CHELSEA ON THE ROCKS
Directed by Abel Ferrara
Aliquot Films
Not Rated

Built in 1883 and serving as a hotel and residential building since 1905, the legendary Chelsea Hotel on West 23rd Street in Manhattan has long been a favorite place for artists and bohemians of all stripes. Residents such as Dylan Thomas, Thomas Wolfe, Janis Joplin, William Burroughs and others are referred to or seen in archival clips. Director Abel Ferrara talks to present and recent residents including actor Ethan Hawke, film director Milos Forman, cartoonist R. Crumb, and actress Gaby Hoffmann. They and others muse on the hotel as "a vortex," drug use and wild parties on the premises, ghosts in the rooms, and a fire.

Ferrara, who has a penchant for dark material, presents a re-enactment of the stabbing of Sid Vicious' girlfriend. It takes far too much time and is a real bummer, as they say. The filmmaker interviews Stanley Bard, who owned and managed the Chelsea Hotel for years, and we learn later that the place has been taken over by developers who want to turn it into an elite establishment.

Reviewed by Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat
Rating: 1/5