Eating Raoul

In Paul Bartel's 1982 black comedy, he and longtime collaborator Mary Woronov star as a mild-mannered, straight-laced couple named, appropriately (if obviously) enough, Paul and Mary Bland, who turn to kinky sex and murder to earn the cash they need to open their dream restaurant in the country. Bartel, who directed the cult movie Death Race 2000 for Roger Corman, brings a similar sensibility and deadpan wit to this social satire of a culture of sexual permissiveness and excess. Part of the humor comes from how easily—almost eagerly—this repressed, utterly square couple take to killing their debauched victims, as if unleashing the dark souls buried under their well-behaved exteriors and simple aspirations. Robert Beltran is Raoul, a thief who elbows his way into their plot and puts the moves on a wary Mary. Not really a horror film—Paul and Mary dispatch their victims with a frying pan to the head, and the crimes play out as slapstick comedy—Eating Raoul is a minor cult film featuring sexual deviance, cannibalism, and dead bodies sold for dog food, all played for laughs. Re-released on DVD and bowing on Blu-ray, extras include audio commentary, a retrospective featurette, and two early short films by Bartel—The Secret Cinema (1968) and Naughty Nurse (1969)—as well as a booklet. Serving up plenty of gleeful bad taste, this is a strong optional purchase. (S. Axmaker)