This isn’t going to be your usual obscure Rewind, it’s just of a flick I had never seen before and a quick poll around the office confirmed my suspicions that this wasn’t one of Scorsese’s better known flicks.

If you grew up as a child in the 80s I’m certain you probably saw the above image on the shelf of your local video store. Based on that cover graphic I always assumed After Hours was one of countless 80’s wild sexual romps like Bachelor Party or The Night Before. I had no clue that this was a Martin Scorsese film until it popped up on my Netflix Watch Instantly queue.

After Hours is Scorsese’s stab at a Black Comedy that is unbelievably dry and tense. Paul (Griffin Dunne) plays a hapless word processor who lucks into an ultra-cute Rosanna Arquette’s at a coffee shop and scores her digits. Later that night he places a call to where she’s staying and get an enthusiastic invitation to “come over” for what would eventually turn into a pretty wild night… but not in a good way. Paul finds himself broke and stuck in Soho at a variety of 80s downtown locales, meeting an incestuous cast of head cases  (that include Cheech & Chong, Terri Garr, Linda Fiorentino, John Heard, Catherine O’Hara among countless others) on an evening that just won’t end no matter how much he want’s it to!

While I have seen my share of Scorsese films, I’m by no means an authority on the man and his work. I didn’t know he had ever done another Black Comedy outside of Goodfellas.

After Hours It’s set in mid 80s in that perfectly captures the grit and grime of the old NY everyone loves to romanticize about. The artsy underbelly of 80s NY is captured exactly how we’d like to remember it through a thick screen of filth.

To be honest had I known better, I never would have guessed this was a Scorsese film because it sort of plays kind of like if David Lynch decided to take a stab at an R rated comedy. There’s this constant sense of anxiety that something really disturbing may happen throughout the film… like you’re waiting for those Lynch style “What the fuck?” moments but instead get “Oh Man, this guy just can”t catch a break!” mature situations. If you’re a fan of old movies that capture NY at it’s grimiest AND 80’s comedies then this is totally one you need to add to your list.

P.S. I’m pretty sure that the Big Black Naked Cowboy who slaps Al Pacino in the face during the Crusing interrogation scene is also holding Griffin Dunne down during the mohawk shaving scene at the Punk club. Bonus points!