Take It Out In Trade

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Wayne K 02/06/2025 As much of a comical figure as Ed Wood has become in the years since his rediscovery, his life towards the end was far less amusing. A helpless alcoholic that was always on the verge of financial destitution, his later films reek of desperation, their creation a necessity to make a living rather than expressions of artistic desire. I watched his nudie cutie Orgy Of The Dead a few days ago and was bored the entire time. When I watched Take It Out In Trade yesterday, I was only bored most of the time, so I guess that’s something of an improvement. The film is a voyeur’s dream, with our lead character Mac McGregor spending ridiculous amounts of time hiding behind a house plant and spying on naked women while flashing the same gap-toothed grin over and over again. As is typical with Wood’s films, the technical ineptitude is off the scale. Characters are out of focus, the sound is poor, the editing is jarring, the backlighting is distracting and the dialogue is repetitive and inane. I did get a good chuckle out of the fact that, despite travelling all over the world, our intrepid hero is always wearing the same clothes, and hiding behind the exact same houseplant. MacGregor is, admittedly, perfectly cast, as I’ve never seen an actor with better ‘peeping tom’ face. It’s an utter slog, woefully overlong even at only 80 odd minutes. As bad as Wood’s early films are, at least there’s the idea of a plot, some semblance of character and a notion that events might be leading somewhere. But the man’s later career is as depressing as it is tragic, and Take It Out In Trade is just another reminder that instead of slowly hitting rock, the man spent most of his career there. See more Read all reviews

Take It Out In Trade

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