| | | The True Story of L.A.'s Most Gruesome Murders.
Features: DVD, Widescreen, English, Subtitled, Spanish, Dolby Digital (5.1)
On the afternoon of July 1, 1981, Los Angeles police responded to a distress call on Wonderland Avenue and discovered a grisly quadruple homicide. The police investigation that followed uncovered two versions of the events leading up to the brutal murders - both involving legendary porn actor John Holmes. You're about to experience both versions.
"...told in the style of Kurosawa's "Rashomon" where the same bits of story are told from several different viewpoints..." D.W. Smith, Film Threat
"A film whose effects are as hard to wash away as blood." Michael O'Sullivan, Washington Post
"Fast and frenetic and so unvarnished that it can make you feel unclean watching it." Michael Wilmington, Chicago Tribune
Editor's Note
Fast cars, fast women, sex, drugs, and rock and roll, with guns and ammo thrown in for good measure--that was the world of porn star John Holmes in Los Angeles in the 1970s. But everything came tumbling down in June 1981 when he was accused of taking part in a multiple murder that forms the basis of James Cox's dizzying WONDERLAND. Val Kilmer, who previously embodied rock lead singer Jim Morrison in THE DOORS, transforms himself into the famous porn celebrity in this excitingly sordid tale of excess, which is told from the point of view of several different players, echoing Akira Kurosawa's RASHOMON. Under the stage name Johnny Wadd, Holmes was rumored to have had sex with more than 14,000 women in some 1,000 X-rated films; his dangerous life caught up with him when he died of AIDS in 1988. Cox has assembled an unlikely cast for this lurid story, including such well-known television stars as Lisa Kudrow (FRIENDS), Dylan McDermott (THE PRACTICE), and Christina Applegate (MARRIED WITH CHILDREN), in addition to Carrie Fisher, Janeane Garofalo, and Eric Bogosian, among others. In order to ensure accuracy, Cox hired Holmes's girlfriend, Dawn Schiller (played by Kate Bosworth), and former wife, Sharon Holmes (Kudrow), as consultants on the project. The handheld camera shots echo the wildness of the world of the man known as Long John Holmes.
| Features | Audio: English Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound | | Interactive Menus | | Scene Selection |
| Technical Info
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Release Information
| | Studio: Lions Gate |
| Release Date: 2/6/2007 |
| Running Time: 104 minutes |
| Original Release Date: 2003 | | Catalog ID: 21133 | | UPC: 00031398211334 | | Number of Discs: 1 |
Audio & Video
| | Original Language: English | | Available Audio Tracks: English | | Available Subtitles: English, Spanish | | Video: Color |
Aspect Ratio | | Widescreen 1.85:1 |
| Cast & Crew
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| | Professional Reviews | Rolling Stone
"...Val Kilmer is magnetic as John Holmes..." 10/16/2003 p.95Entertainment Weekly
"...[Cox] taps the creepy, sordid fascination of a hedonist who forged his own hell..." 09/26/2003 p.72 Movieline's Hollywood Life
"...Josh Lucas and Dylan McDermott effectively play against type..." 11/01/2003 p.116-18 Chicago Sun-Times
"...Val Kilmer is convincing as John Holmes, especially when he pinballs from one emotion to another..." 10/17/2003 p.38 ReelViews 8 of 10
There's no nudity whatsoever in James Cox's Wonderland, which is ironic, since it's about events from the life of the first big-time porn star, John Holmes (Val Kilmer). Unlike Boogie Nights, which was loosely based on the rise and fall of Holmes during his time in front of the camera, Wonderland takes a look at things "once the legend was over"...Cox uses different amounts of grain and various levels of color desaturation in an effort to make the film look more gritty and give it a stronger "you are there" feel. He is successful, although one could argue that this is the kind of world that viewers may want to distance themselves from. Once you leave Wonderland, you may feel like you need a shower, but, while you're in the moment, it's a compelling journey into the depths of hell on earth. - James Berardinelli
Chicago Sun-Times 6 of 10
One of the things that makes police work in Los Angeles tricky, Vincent Bugliosi says, is that anyone is likely to know anyone else. In other cities, social connections are more predictable. A cop who knows who you are, where you live and how you work has a pretty good idea who you are likely to know...The movie is tantalizing in the way it denies us more information about the Dawn-Sharon-Holmes triangle. The two women are on good terms with each other (and are friends to this day, I learn), sexual jealousy seems beside the point when your man is the busiest porn star in history...True crime procedurals can have a certain fascination, but not when they're jumbled glimpses of what might or might not have happened involving a lot of empty people whose main claim to fame is that they're dead. - Roger Ebert
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