JENNIFER Lynch, the spawn of David Lynch, has returned to spew “Surveillance,” which is either a ludicrously bad movie or a parody of same. Either way, it’s pretty funny.
Julia Ormond and Bill Pullman play FBI agents who arrive in a small town on the ol’ lonely highway to grill cops and motorists about a murder rampage/traffic wreck. Much debate about who might be telling the truth suggests the aim is a grindhouse “Rashomon.”
Entirely gratuitous violence, a masked freak, a chuckling maniac, girl-on-girl action and screamingly bizarre dialogue (“Bring the butter! We’re gonna have toast!”) amp up the camp factor in a second film from the woman who gave us the 1993 cinematic anti-legend “Boxing Helena.” Unlike Lynch’s father’s latest, “Inland Empire,” this one isn’t a bore. It may enjoy a life in the after-midnight slots of obscure pay-TV channels.
A viewing state of nonsobriety is strongly recommended.
Running time: 97 minutes. Rated R (graphic violence, nudity, profanity, drug abuse). At the Cinema Village, 12th Street, east of Fifth Avenue.