Spike of Bensonhurst (1988)

Synopsis: Former Andy Warhol film accomplice Paul Morrissey takes a stab at the Mafia genre with the comedy SPIKE OF BENSONHURST. Spike Fumo is a local Italian thug, trying to make something of himself in... Former Andy Warhol film accomplice Paul Morrissey takes a stab at the Mafia genre with the comedy SPIKE OF BENSONHURST. Spike Fumo is a local Italian thug, trying to make something of himself in the tough and tight-knit Italian neighborhood of Bensonhurst. After realizing that fixed fights in a run-down boxing ring are getting him nowhere; Spike conspires to ingratiate himself with the local don, Baldo Caccetti (Ernest Borgnine). When Spike tries to woo Baldo's precious daughter Angel, his rise to the top is abruptly put on hold. Consequently, Spike is kicked out of his house by his foulmouthed lesbian mother (played by Morrissey favorite Geraldine Smith) and moves to Red Hook to live with the Puerto Rican family of a fellow boxer, Bandana. When spike falls for Bandana's sister, India, he finds himself stuck between two worlds and two neighborhoods, with a menacing pregnant girl on each side. Morrissey's deadpan humor and thinly disguised critique of corrupt modern society plays out entertainingly in this idiosyncratic yet conventionally contrived narrative. As in his previous films, Spike's magnetic personality and overflowing personality forge a vibrant center around which the action of the neighborhood and thus the film vibrates. [More]

Starring: Sasha Mitchell, Ernest Borgnine, Sylvia Miles, Anne De Salvo

Starring: Sasha Mitchell, Ernest Borgnine, Sylvia Miles, Anne De Salvo, Maria Pitillo, Talisa Soto, Geraldine Smith, Antonia Rey, Rick Aviles, Karen Shallo, Chris Young

Director: Paul Morrissey

Director: Paul Morrissey
Screenwriter: Paul Morrissey
Producer: David Weisman

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