Eat the Rich (film)

Eat the Rich
Directed by	Peter Richardson
Written by	Peter Richardson Pete Richens
Produced by	Tim Van Rellim
Starring	Lanah Pellay Nosher Powell Ronald Allen Nigel Planer Miranda Richardson
Production companies	Channel 4 Films Iron Fist Motion Pictures Michael White Productions
Distributed by	CBS/Fox Video Ltd. (UK) New Line Cinema (US)
Release date	August 17, 1987
Running time	90 minutes
Language	English

Eat the Rich is a 1987 British black comedy film directed by Peter Richardson, who also wrote the screenplay with Pete Richens. A co-production between Channel 4 Films, Iron Fist Motion Pictures and Michael White Productions, it features cast members from the popular television series The Comic Strip Presents....

The film stars

.

The film initially focuses on a waiter on a high-class restaurant, who is met with constant contempt by the customers. After being fired, he forms an

.

Plot

Alex is a waiter in high-class London restaurant Bastards, subject to the upper-class customers' daily contempt. He is fired for being rude to the clientele. After witnessing a terrorist act on an embassy, he robs a benefits office and goes on the run with his new friend.

The Home Secretary is a menacing, beer-swilling, fornicating lout with his own way of dealing with trouble, usually with his fists. He is the darling of the voters, the press, and Fiona, a glamorous KGB agent. It was he who ended the terrorist situation earlier. His enemies include the sinister Commander Fortune, who plots a people's revolution with a difference, and General Karprov and Spider, who plot to derail the Home Secretary's campaign to become Prime Minister.

Alex returns to Bastards with a four-person team of

and lays waste to the clientele and staff. He serves them up for consumption by other rich people in their new restaurant, and changed from Bastards to Eat the Rich. When Commander Fortune and Spider realise what's on the menu they formulate a plot to get rid of the conservative Home Secretary for good.

Cast

Reception

The film performed poorly at the box office, taking $200,723 across 4 screens in the USA.^[1] Channel 4 were disappointed with the returns on the film and shelved another Richardson project, Five Go To Hell.^[2]

On Rotten Tomatoes the film has a score of 36% based on reviews from 11 critics.^[3]

In January 1988 the film was one of those attacked for its critique of

Eat The Rich featured at #49 in

Time Out London

's list of "Cinema's 50 greatest flops, follies and failures." [7] The feature stated: "[The film] may not have had the budget to be considered a true flop, but the back-alley production values and total lack of comic invention on display in this Thatcher-baiting misstep meant that any hopes of a Pythonesque run at the movies were knocked way back on their heels."

Soundtrack

The soundtrack album was released on the Filmtrax label, and featured six tracks by Motörhead, including the track "Eat the Rich", written especially for the film. The track also appeared on the Motörhead album Rock 'n' Roll, and was released in the UK as a single in its own right. It also featured a solo track, "Bess", by Würzel (Motörhead's second guitarist at the time).

The remaining Motorhead tracks are from their album Orgasmatron.

The soundtrack album also featured several pieces of incidental music from the film, as well as the

track "Pistol in My Pocket" by Alan Pillay (credited as Lannah).

Track listing

1. Motörhead – "Eat the Rich"
2. Simon Brint – "Terrorists"
3. Motörhead – "Built for Speed"
4. Danny Eccleston – "Nosher in the Bar"
5. Motörhead – "Nothing Up My Sleeve"
6. Simon Brint – "Arriba Salsa"
7. Motörhead – "Doctor Rock"
8. Motörhead – "On the Road (Live)"
9. Lannah – "Pistol in My Pocket"
10. Simon Brint – "Car Approach"
11. Motörhead – "Orgasmatron"
12. Würzel – "Bess"
13. Danny Eccleston – "End Titles Theme"

References

External links

• Eat the Rich at
  IMDb
• Eat the Rich at Box Office Mojo