Tagline: Let’s do it! Let’s be ninjas!
Curiosity: It’s the only film starring stand-up legend Bill Hicks, available commercially for the first time on The Essential Collection.
Plot: Clarence (Kevin Booth) is a Robitussin addict looking to kick the habit and pick up ninjitsu. His parents don’t approve, his girlfriend leaves him, and he gets his ass kicked a lot. But one day, during a Robi-trip, he sees a vision: Travel to Korea to study the way of the ninja with Master (Hicks).
Then he gets his ass kicked some more.
Thoughts: While its plot is thin and its production value poor, Ninja Bachelor Party is the kind of low budget curio that I can’t deny. It helps if you’re a Hicks convert (I agree that he’s the father of alt-comedy, but he represents the style’s shortcomings as well as its successes), but it should appeal to fans of weird comedy.
At the same time, though, it’s a legitimate love letter to martial arts movies complete with several training montages. I’m not going to put it in the same league as Black Dynamite, because Michael Jai White is a way better filmmaker, but the final showdown between Clarence and Dr. Death (Hicks, in a dual-role) is much longer than you’d think, and they get in at least a handful of legitimate fighting moves. Granted, Ninja Bachelor Party took eight years (and only $5,000) to make, and it certainly looks like it, but it’s still a solidly entertaining flick.
Essentially, you get Hicks and Booth riffing into a microphone. Rapid fire one-liners mix with stranger comedy, like when the film opens with 10 anti-piracy warnings and closes with enough made-up credits to eat up one-sixth of the running time. I love it because A) it’s funny in a “What the hell?” sense and B) it shows that Hicks was more than just f-bombs and Goat Boy sex stories. My favorite comedians didn’t hit their stride until their thirties (See Patton Oswalt, Tina Fey, etc.), and I think Ninja Bachelor Party hints at the truly odd depths Hicks could have gone if he’d lived longer. His stand-up material is still pretty good, but I honestly think Party could have lead to something greater.
Reflection: …or maybe it’s just a better-than-average home movie. You tell me:
This is unashamedly my favourite film because Bill Hicks and Kevin Booth had so much fun making it. I also love the films of Kurosawa and Tarkovsky, but this film reminds me of the joy friendship can bring. "A choice between love and fear", as Bill would say.
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