The Ghastly Love of Johnny X

A wild-eyed tribute to the B-movie era of juvenile delinquents in leather jackets—not to mention the schlocky sci-fi epics of Ed Wood (Plan 9 from Outer Space), with a touch of West Side Story—director Paul Bunnell's The Ghastly Love of Johnny X serves up an inspired pastiche of pop culture stereotypes. Reportedly shot on some of Kodak's last 35mm black-and-white Plus-X film stock, this intentionally overripe retro tale centers on the banishment of young misfits from their home planet to the American southwest, where ringleader Johnny X (Will Keenan) leads a band of tough chicks and tattooed hoods on a mission to survive on a strange planet: Earth. Johnny can redeem himself by performing a selfless action and thereby earn his way back home, so when the opportunity arises to salvage the career of a faded and dying rock star (Creed Bratton), he leaps at the chance. The loose storyline is really secondary to Bunnell's affection for 1950s movie rebels without a clue, outlaws and lovers living by their own codes, and musical numbers that threaten to break into bloody rumbles. And the cast includes a genuine sci-fi icon: the late Kevin McCarthy (Invasion of the Body Snatchers) in his last performance—a self-lampooning one at that. Recommended. (T. Keogh)