Vietnam Ron

"In this vignette oriented piece, a group of people discuss their own often unique perspective on life. Unlike other titles in his canon, Esoterica is completely apropos. Each sequence suggests the inner psychological struggles of seemingly normal people, the whole “private conversation in their head” thing given new and startling voice over reality. They are talking to themselves - and responding. All the standard players are here - icons from the past (Vietnam Ron, Walt Dongo) as well as new faces (Nolan Ballin, Sara Flanders) fresh and buoyant with the boy genius’s love of language. Together, their paint a stunning portrait of human frailty and mental mania." (review excerpt by Bill Gibron)

There are four main characters at the center of this surreal screwball comedy, a quartet of humanity hampered by their own flaws. In a dusty hotel room, a depressed husband (Lloyd Kaufman) reads a "Dear John" letter from his long suffering spouse. In another location, an old man (Tyree) tells the tale of his randy rollercoaster existence -- and the hunchback son he fathered. In a trailer across town, a recluse (Vietnam Ron) is loosing his eyesight and reflects on his failed relationship with his blonde bimbo wife (Maryanne Spychalski). Elsewhere, a flamboyant real estate agent entertains clients and friends in a tumble down track house. Together they form the spine of a storyline that shifts between scatological discussions of intestinal gas and equally meaningful mediations on contentment, and the pursuit of friendship.

Trailer Town is a unique motion picture experience, truly unlike anything you've seen before. A sexual interpretation of inner violence, about out-of-work comedians living in a trailer park run by a soap opera star. The old comedians cannot work anymore due to their addictions, and come up with the filthiest, most offensive routines they can devise, to strike out at mainstream society, their only audience being themselves. When Bill recieves an eviction notice for having too many wild parties, he takes to the roof of his trailer with a rifle, and declares he is a victim of an 'aluminum holocaust.'

When a lucky cow wins an all expense paid weekend at a local hotel, it can’t believe its good fortune. It gets to relax, unwind, and avoid a trip to the slaughterhouse - at least for a few days. Of course, it couldn’t imagine the menagerie of madmen it would run into. Down the hall is a pair of drug addled dimwits who are desperate for something to eat. The cow becomes their main focus. Meanwhile, two different spree killers are wrecking havoc. One murders at the command of some erroneous bath linen. The other listens to a voice inside his shoe, the instructions resulting in even more dead bodies. All the while, our contented animal tries to accommodate everyone’s needs, which typically revolve around a room service meal of meat and potatoes.

Material from this film (as well as other sequences previously shot but never used in other films) were eventually edited into what became Period Piece in 2006.

"Baby Swiss is obsessed with a strange science fiction film. She fantasies about living in its futuristic ideals, and keeps a separate DVD copy in a strongbox under the house just to be on the safe side. Naturally, this drives her unattended husband to the local whorehouse, known as The Village of the Moon. There, he meets up with other unhappy men and drowns his sorrows in high priced call girls. In the meantime, Baby Swiss discovers a kind of platonic love with a like minded neighbor. He is so desperate to be part of her life that he will wait outside her window. Their relationship will turn on whether she cleans the glass, or closes the blinds. And all the while, a homeless Greek chorus champions the freedom of living on the streets, unencumbered by the mindless machinations of being part of this so-called “proper society”" (review excerpt by Bill Gibron)

Wiggly Harris is a volunteer worker at a senior citizen's home. Due to his obsession with stealing wigs, Wiggly has a warrant out for his arrest. Freaked out that his unemployment benefits have almost run out and bombarded with relationship issues(his stripper girlfriend demands that Wiggly lose his virginity to her and start meeting her sexual needs in one of the most memorable sex scenes ever filmed) Wiggly is quickly losing his grip. Further frustrated by his oddball parents (the father, a religious fanatic who feels the end of the world is coming soon, and the mother, who collects photos of food) Wiggly comes to a horrific end.

Doily lives with his psychic wife Haley Comet. She does readings, and has sex with clients on the side. He spends his days dishing with his friends Terrace and Sabado. At the beginning of one memorable summer, Doily is chased by a bee. The insect eventually hunts down and kills his buddy Terrace, who is then brought back to life by a mysterious alien object. Next, a client of Haley finds his hair cut and shampooed - and he didn’t do it. Then a dinner party at friend Colby Jack’s turns weird when the host is transformed into a giant pot pie. In between, our hero is attacked by a monster and a household slipper, and rediscovers his love for crystal meth. But when buddy Terrace turns up again, this time as a talking VCR, Doily starts getting scared. While Haley considers all these events mere “freak occurrences”, her lover man is convinced they are signs that someone is trying to kill him.

Following multiple plotlines with an unique assortment of tragicomic characters living along the Ventura Highway. There’s the retired police office, broken and homeless after the untimely death of his son during a birthday camping trip. The elderly homebound father, hopelessly doomed to pantomime the sexual conquests of his glory days with an imaginary prostitute named Serenity. The French midget writing his epic screenplay about a half-man/half-stuffed animal chauffeur.

Tired of living under a bridge like a troll, middle-aged homeless man Ronzoni decides to reconnect with his roots. Buying a bowling ball as a Christmas gift, he heads out to visit his retired father and distant sister Agatha who live in a local trailer park. Unfortunately, they both think he’s a wholly worthless bum. When a large box lands on his chest, Ronzoni is stuck behind his dad’s double wide and no matter how hard they try, they just can’t seem to get the empty cardboard container off his body. Wanting to escape his incessantly whining, the pair head off to a hotel. There, Agatha meets Nicholas, an in-room escort who opens her eyes to the joy of music and the fun of making anti-porno.

Apartheid has been ordered to Green Hockers Rehab Center for excessive drinking. His habit is so bad that his life has become one continuous case of the DTs. As a matter of fact, a disembodied old man with the same initials seems to be controlling his attempt at sobriety. Forced to wear a monkey around his neck to highlight his problem, said simian comes with two bags of rocks around its legs. The longer Apartheid stays, the more rocks will be removed and the less weight he will have to be subjected. Of course, DT doesn’t help. He offers disquieting visions of smiley faced stones that punch people out, remote control apes that choke people to death, and others with equally oppressive addictions of their own. As he battles with the bottle, losing most of the time, all Apartheid wants to do is get away from this abusive clinic. Little does he know that, just like Hotel California, he can check out any time he likes, but he can never, ever, ever, leave.

For film historian Greg Connor, things haven’t been going well. He’s had mental problems ever since the day he ruined his chance at being a DVD commentator. During the featurette for a favorite noir classic, he committed an unspeakable, unnatural act. Now his shrink is suggesting he take a small vacation to get away from it all. Running out of gas, Connor comes across a fallen crossing guard, a psychotic with a pick axe, a young lady named Distosia, who is studying to be part of a cult, one of his favorite soap stars, and a young man he once photographed in the nude. All of this leads to a kind of psychotic breakdown where Connor’s sexual dysfunction manifests itself in more and more bizarre ways. Eventually, there’s nothing left to do but dance and sing. Besides, life’s not too bad when you think about it.

An artist named Poo paints chicken pot pies with the excrement of homeless people. With the help of an adult filmmaker in his drug rehab course, he hopes to earn a fortune by impregnating his wife and making a "pregnant porn" film.

60 year old widow and cystic fibrosis sufferer Daisy (Gayle Wells) hooks up with crack addicted lonely ex-cop Rick (Walt Dongo) in a trailer park romance.

Holiday Weekend centers on how people relate to each other. A young couple quibbles over an impulsive decision to steal a coffee machine, while the victimized pair sans Sanka plays an unusual game of affection and abuse. A young man with werewolf-ism moves in with a fledgling songwriter, while elsewhere, an injured individual with Tourettes seeks council from a high priced lawyer. All the while, some elderly homosexual lovers reunite, dancing to celebrate the rekindling of their long dormant love. Giving us his spin on spirituality and the afterlife. Holiday Weekend is like several small sketches that add up to one incredible portrait.

On his 62nd birthday, confirmed lazybones Herbopolus grabs his nest egg and buys himself a new trailer, a fine 5th Wheel. Now all he has to do is sit back and wait for the Social Security checks to start rolling in. In the meantime, his insane brother Bananas Foster escapes from the Catalina Mental Institution and, looking for a place to hole up, gets Herbopolus to let him stay in his swanky new digs. So does their dad, a sex change octogenarian who's lesbian lover has kicked him out of the house. When the government fails to come through, they resort to collecting and recycling aluminum cans to make ends meet.

When we first meet the characters from Golden Embers, they are people in transition. One is a bride to be, hoping her ex-addict brother can stay sober long enough to walk her down the aisle. The sibling is a sexually obsessed dope fiend, desperate for any kind of psychosexual release - and lots of wacky white powder. Locked up in a hotel room, freebasing his sordid memories and many erotic needs, he slowly comes unglued. Soon, we are witnessing rampant mood swings, murderous hallucinations, and the world's most misguided nuptials, complete with dancing.