Hi, Mom!

A blast from the past which recalls De Palma's beginnings as a really eclectic independent. Made for $95,000 after the unexpected success of his anarchic Greetings, this is the sequel to end all sequels. De Niro plays variations on a Vietnam vet returning to NY as, variously, a 'peep art' porno movie-maker, an urban guerilla, and an insurance salesman. At least that's the framing excuse for an increasingly lunatic series of set piece gags. 'Be Black Baby' is a skit on off-Broadway 'encounter theatre', in which a middle class white audience is terrorised by black actors in whiteface. Shot by De Palma in visceral vérité, it actually is terrifying. Structurally, the film never recovers - but then its main merit is a refusal to 'hang together'. Anarchic and very appealing.