ManiakJiggy This is How Movies Should Be Made

Smartorhypo Highly Overrated But Still Good

Executscan Expected more

Verity Robins Great movie. Not sure what people expected but I found it highly entertaining.

ksf-2 Paul Bartel and Mary Woronov star as a married couple, in this caper to raise money. They want to make enough dough to open their own restaurant. Even if what they have to do for the money is a little illegal. Like a John Waters film, the script is goofy, and no-one TRIES to be funny, they all just be themselves, and its hilarious. Here, we have the bonus of seeing some big-time stars in their early roles -- Robert Beltran, so famous from Star Trek, is Raoul, the Mexican wheeler dealer in his very second role. Some great "cameos" (BEFORE they were stars...) Ed Begley(swinger), Edie McClurg(swinger), and of course Buck Henry(swinger AND banker). Not to mention John Landis. A pretty funny scene at the adult bookstore when Paul goes to buy "supplies". Also some funny stuff going on at the swinger's party about an hour in. "Howard", one of the guests really WAS an LA DJ, which explains why he says what he says.... it's all pretty funny. nothing too complicated. all neatly wrapped up at the end. Written and directed by Paul Bartel. (who, incidentally also wrote and directed "Class Struggle in Beverly Hills", which ALSO starred Robert Beltran... )

SnoopyStyle It's the lurid deprived world of Hollywood. Paul Bland (Paul Bartel) is a liquor store clerk in a bad neighborhood but he has gourmet tastes. His wife Mary (Mary Woronov) is a nurse. Their rent is getting raised and they are low on cash. They hate their swinging noisy neighbors. When one of them tries to rape Mary, Paul kills him with a frying pan and steals his money. After another kill, they decide to advertise to lure more swingers. Thief Raoul Mendoza (Robert Beltran) breaks in and discovers a dead body. He proposes to join the Blands with them keeping the money and him keeping the bodies.It's weird and ridiculous deadpan humor. It's also fun. Bartel and Woronov are a great couple. It has a few big laughs but it is generally a lot of sly silly comedic takes. It is definitely unique.

Scarecrow-88 Not a cannibal comedy as you might be deceived into believing(although the film's punchline is along those lines)features an unemployed pushover and his hot nurse wife, Paul and Mary Bland(Paul Bartel and Mary Woronov, a dream pair if there ever was one) needing to come up with 25,000 dollars in a short amount of time in order to secure the property to open their dream restaurant. They concoct a scheme to murder sex-crazed perverts through a kinky ad in a paper attracting all sorts of demented clientèle(the kind into various forms of debauchery), stealing the money from their wallets. When they become aligned with a Chicano crook, Raoul(Robert Beltran), he offers a partnership with them, only wanting the bodies(and their possessions, making a bundle on the corpses' cars)splitting the money with them 50/50. When Raoul ignites a passionate, torrid affair with Mary, after rescuing her from the rape of a hippy(Ed Belgey, Jr!!!), the partnership will become more than strained(..even more so when Raoul attempts to run Paul over, plotting to murder him so he can have Mary all to himself!).Paul Bartel was a director after my own heart. God, I just love the overall plot idea of these two relatively normal people(they are labeled squares)becoming immersed into a world quite alien to them. A definite companion piece to Bartel's daffy Private Parts, "Eating Raoul" also takes place mostly in an apartment, this time containing hard-partying swingers into all sorts of sexual perversity. I was less enthusiastic of the recurring sub-plot involving the affair between Mary and Raoul, but it comments on the pitiful sex life of the married couple(I mean, they even sleep in separate beds for petesake!)and how Paul is represented as a weakling always getting pushed around(one scene has a hospital patient intruding upon them, locking Paul out of his own apartment while attempting to rape Mary!). Susan Saiger has a dandy of a role as Doris the Dominatrix(..we see her feeding her child and in domesticity while explaining the methods of her trade!), a source of information for the Blands, teaching them the rules of her profession. Woronov and Bartel are quite a team, their Blands so clueless as to the progressive times for which they are living in..their detachment emotionally from their criminal acts is the purist form of black comedy. They never suffer guilt or question their behavior..they actually look at the murders as a way of ridding the city of filth! It's gold! For a film containing murders of wealthy deviants by drawing them to the apartment of who they perceive to be a freak they believe will submit to their every whim through payment only to be clunked over the head with a frying pan, it isn't really that exploitative, or at least not as gratuitous as one might imagine with such a wicked plot. Sure there's nudity(we are introduced to a world where nakedness and sexual activity are accepted wholeheartedly), but "Eating Raoul" could've wallowed in sleaze, and Bartel decides not to go in that direction. I have no idea, the mind boggles, why Bartel's directorial career didn't flourish, his talent is evident in his limited resume..tis a shame.

Tromafreak Looking for some nice dark comedy? Then look no further, Eating Raoul should do just fine. Directed by, and starring Paul Bartel, along with Mary Woronov. Eating Raoul is an outrageous look into the lives of Paul and Mary Bland, a mild-mannered couple just trying to make ends meet, and to eventually save up to buy their own restaurant, Paul and Mary's Country Kitchen. Unfortunately, things aren't looking good, Paul just got fired from his job at the wine store for being a know-it-all, and Mary can't get a lone from the bank because she won't put out. Aside from the obvious, The hapless couple still considers their lives pretty swell, except that one pet peeve, Paul and Mary both share a passionate hatred for those damn swingers. Hey, that's it, Why not just put an ad in the paper to attract eager swingers, to rob and murder, because everybody knows swingers are always loaded. That country kitchen may not be too far off after all. Let the killing spree begin!! But when a third party named Raoul imposes on the action, who also has an eye for Mary, things get a little complicated, although, the cash is really rolling in now, so The suspicious Mr. Bland wouldn't want to rock the boat too much. I'm sure I could think of a better 80's cult comedy if I tried, but it might take awhile. This is really good stuff. Bartel and Woronov's portrayal of Paul and Mary is priceless as a boring married couple who just never put a whole lot of thought into married people stuff, and really come off more as pals than anything else, yet aren't phased in the least by mass murder with a frying pan. A superb script and colorful cast highlight this delight of a satire. For an exploitation gem with little nudity, and zero gore, this is most definitely some worthwhile exploitation. For more in mean-spirited comedies, check out Andy Warhol's Bad or Psychos In Love. This blissfully unrealistic, feel-good /mean-spirited silliness just might grow on you if you give it a chance. Eating Raoul is pitch-black entertainment just waiting to be discovered. An underrated cult classic if there ever was one. Highly recommended. 8/10