The Secret of Wendel Samson (1966)

Director: Mike Kuchar

Writer: Mike Kuchar?

Composer: Bob Cowan

Starring: Red Grooms, Mimi Gross, Floraine Connors, Maren Thomas, Albert Salzano, Bob Cowan, George Kuchar

More info: IMDb

Plot: A young homosexual artist feels trapped in his life. He feels confused and ashamed about his lifestyle. Unlucky in love, and unable to sufficiently express his emotions, he must resort to seedy one night stands and callous flings. Eventually, the strain is too much and he starts to have a breakdown.

My rating: 5.5/10

Will I watch it again? No.

Meh. Experimental cinema is a funny thing.  It's made for art's sake but that doesn't mean dick when it comes to quality regarding the story, acting, structure, etc or even the film as a whole.  Sometimes it's just pretentious artsy fartsy masturbation, the excesses of an ego cut loose.  It can also be difficult to judge a film like this because we're almost fifty years removed from it and having the context of the mid 60s might play a big role.  As it is now, It's mildly entertaining. The pacing struggles sometimes and there's some strange imagery.  Some things make sense and others don't.  Could the director have had his head up his ass or did he genuinely have something to say?  I think it's the latter but it's certainly not interesting enough to want to try and figure it out.  One thing is cool and that's putting a sparkler in the barrel of a machine gun.  I'll have to try that sometime and experiment with strobe lighting.  That could be cool.  Then you'll be asking if I had something to say or was my head up my ass.  Either way...could be.