Paul Reubens Played Against Type as a Grisly Killer in This Acid Western

The Big Picture

• South of Heaven, West of Hell is a surreal, Spaghetti-styled acid western with a simple story of a U.S. Marshal tracking down his villainous brothers.
• Paul Reubens delivers a shocking and twisted performance as a rapist and killer, departing from his beloved Pee-Wee Herman persona.
• Despite its star-studded cast, the film was a commercial and critical failure, leading to financial and personal setbacks for director Dwight Yoakam.

Paul Reubens earned the hearts of many as through his Pee-Wee Herman persona. However, not many know that the actor took a departure from his reputation with a 2000 Dwight Yoakam movie. The film premiered on closing night at the 2000 Slam Dance Film Festival and saw a theatrical release on December 15, 2000 and stands as his directorial debut. The country star also wrote and acted in it as well as composed the soundtrack. That film is South of Heaven, West of Hell

If you don’t know the movie, it may be for good reason. Variety claimed the film to be “grizzled genre excess, in the hope of mimicking Sergio Leone’s hard-bitten absurdism.” Perhaps nothing is more absurd than Paul Reubens, television’s beloved Pee-Wee Herman, playing a role like Arvid alongside his sadistic on-screen brother, Taylor (Vince Vaughn). Arvid is a stark departure for Reubens and a shock to the system for fans of his earlier work, but hot off the heels of a scandal, the role seemed the perfect middle finger to detractors giggling over the would-be ashes of his career.

What Is ‘South of Heaven, West of Hell’ About?

It’s best to consider the film South Of Heaven West Of Hell as a Spaghetti-styled acid western that meanders from waxing poetics about the mysteries of life to a surrealist revenge film. What goes down during the film’s exceptionally long 132-minute runtime is a simple story about U.S. Marsha Valentine Casey (Dwight Yoakam) tracking down his villainous brothers Taylor (Vince Vaughn) and Arvid (Paul Reubens). Valentine is the sheriff of a little town that’s a dusty place full of wacky characters and fall-off-of-their-chair drunks. Not much happens here save for a gunfight between a crazy old coot and a flickering movie screen.

With little to do on Christmas Day, Valentine kisses his girlfriend and makes innuendos with cherry pies, a pretty great gig, all things considered, until his strange family of ne’er-do-wells ride into town. The music switches from a sublime melody into a menacing collection of vaguely Western tones. A common feature of the Spaghetti Western is the music that sits on top of visuals designed to communicate a character’s intentions more or less instantly. This film’s darkening music indicates this family’s no-good nature as they caravan into town and up to Valentine, professing their desire for a family reunion.

This is where audiences get their first glimpse of the vile and murderous Henry Brothers. Vince Vaughn is very much in charge, menacingly congratulating his brother Valentine on his success. Reubens as Arvid skulks around with a mirthless grin obscured by that bad-guy tell-tale goatee. They separate peacefully enough until they return that night, killing nearly everybody in town. This prompts Valentine to hunt the bastards down and kill them one by one.

Paul Reubens Played A Despicably Villainous Cowboy

While jam-packed with some serious acting talent, South Of Heaven West Of Hell’s pacing, story structure, and dialogue are a significant disservice to what could otherwise be a pretty entertaining film. For most of the film, the Henry brothers are absent, leaving the audience to conclude that their villainy goes unabated while Valentine hangs about ineffectually at a hotel while making heart-eyes at Adalyne Dumfries (Bridget Fonda). Their relatively boring encounters are marred by long passages of dialogue that are at least enough to establish a half-hearted love interest between the two. Her feminity stands apart from the cast of sharply but strangely drawn characters just enough to get the audience to care about her before her encounter with Arvid.

That night, the Henry Gang robs the hotel, killing nearly everyone inside while Valentine is conveniently hanging out on the range smelling burnt chilies and gunpowder. Arvid, wanting the company of a woman, enters Dumfries’ room with his two uncles. He slugs one dollar whiskey from a bottle and the three debate which one of them is going to attack her first. Although it’s disturbing to see Pee-Wee Herman orchestrate a sexual assault, the film plods on along with its surrealism, and the three attack her in an uncoordinated fashion. After two attempts of Arvid trying to murder her, Taylor shoots Dumfries in the shoulder. While it still doesn’t kill her, it’s enough to make them think she’s dead. South Of Heaven West Of Hell trades on its weirdness through its usage of six lines of dialogue when one will do, and the fact that audiences probably could scarcely believe Paul Ruebens wasn’t declaring the day’s secret word.

Bad as this movie may be, it’s fun watching Paul Ruebens play against type, and he’s the perfect clownish foil to Taylor’s wanton evil. He maintains hilarity as a fumbling murderer and rapist, intentionally or unintentionally. The beauty here is that no one would expect an actor on par with the Wiggles to make a slasher film. However, this makes sense following a scandal that tarnished his character. South Of Heaven West Of Hell was one of his first films back, and taking on a role like this doesn’t seem unreasonable when the public’s perception of you is a monster. Despite his poorly drawn character, Ruebens gives a fearless performance, which has much more to do with the writing than him, but even he couldn’t save this movie.

‘South Of Heaven West Of Hell’ Was A Bomb At The Box Office

The film was a commercial and critical failure. Film Threat stated that “watching Yoakam’s film…is like eating a shit sandwich. The title may be a cutesy joke describing someplace close to hell, but make no mistake—this film is hell.” earning only $28,149 on a budget of $4 million, the film’s absurdity and bad script fell flat with fans. The failure took a tremendous financial and personal toll on the director especially.

The Guardian reported that before filming, the financier backed out, forcing the director to finance the film by selling his Malibu home. Yoakam’s production company, A Cast Of Strays, was subsequently bankrupted, resulting in lawsuits from crew members. To pay the accrued debt, Dwight Yoakam fired his old backing band to hire a less expensive one, resulting in a fallout between him and the longtime producer, bandleader, and guitarist, Pete Anderson. While it’s never wise to sink personal money into something so risky, one must admire the director’s determination. For what it’s worth, his movie is incredibly well-cast and is worthy of paying attention to.

South Of Heaven West Of Hell is streaming on PlutoTV in the U.S.

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