Excellent, a Must See

The film was still a fun one that will make you laugh and have you leaving the theater feeling like you just stole something valuable and got away with it.

A great movie, one of the best of this year. There was a bit of confusion at one point in the plot, but nothing serious.

Strong acting helps the film overcome an uncertain premise and create characters that hold our attention absolutely.

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... )

Here is a retro comedy from 1982 written and directed by Paul Bartel. Bartel and his wife, played by Mary Waronov are a sexless couple looking to raise $20,000 to open a gourmet restaurant. They kill a guy with a frying pan and take his money.They then hatch a plan to lure swingers to their apartment with a sex ad and proceed to make money with this scheme. The problem is that this grows tired with the repetition of the same frying pan scene over and over.The style is grade b porn with a few laughs now and then. The lead actor and actress are likable enough to give this a 5/10.

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.

No other black comedy, except perhaps "War of the Roses" comes close to the originality and cleverness of "Eating Raoul". It is totally outrageous, and that is what elevates the film to greatness. Paul Bartel and Mary Woronov play the "Blands" to perfection, and the unbelievable supporting cast is icing on the cake. The movie is so quotable, "Do you realize we just made $500? Yea, just by killing people", it's amazing. Check the numerous quotes on IMDb and you will see what I mean. Each viewing uncovers something new and hilarious about "Eating Raoul", strong testimony for it deserving the title "gold standard" of black comedy. - MERK