Population One

 

Population 1 Directed by Rene Daalder (1986).

 When I saw this for the first time I was riddled with Covid. I was stoned on gummies and drunk on thera-flu. If you can find this gem (Daily Motion perhaps?), I suggest you watch it heavily under the influence. This bitch gets trippy in thee best way! Population One stars Screamers front maniac Tomata Du Plenty. If you are unfamiliar with The Screamers, they were early innovators of synth punk. They expressed their art on stage mainly and never released anything (I just listened to the demo on bandcamp so there)!

Sheela Edwards my new crush!

A black and white nuclear wasteland music video ignites the flame of this Rene Daalder directed flick. Daalder made Massacre At Central High (1976) as well, which I highly recommend. 

The first song is funky no wave. Tomata plays the last known survivor of a nuclear holocaust. Population 1 has one of the most entertaining credit sequences that sets up the trajectory of the film. Sometimes Duplenty reminds me of Bruce Mcculloch on the Kids in the Hall. I wonder if this video had an effect on their comedy, who knows if they ever saw this! The Screamers and Tomatu were light years ahead of their time. This project was done as sort of a freeform live album on film.

Haunted bathroom appliances float around plus there’s a saxophone playing. Tomata tells lies as Polaroids snap pics and his nose grows longer like Pinocchio. The Goth siren Sheela Edwards sings a sax fueled tune about being a "Jazz Vampire". If it wasn't already apparent this is kind of a musical, so brace yourself.

Ahh the stench of punk royalty!

 We later see JV dancing with El Duce sans Mentors disguise. Duce was in Tomatu’s band before he started The Mentors. There are so many wild cameos like Vampira, Penelope Houston (singer of punk legends The Avengers), the giant from Twin Peaks, a child version of famed musician and scientologist Beck Hansen.

I invited all my famous pals over to watch me fart in the tub

This is the kind of cult movie Night Flight used to show but I’m not aware if it ever aired on the USA Network back in the day. Sheela Edwards aka Jazz Vampire is one of my favorite characters, sorry Tomata! 

I like how this and The Screamers art was meant to fizzle out and leave a lasting impression for those that witnessed it. I guess in this way they're creating edge-lords and internet trolls which is unfortunate. Still their music influenced so many keyboard synth driven queer core bands.

I heart micro-dosing

During one scene where The Screamers frontman wobbles around the house as they play footage from Bloodfeast (1960). We see a young pudgy version of El Duce with blonde hair and his girlfriend Marisol. 

eyes down here,over there,whatevs!

Some of the theatrics remind me of a Christopher Guest parody film. Sheela Edwards sing/screams I Wanna Hurt! She has a chipped tooth and looks stunning! There’s a mutant titty faced creature that reminded me of Bad Biology (2008). It all ends in a patriotic hail of gun blasts. This movie pops up on streamers every once in awhile but it remains unreleased which is a shame. I'd like to see Kino restore this one on blu-ray, it fits in with their catalog.

Sadly Tomatu Duplenty passed away from cancer at the age of 52. I urge you to seek this one out and their music, they were a vital force in punk rock history. I’d like to see Kino release this on a restored blu-ray.