Oh, I mean yeah, I'm pretty sure I've seen at least two of the Death Wish franchise. There's also Falling Down, which, unfortunately, some people take as a movie with Michael Douglass as the hero. And how could I forget about Troma? They do kind of lack substantial plot, though.
I agree, the portrayal of cities as ridiculous dens of scum seems to have waned, unfortunately. "Death Wish" films are right-wing, all about righteous Charles Bronson cleaning the scum off the streets, but still, movies like "Death Wish 3" are awesome just in how stupid they are IMO. There are some other notable ones like "The Exterminator", "Combat Shock" and some of the films of Abel Ferrera (my favorite probably being "King of New York") And in the modern era we have "Hobo With A Shotgun". Which seemed to be a direct homage to both urban decay and Troma.
And I guess that message exceeded the 1000 character limit, but I think that's my favorite timespan of Hollywood - 1969 through... maybe 1994? Pulp Fiction, I think, is the turning point. Cities seem to be portrayed differently now; they're more clean, but colder, more impersonal and lonely. Lost In Translation, Drive, etc. I guess this also corresponds to Guiliani's election as well as the real decay of much of New York like the South Bronx.
Oh - I just noticed that I accidentally originally replied to your post on my own profile. I wrote "Haha, yeah. I requested a name change to "Sewer Socialist", but it's taking awhile. I came up with a pretty clever signature to tie it all together, though; "Sous les paves, la merde!" I feel like CHUD is a lot more similar to Metropolis than most people would think, but a little more abstract. Too bad they don't win, though." Anyway, I think what I like about urban decay movies is when they're hyperbolically silly, or there's a sort of leftism to it - Midnight Cowboy is a good example of the latter. I think the silliness is a later element of the genre, maybe it came around in the late 80s? You got They Live, Escape from New York, CHUD, New Jack City. Death Wish feels more unapologetically right wing, serious, and I feel no sense of irony. But I do sort of like the band Charles Bronson.
Sure, I'd count They Live as an urban decay film. The "Death Wish" series is perhaps the ultimate example, I think
Does "They Live" count as urban decay? Cuz, duh. That's my #1. Anyway, I haven't. Downloading it now!! And CHUD II.
If you haven't seen it you should see "Street Trash", that's my favorite 80's "urban decay" film
I haven't seen chud ii - bud the chud though, no spoilers plzz
Is your avatar from CHUD lol
