CIP: First Look at New 4K Restoration of The Rubber Gun

Canadian International Pictures (CIP) has provided a promotional trailer for its new 4K restoration of Allan Moyle's The Rubber Gun (1977). A preliminary release date for an upcoming Blu-ray release has not yet been revealed.

Description: A loquacious painter and impetuous drug dealer, Steve (Stephen Lack) meets Allan (Allan Moyle), a young sociology student. They become fast friends, and Allan is invited to Steve's studio on Montreal's Rue St-Laurent to meet various members of his commune, including Pierre (Pierre Robert), a bisexual prostitute and heroin addict, eager to supplant Steve as leader of the group. Allan decides to write his thesis on the positive effects of drugs, using the community around Steve as a case study. Meanwhile, Pierre concocts a plan to steal drugs from a locker at Windsor Station, but Steve is convinced it's a trap set by corrupt cops from the narco quad.

Quebec screenwriter, director and actor Allan "Bozo" Moyle was born in Shawinigan in 1947. He made his directorial debut here before migrating to the United States, where he made TIMES SQUARE (1980), PUMP UP THE VOLUME (1990) and EMPIRE RECORDS (1995). Earlier in the 1970s, he collaborated with Frank Vitale on MONTREAL MAIN (1974) and EAST END HUSSLE (1976) before moving into directing himself with THE RUBBER GUN, a film he co-wrote with lead actor Stephen Lack, who later starred in David Cronenberg's SCANNERS (1981) and literally bursts onto the screen with a thrilling charisma and provocative cynicism. The main characters in THE RUBBER GUN were already present in MONTREAL MAIN, another experimental film combining cinéma vérité, exploitation tropes, and documentary. It's a kind of genre cinema that evokes the work of Canadians Robin Spry and Ted Kotcheff, as well as the early films of John Cassavetes and Jim McBride on the other side of the border. Add to this an original soundtrack by Lewis Furey – really a collection of songs from his should-be-classic album THE HUMOURS OF LEWIS FUREY (1976) – and you have an idea of the experience that awaits in this lost '70s classic that earned two Genie nominations. You have a date with the North American premiere of a stunning new restoration from Canadian International Pictures.

Description courtesy of Marc Lamothe/Fantasia Festival.