GENRE
Musical, Dark Fantasy
LOGLINE
A young man overcomes his mythic-sized personal demons on his quest
for fame, fortune and love.
SYNOPSIS
Initially, DANTE, handsome, leader of the pack and football team captain, enjoys his 1965 senior year of high school, where L.A. life is magical, and Dante feels lucky to live in the coolest place on the planet. Life just gets better when GUIDO, homely musical genius, Dante’s best friend, asks Dante to be the front man for “Pirates of Destiny,” a new rock group for which Guido creates an unusual sound playing the eclectic theramin. PUG, school buddy, plays lead guitar, while STRAY, Dante’s American-dream-seeking cousin from Tulsa, plays drums. AARON, junior, plays bass, providing the necessary garage venue, while MARY LUCILLE ROBINSON, sixteen-year-old groupie, sings. Although Dante befriends her, jealous Mary Lucille sets up a successful sabotage to Dante’s love for BEBE, beautiful, angelic, under family pressure to marry a rich boy.
JERRY FRIEDMAN, ruthless, sociopathic manager, offers to catapult Dante to rock ‘n roll fame and fortune. Jerry sets up BIG EDWARD, junkie, to kill PISTOL, young girl. He morbidly morphs into GERYON, complex mythic creature, honest face, colorful, intricately patterned reptilian hide, hairy paws, scorpion tail, image of fraud, eager to kill anyone or anything obstructing his path. Jerry/Geryon gets reprimanded when he offers up Big Edward to Satan as fodder for his 9th Circle of Hell – Dante has been marked as the favored “special one.” Jerry gets sent back to earth with irascible old ferryman CHARON, who morphs into new age musician, CLIFTON.
Meanwhile, Dante faces more obstacles when the Pirates of Destiny loses its 60’s appeal with the advent of 70’s music. Guido decides to take the group in a new direction with the name, “Snake Wheel,” with a new sound that gets mixed reviews. Upset that Bebe, whom he has been trying to impress, has not shown up for the band’s premier, Dante betrays her. Dante seduces JADE, beautiful new groupie and Pug’s girlfriend, falling deeper into his personal hell.
Matters worsen when Jerry poisons Guido via a baggie of dope just as Guido is about to give Dante a tape featuring the band’s improved sound. Guido is near death when Dante arrives. Dante takes the tape, letting Guido die, hoping his new success will teach Bebe a lesson. Pug finds Dante in bed with Jade, injecting Dante with powerful drugs. Dante hallucinates that Clifton/Charon decapitates, draws and quarters Pug. In this state, Dante is transported to Hell with Geryon on Charon’s boat. Satan forces Dante to reckon with his sins. Dante finesses his way past the Devil, escaping back into the Dark Wood that opened the story. He composes an original song for Bebe, sitting alone on the
landscape. He hears a lovely woman’s voice. Dante wanders through the woods to the foot of Mount Pergatory. Bebe beckons to him from the summit.
Dante climbs the metaphoric mountain, righting past wrongs on his way. He encounters Stray, saving his cousin from a life of drugs and desperation. A cave becomes a record company, and Dante credits Guido with his music. He continues climbing, all the while hearing the ballad sung, finally joining Bebe in a lover’s embrace. The song’s final chorus sweeps us back to the Sea Witch Bar, where Dante began his decadent descent. Jade sings the song. Jerry stands in the doorway with a crooked smile and contract, giving the song’s rights to Jade, whose legal names is Mary Lucille Robinson, and not to Dante, who wrote it. Jerry has found Satan’s newest prey, as time marches on.