From The Grave
DARK DELICATESSEN
The comedy in Eating Raoul (1982) is so broad that even Will Farrell would find a place to hang his hat on. Eating Raoul is also a very black comedy that falls in the same genre that ‘The Burbs’ can be placed in.
Paul and Mary Bland desperately want to open their own restaurant. Paul (Paul Bartel - Rock n Roll High school, Death Race 2000, Amazon Women on the Moon.) works at a liquor store and is always trying to bring in a better tasting class of wine into the store. But Paul’s boss doesn’t care for his selling strategies, and bringing in cases of expensive wine stock he can’t move. Paul is abruptly fired for having good taste. Mary (Mary Woronov - Rock n Roll High school, Monsters.) works as a nurse and constantly pawed by her male patients.
Mary and Paul live in a building that is constantly throwing a “Swinger’s” party. On the night Mary and Paul are expecting their realtor; one of the swingers breaks in to their house and accosts Mary. Lucky for her, Paul finishes grocery shopping and he flattens the man with a frying pan, killing him. They quickly learn the man was a bank executive and probably cancelled their credit card. Paul decides to rob the man, thus begins a plan hatched by the two of them to rob and kill “Swingers” in their building. The realtor needs 20,000 dollars for a down payment on a country home (place of their restaurant).Just as they are discarding the body, Mary decides to go to the bank for a loan.
Apparently, Paul and Mary think sex of any kind is disgusting. Mary finds a card on the dresser advertising a Dominatrix. “Paul? What’s this?” She’s a mad woman who attacks people with a whip,” Paul explains. “Ugggg,” Mary says. “I don’t mind a little hugging and kissing, but that is disgusting!” And off to bed they go, in separate beds, of course.
Paul meets up with a wine collector who has interest in buying Paul’s extravagant collection. Meanwhile, Mary heads to the bank. Unknowingly, Mary had picked up the Dominatrix card and spills her purse when a patient bumps into her (same that was trying to get a date with her.) He sees the card and becomes enamored with Mary even more than before. Paul and the collector go to a restaurant to discuss the price, leaving the wine in the collector’s hotel room. Mary sees the bank manager, Mr. Leach (Played by Buck Henry.). Mr. Leach starts to get the wrong idea about Mary. He thinks Mary should do him a favor for the bank giving the loan. Just as she is filling out paperwork, Mr. Leach attacks Mary. And his secretary opens the door on them, to which he responds that Mary came on to him. Being dragged out of the bank, Mary cries out, “You liar! Creep! Pervert!”
Paul is left high and dry at the restaurant. The wine collector never came back, and Paul was left with the check. So Paul hightails it to the hotel. The wine collector is gone, and he had taken Paul’s wine.
Back at Paul and Mary’s place, the patient from the hospital bursts in while Mary is walking on Paul’s back. He thinks Mary is that Dominatrix and he’s willing to “Pay cash for gash,” as he puts it. The patient locks Paul out of the apartment and attacks Mary. Paul finally comes to her rescue with the frying pan, but the patient wrestles it out of Paul’s hands. This time, it’s Mary who kills, hitting the man with the frying pan.
Again, Paul and Mary take the victim’s money. Killing off dirty sex crazed perverts for their money becomes a way to buy the life they feel they deserve. Paul and Mary go see the real Dominatrix whose name was on the card. She schools them on the sex game. Informing them that it’s all acting and she draws the line at golden showers. She has a toddler and it’s a way for her to make ends meet. Leaving the Dominatrix’s house, they find a flyer in the windshield of their car. Raoul’s locks and keys. Enter the character of Raoul (Robert Beltran-Night of the Comet, Lonewolf McQuade, Star Trek-voyager). Turns out Raoul is a locksmith and a part time burglar. The next day Mary and Paul open their PO Box with a slew of letters, all containing pictures and contacts of their future clients. Raoul comes to check the apartment out and install new locks. Mary accidently tells Raoul about the wine. There are several scenes with their clients, the Nazi, a man pretending to be a precocious boy, all of which Paul kills with his trusty frying pan.
"This film is a lot of fun."
Raoul breaks into the apartment using a skeleton key for the lock he installed on their front door. He sneaks around, watches Paul and Mary sleep, and scans the apartment for valuables. He steals a few bottles of wine, and then makes a gruesome discovery: the Nazi lying in a garbage bag. Paul and Mary wake up and find Raoul in the kitchen, Paul ready to strike with his frying pan. Raoul questions them about the body and the money. They tell him they are willing to kill him, but Raoul wants in on the deal - partly blackmailing Paul and Mary into it - partly because he’s fascinated with Mary. Mainly, Raoul just wants the dead bodies. They strike a deal.
The next scene is one of the funniest in the movie. A man dressed as a Pirate chases Mary, who is dressed as Minnie Mouse. Of course Paul is there hiding, and hits the man over the head with weapon of choice: the frying pan. It looks like Mary and Raoul are starting to like each other, just a little too much. Raoul is looking for a dealer to take the bodies off his hands and while at the Mexican restaurant, his middle man mentions someone by the name of King. All the middle man wants is a nice set of “wheels”.
The next client, a hippie (Ed Begley, Jr.) shows up while Paul is out shopping for dinner. Naturally, Mary tries to call it off. But the Hippie is more than just in the mood: “The music is the Dead, there’s incense in the air - I’m in the moment……” They argue and the Hippie becomes violent, tries to rape Mary. Raoul shows up just in time and strangles the hippie.
Both get turned on, especially after seeing Raoul kill a man and she being naked. Raoul finds the Hippies Tai stick and he and Mary smoke it. Raoul has sparked something in Mary Bland. The two of them make love, with a dollar bill spread out on her body. Paul comes home and sees Raoul there. They explain the events and he agrees that Raoul had earned his money protecting Mary, but he still doesn’t trust Raoul. The next client knocks on the door. It’s a little person with a Great Dane.
Mary and Raoul meet up at the hospital under the guise of her giving him a physical. Raoul admits to Mary that he’s crazy about her. She wants to break things off. He tells her he doesn’t care about the money or her husband, just her. “You don’t understand! I’m a hot blooded crazy Chicano!” He threatens to tell Paul. She says she was just confused the other night from that “funny cigarette” he gave her. Raoul pulls out another joint and has her prove to him that it wasn’t just the “funny cigarette”. He says, “If it is, then I’ll never bother you ever again. They smoke the joint and make love in a hospital room. A male nurse asks the head nurse where Mary is. She decides to look for her.
Nowadays, Paul Bartel is considered a low budget auteur. I remember when he was just another low budget indy director. I always thought Bartel was good. He had a visual style that is unobtrusive to the viewer. He has had a resurgence of sorts with the remake of Death Race 2000 (1975, 2008). I also remember when this movie got a lot of buzz and how hard it was to get a rented copy from the video store. Someone somewhere, as it was explained to me at the time, was probably throwing a party. I can see that. This film is a lot of fun.
Mark Slade, HMS
Read the previous installment.