JIMMY AND STIGGS

JIMMY AND STIGGS

Aliens, blood-soaked carnage, and neon-drenched madness — produced by Eli Roth

Jimmy is a washed-up filmmaker whose life has spun out of control — like the budget of a doomed indie film. He spends his days holed up in his filthy apartment, drinking, doing drugs, and wallowing in self-pity, as befits a self-styled tortured artist. And as if that wasn’t enough, it seems he’s been abducted by aliens.

Terrified — and yet even more convinced of his own importance — Jimmy dives headfirst into the online rabbit hole: reading conspiracy theories, bingeing videos of other alleged abductees, until it feels like blood is pouring from his eyes.

Enter Stiggs: Jimmy’s long-lost buddy and partner-in-crime when it comes to making cinematic pulp. Together, trapped inside Jimmy’s den of squalor, they prepare to face the alien threat — and in between bouts of neon-soaked, gory mayhem, they scream out their grievances and air their dirty laundry.

“Jimmy and Stiggs” is a full-throttle ride, formally inventive and bathed in glowing neon colors that recall Rob Zombie’s music videos. There’s even a spiritual nod to the cult classic “Cannibal Holocaust” (and yes, Jimmy has the poster hanging on his grime-stained wall). The first half of the film unfolds in first-person perspective, immersing viewers in Jimmy’s paranoid psyche. In contrast, the second half explodes into a splatterfest that makes the alien invaders regret ever setting foot — or gelatinous appendage — into Jimmy’s apartment.

This is the latest film from Joe Begos, a pandemic project shot entirely in his own home. Begos not only directed this homage to grindhouse pulp but also wrote and shot it himself. Known for festival hits “VFW” and “Christmas Bloody Christmas,” Begos brought in cult-film veteran James Russo — familiar from Tarantino’s films and countless spaghetti westerns — as well as frequent collaborator Matt Mercer as Stiggs. And presiding over this blood-drenched chaos is Eli Roth, who proudly produced the film under his banner.