White Lightnin (2009)

If Gummo made sense and followed some sort of a story, it would probably have ended up being a lot like White Lightnin. Mix in elements of Charles Manson and a gritty rockabilly soundtrack and you would definitely have White Lightnin. The truth is this movie is exactly what I have been waiting for. Its a modern film but its a old style of film making that is seldom seen today. White Lightnin holds no punches and doesn't care who it offends, which is good because it is bound to offend a lot of people. With that said I truly believe that a new cult classic is born.

White Lightnin is based on the real life Jesco White The Dancin Outlaw. The film portrays Jesco as a man with a corrupted mind from birth. By age six he is huffing gasoline and lighter fluid. Huffing is young Jesco's drug of choice but he is willing to try just about anything to get himself fucked up. When he's fucked up the devil flows through his blood and just about anything can happen. Young Jesco spends most of his youth in and out of institutions, asylums and homes for boys. Its behind these walls that Jesco learns to fight back. One can't help but be reminded of Charles Manson which makes sense because the real Jesco White is a big Manson advocate. He even rocks a Charlie tattoo and doesn't mind showing it off. Jesco's life takes another turn when his father D. Ray White is brutally murdered. Jesco follows in his fathers footsteps, earning himself his Dancin Outlaw title but can't keep the evil in his mind and blood at bay. From here on we witness a darker, meaner and shakier road into depression, anger, vengeance, faith and insanity.

There is no doubt about it, White Lightnin is my favorite movie to come out in a long time. Its has proven to me that there is still a chance for modern cinema. Just when I was starting to believe the only entertaining movies that would ever be released again would be homage flicks like Black Dynamite and Machete. Well White Lightinin proved me wrong. Check it out for a trip into madness with a bad-ass sountrack that consist of Hasil Adkins and Stringbean. We also have plenty of brain damaging inhalants and a bit of violence for all you sadists. A must see white-trash spectacle.