There is a children’s novel from 1973 called How to Eat Fried Worms by Thomas Rockwell, and it was incredibly influential for me. It must have also been a major inspiration for Alex Phillips, the director of All Jacked Up and Full of Worms, before he succumbed to weirder forms of entertainment like The Mighty Boosh or Tim and Eric Awesome Show, Great Job!, along with a plethora of other trippy adventurous tales and psychological horror movies. That’s the best way I can describe what I’ve seen. This film should come with a content warning: it contains offensive language, nudity, and violence. Also, viewers are better off doing drugs before watching.
Often when reviewing movies, I attempt not to reveal too much of the plot unless it is necessary to make points or express issues with the story. Sometimes, there just isn’t much to say at all, and any attempt to explain the events or motions is simply futile. I’m less worried about spoiling things so much as I’m simply unsure how to say what occurs in any interesting manner. Things happen, and they get crazy, but I’m unsure why or why we quit leading up to something important. I have to question how long most viewers will try to follow this story. The majority will check out around the time the (plastic) baby drowns. There are several characters in this movie — two main ones — who consume worms to get high. Then, stuff happens to them. That’s it.
Just before that ridiculousness happens, though, a couple of the characters do a few things that some will find disturbing. Most of it doesn’t seem to matter. There’s no real resolution, no epiphany like the beginning of the film promises. I’d say it’s about the journey, but that’s a hard sell when everything feels so disjointed from the start. There was something there, briefly … a faint heartbeat, perhaps, but it doesn’t stay long.
Benny and Roscoe are the two main characters, and they trade off being weird, vulnerable, and annoying until they cease being all of those things and become part of a tapestry. Everyone else is a wacky collection of characters. Unfettered vagrants in a neighborhood sitcom that keep continually running into each other randomly. We never see anyone else in the world created for them, save for a couple of victims. No one is likable for long enough, the antagonists have little to no motivation, and I feel bad everyone is bothering these poor worms.
It’s hard to say what substance All Jacked Up and Full of Worms has, which is comical because substance abuse is clearly something it is trying to discuss. There are some other bigger themes here, like sexual growth, manipulative relationships, religion, television, and parenthood, but god, I hope no one takes anything away from this movie when it comes to parenthood. There’s a recurring speech about the ability one has with a penis that begins with what sounds like a slur, but it’s said in such a way that it’s hard to read into and nothing substantial comes of these individual scenes.
The film has a ton of visual appeal, but most of the interesting stuff is presented up front and it is used up quickly, snorted away like one of the worms, but with little effect. The look is grimy. Some parts are visceral and there is a solid sense of style in some of the shots, especially with the television segments and camera changes. This small town feels explored (just lacking residents), while going back to some of the same locations — like the excellent seedy hotel — but it finishes off in the dark. In that same vein, it looks as if some actors are playing double roles and it’s hard to tell if that’s a plot point with the bad trip or the result of production limitations.
It’s listed under the horror genre and there are some elements of that — especially body horror and gore — but this is much closer to a psycho-trip, or a strange unnecessary dream, or a shared traumatic experience. It holds little value, even for those who are big fans of giant worms. There are tonal shifts, abrupt changes, and a few good quotes, but there’s no balance there. This film doesn’t feel like art, yet it just narrowly avoids being pretentious, so I’m inclined to think it was meant as self-deprecation or therapy for Phillips, who acted as both director and writer.
I’ve watched All Jacked Up and Full of Worms twice now and even had others sit in with me to make sure there wasn’t something I missed. Thankfully, it’s over quickly at a brisk 72 minutes, so it isn’t too hard to power through. Some people will like this movie just for the experience, but it’s hard to imagine that even they will want to go back to this one for too many repeat viewings. Read the brief synopsis — that’s pretty much the entire plot. Watch the trailer — that’s the best representation of the film. Most importantly, if you do watch this film, try to get as much out of it as possible and consider using some substances first. Maybe grab a bag of gummy worms as a snack.
I’m just going to re-read How to Eat Fried Worms.
SCORE: 5/10
As ComingSoon’s review policy explains, a score of 5 equates to “Mediocre.” The positives and negatives wind up negating each other, making it a wash.
