Decades after melting hearts and faces in a grimy 1987 tale of New York City squalor, the notorious cult horror film Street Trash is getting an updated reboot aiming to melt a new generation of genre fans. Production is currently underway in South Africa for a 2024 release from Screambox and Cineverse.
Directed by up-and-coming filmmaker Ryan Kruger, known for the psychedelic indie horror hit Fried Barry, this reimagined Street Trash will transport the original’s unhinged antics to the streets of Cape Town. The logline promises the story will follow “a group of homeless misfits as they fight for survival when they discover a plot to exterminate every homeless person in the city.”
Kruger plans to expand the original premise into a scathing reflection on inequality, saying this take will highlight “the growing divide between rich and poor” in the modern world. But the director also promises no shortage of his predecessor’s trademark “melted gonzo goodness” amidst the social commentary, assuring “multi-colored explosions of gooey greatness.”
The new Street Trash is shooting entirely on 35mm to recreate the vivid analog grime of 80s horror. It reunites original Street Trash producer Roy Frumkes and director Jim Muro as executive producers, alongside restoration experts Vinegar Syndrome. The production also enlisted Cape Town-based companies Protagonist Studios and Stage Five Films.
Kruger and his team intend to introduce this cult favorite to a new generation while expanding its boundary-pushing attitude for the 2020s. If the original Street Trash could wring queasy laughs from melting bodies and extreme poverty, this reboot appears poised to double down on the carnage and provocation.
When it splatters onto Screambox in 2024, the reimagined Street Trash seems destined to leave fans stunned, nauseated, and eager for more deranged gonzo insanity. With madness and gore levels turned up to 11, Kruger could craft an instant underground sensation if he captures the punk spirit that made Street Trash so shocking yet beloved.
