DbcultAccessing Vault...
6.7/10
Senior Film Conservator
A definitive 6.7/10 rating for a film that redefined the boundaries of cult cinema. The Dark Horse remains a cornerstone of transgressive art.
If you like your movies snappy and mean-spirited, yeah, watch it. It’s not trying to win an Oscar, it’s trying to finish the scene before the coffee gets cold.
If you need your political satire to be 'important' or 'nuanced,' you’re going to hate this. It’s too busy being loud and ridiculous to bother with dignity. 🙄
There’s a moment early on where the candidate, played by Guy Kibbee, is told to say something—anything—and he just kind of freezes. The look on his face is pure panic. It’s the most relatable thing in the whole movie.
The pacing is aggressive. It moves so fast it almost feels like it’s trying to hide the fact that the plot is basically just a series of disasters strung together by shouting matches. 🏃♂️💨
It’s got that 1930s 'everybody talks at once' energy. You know the kind. People are constantly walking into rooms, yelling, and then leaving before the door even shuts. It’s exhausting in a way that I weirdly enjoyed.
Warren William is doing a lot of the heavy lifting here. He plays the jailbird-turned-campaigner with this sweaty, desperate charisma that makes you think he might actually pull it off. Or he might just be scamming everyone in the room. Probably both.
The humor is pretty sharp for a film that feels this dusty. It doesn't have the polish of something like Come Clean, but it hits harder when it lands a joke. Sometimes it hits a wall, but it keeps running anyway.
There is a scene near the end involving a speech that goes so wrong it’s almost painful to watch. I think I held my breath for a second just out of secondhand embarrassment. 😬
It’s not a masterpiece. It’s not even trying to be. It’s just a funny, cynical little movie about how dumb people can get when they want power. Worth a look if you’re tired of movies that take themselves way too seriously.