Guncrazy (1992) presented by Strange Brew

In Guncrazy, Drew Barrymore stars as Anita, a struggling high school student who develops a romantic bond with a convict named Howard (James LeGros) through an innocent class pen-pal assignment. Anita acts as a parole sponsor for Howard, helping him get released from prison. The couple quickly elope, but their star-crossed romance soon spirals out of control when their lust for guns results in the death of her abusive step-father and a few of her sleazy high school classmates. Now lovers-on-the-run, the couple’s ill-fate culminates in a dream-like standoff with the police.

This moody Grunge-Noir was the feature directorial debut of music video director Tamra Davis. Loosely inspired by the 1950 Film Noir of the same name, Guncrazy premiered at Cannes in 1992, but didn’t find an audience until distribution rights were sold to premium cable channel Showtime where it aired on constant rotation. Filmed in the middle of Barrymore’s “Bad Girl” phase, between Poison Ivy, Doppelganger & well Bad Girls, this overlooked film captures one of Barrymore’s best performances trying to rejuvenate her acting career among a string of complex Femme Fatale roles, before she ultimately became America’s sweetheart again in The Wedding Singer.

Guncrazy is a dark portrait of the American West, featuring snake-handling preachers, pimps, prostitutes, and guns as the cure-all for impotence, all soundtracked to haunting songs by Sonic Youth, Beastie Boys & Suicidal Tendencies. Think: Bonnie & Clyde in flannel & converse.