Dragstrip Girl (1994)
** (out of 4)
Fair entry in Showtime's "Rebel Highway" series has bad boy Johnny (Mark Dacascos) resorting to stealing cars so that he can raise enough cash to start a mechanic shop with his crippled brother. Enter the picture rich girl Laura (Natasha Gregson Wagner) who Johnny falls in love with. The two hit it off but her family and friends reject him as being a loser while his friends don't want a rich prep around. DRAGSTRIP GIRL doesn't have too much in common with the 1957 version as this one here tells a different story and also tries to mix in a social message. A lot is made about Johnny being Mexican and he faces quite a bit of racism, which mixes into the story but in the end this serious side can't really add anything. This entire series has struck me as a tad bit weird because the producers wanted to "updated" this exploitation movies but all they really did is re-film them with alternate stories. Having this take place in the 1950s adds some interesting visuals but I still wonder what the entire point was. For the most part this is slightly entertaining in a bad movie way as there are some campy moments that really make it stand out. One deals with a death towards the end, which I won't spoil as to who it happens to but this "sad" moment is shot in such a way that I couldn't help but burst into laughter. There's also a sex scene where that remains rather clean and doesn't feature any nudity yet it features a score that seems to have been borrowed from one of Showtime's many softcore films. Both Dacascos and Wagner are good in their parts and we even get Traci Lords in a brief bit. There are also some nice tunes including a couple Fats Domino songs and this here is always a good thing. DRAGSTRIP GIRL is certainly far from a bad film but it's a bit too uneven to really work.
** (out of 4)
Fair entry in Showtime's "Rebel Highway" series has bad boy Johnny (Mark Dacascos) resorting to stealing cars so that he can raise enough cash to start a mechanic shop with his crippled brother. Enter the picture rich girl Laura (Natasha Gregson Wagner) who Johnny falls in love with. The two hit it off but her family and friends reject him as being a loser while his friends don't want a rich prep around. DRAGSTRIP GIRL doesn't have too much in common with the 1957 version as this one here tells a different story and also tries to mix in a social message. A lot is made about Johnny being Mexican and he faces quite a bit of racism, which mixes into the story but in the end this serious side can't really add anything. This entire series has struck me as a tad bit weird because the producers wanted to "updated" this exploitation movies but all they really did is re-film them with alternate stories. Having this take place in the 1950s adds some interesting visuals but I still wonder what the entire point was. For the most part this is slightly entertaining in a bad movie way as there are some campy moments that really make it stand out. One deals with a death towards the end, which I won't spoil as to who it happens to but this "sad" moment is shot in such a way that I couldn't help but burst into laughter. There's also a sex scene where that remains rather clean and doesn't feature any nudity yet it features a score that seems to have been borrowed from one of Showtime's many softcore films. Both Dacascos and Wagner are good in their parts and we even get Traci Lords in a brief bit. There are also some nice tunes including a couple Fats Domino songs and this here is always a good thing. DRAGSTRIP GIRL is certainly far from a bad film but it's a bit too uneven to really work.
