RIP Dennis Hopper

I know I am late to the table in regards to Dennis Hopper's death, but I didn't exactly have anything different to say about the man. He was one of a kind, from the early days with James Dean (Rebel Without a Cause, Giant), to starting a revolution (Easy Rider, not a film I like), to his portrayal of one of the all time great movie villains ("Frank Booth" in David Lynch's Blue Velvet), his multiple career revivals and everything in between.

However, I wanted to briefly discuss some of the movies that I haven't seen mentioned once in the few Dennis Hopper obits that I have read; Red Rock West and The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2. The former is, I think, a stunning movie with a great performance by Hopper in the same year that brought about his blockbuster turn in Speed. Severely underrated that film. The latter, however, is a very symbolic movie in Hopper's career. It was one of the very first films that he made after his stint in rehab for drugs along with Blue Velvet and I think it's more insane than that iconic role. He plays a relative of one of the dead characters from the first movie and it's just flat out bonkers.




Hopper directed Easy Rider, and is famous for it, but he also directed one of my favourite movies of the 1980s and that is Colors. It stars Robert Duvall and Sean Penn and is such fascinating exploration of 1980s gang culture in Los Angeles. It's great stuff and I implore you to go watch it if you never have (and Ice-T's theme song, "Colors", is a masterpiece). The last movie I want to mention is Tycus. It is a terrible movie, but hilariously so. Just watch the trailer and I'm sure you'll agree. Watch the movie and laaauuugh your heart out.


RIP Dennis Hopper.