'Informers' tells cautionary horror tale of moral abyss

Gregor Jordan's "The Informers" is a far scarier and more monstrous horror film, I argue, than the recent remake of the heinous rape-kill-and-revenge opus "Last House on the Left."

"The Informers," based on the book by "Less Than Zero" author Brett Easton Ellis, takes an eerie, detached look at a society that has abandoned the time-tested values that unite us as human beings, and replaced them with spiritual bankruptcy, hedonism, selfishness and materialism.

There are no easy villains trying to do bad deeds - well, one, and we'll get to him in a moment - just soulless Americans who have forgotten how and why to do good ones. Where romantic comedies such as "Adventureland" and "The Wedding Singer" have strip-mined the 1980s for warm, fuzzy nostalgia, "The Informers" drop-kicks us into a dehumanized wasteland of decadence in Los Angeles during the early Reagan years, back when teens wanted their MTV, Space Invaders was the hot game, and AIDS was a little New York Times story about a mystery disease infecting gays.

The drama wastes no time in introducing its horror, and its de facto hero, Graham Sloan (Jon Foster), one of several young men brought up in privileged L.A. families. At a posh party, one of Graham's best friends gets mowed down by a car in a sudden, shocking, bloody accident right out of a "Final Destination" movie.

Graham's close pals, unable to feel sadness or express loss, deal with the death by conjuring up reasons their deceased friend wasn't so hot anyway.

This disturbing dismissal of a human life sets in motion a series of ensemble scenes that paint Dorian Grey portraits of selfish parents who've abandoned their responsibilities, superficial married couples who violate their vows and zombielike children who treat their friends like disposable pets.

The entire emotional core of "The Informers" (named for a rock band in the film) boils down to a piercing, primal plea by a tearful Graham, who intuitively understands something has gone very wrong.

"I need someone to tell me what's good!" he cries. "I need someone to tell me what's bad."

But there are no role models.

No teachers.

Not even virtues to model or teach.

Just people like Graham's parents, Hollywood producer William Sloan (Billy Bob Thornton on dramatic autopilot) and his pill-pooping, aging trophy wife Laura (Kim Basinger, flawlessly projecting a visage of trashed beauty). William has been having an affair with an emotionally frayed TV reporter (Winona Ryder) while Laura entertains naughty thoughts about their pool boy.

Other vignettes in this values-challenged milieu center around a grade-A jerk British punk star (Rhys Ifans), who keeps himself on a permanent high while bedding under-aged girls and boys, plus a menacing villain (Mickey Rourke in a Hawaiian shirt and porkpie hat) intent on kidnapping a little boy to sell as a sex slave.

Graham, the closest thing to a main character, aches for moral direction. He also yearns for attention from his anything-goes girlfriend Christy (a brave and usually naked Amber Heard, playing a superbly vacuous hedonist), who has a perfect body and a casual craving for constant sex.

"The Informers" will not be a hit. I don't even think Jordan, who previously directed "Buffalo Soldiers," intended it to be a moneymaker. It's a plotless, extremely realistic drama that many people will simply dismiss as a meandering downer and go on to the next showing of "Paul Blart: Mall Cop."

If "The Informers" lacks a traditional monster, it's still a horror tale, one that packs a harrowing final scene involving a gray, clammy beach and a dying woman attempting to get a tan to cover the lesions over her body. She talks about a sun that never reveals itself. She, like all those around her, has tossed away her humanity.

And the coldness you feel is the chill up your back as you realize there isn't any happy ending to make it all feel better. Just an icy, cautionary final shot that looks as close to a moral abyss as a movie can muster.

"The Informers"

Rating: 3 stars

Starring: Billy Bob Thornton, Kim Basinger, Mickey Rourke, Winona Ryder, Jon Foster

Directed by: Gregor Jordan

Other: A Senator Entertainment release. Rated R for drug use, language, nudity, sexual situations. 98 minutes