and Thunders is menaced on several fronts, from the mundane, having his luggage stolen, to the grotesque, being trapped in a hospital filled with homicidal maniacs. There are a number of violent or disturbing scenes.
This film was apparently shot on a pretty low budget, but still effectively done in my opinion, with a good evocation of the free and sleazy Big Easy atmosphere. A special kudos to the guy who played the redneck drug dealer that JT tried to score methadone from. He didn’t even rate a credit on IMDB, but he was very, very good at being very, very scary.
I won’t give out any spoilers here except to note that Johnny Thunders dies at the end, which you know anyway. If you like horror and rock’n’roll (and they usually go hand in hand), this film should be for you.
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt8912932/?ref_=nv_sr_1?ref_=nv_sr_1