I saw “Strange Darling” at Quentin Tarantino’s recently restored Vista Theater in Los Angeles. That seemed appropriate, since “Strange Darling” is the most Tarantino-esque film in years (that wasn’t made by Tarantino himself). It revives a genre of Tarantino rip-offs that was popular in the 1990s and ranged in quality from pulp crap like “3 Heads In A Duffel Bag” to entertaining genre films like “Go” and “Grosse Pointe Blank.” The most recent entry in the pseudo-Tarantino genre, 2018’s “Bad Times At The El Royale,” had its moments but sank under the weight of its own emptiness despite an A-list cast. “Strange Darling” doesn’t pull that off—it’s short and sweet and entertaining—but it’s not as innovative as it thinks it is.

STRANGE, DARLING ★★★ (3/5 stars)
Led by: JT Mollner
Written by: JT Mollner
With: Willa Fitzgerald, Kyle Gallner, Ed Begley, Jr., Barbara Hershey
Duration: 96 mins

Strange Darling has all the elements of a Tarantino, or at least an early Tarantino. It uses genre conventions, in this case the serial killer thriller, has a badass female protagonist, messes up the narrative for no particular reason but to decent effect, offers plenty of little twists, biting humor and shocking, bloody scenes of violence, and delves deep into ironic pop culture nostalgia. The song “Love Hurts” plays a major role, a puzzle by Scott Baio plays a minor role, and Ed Begley, Jr. and Barbara Hershey, actors from an earlier era, play supporting roles. It all doesn’t add up to much and doesn’t seem to comment on anything in particular in the real world, but it’s stylish and emotive.

Although there are other people with speaking roles, particularly in the second third of the film, Strange Darling is essentially a two-person piece. There’s “The Lady,” played by Willa Fitzgerald, and “The Demon,” played by Kyle Gallner. Gallner, sporting the exact same mustache as Paul Mescal in All Of Us Strangers, fills the screen with swarthy, sweaty 1970s-style machismo, fully embracing whatever director JT Mollner asks of him. Fitzgerald, most evident in Reacher alongside Alan Ritchson, who is at least three times her size, delivers an exceptionally nuanced and completely insane performance. There has rarely been a juicier role, and she sucks every drop of it.

Strange Darling contains plenty of twists, most of them after the fact, but most of them are small and purely for shock value. I guessed the big twist less than half an hour in. I kept expecting the film to surprise me and top itself, but instead it just doubled and then tripled. Mollner has made an effectively grimy ’90s-style thriller, but he’s not Quentin Tarantino. This feels like a wink to the kind of video store pulp trash that served as an early inspiration to Tarantino and that Ti West so skillfully parodied and paid tribute to in the “MaXXXine” trilogy. It will go down well with the midnight crowds at the Alamo Drafthouse, but not much further.

Mollner shot Strange Darling on 35mm, and I saw it on 35mm at the Vista, which adds to its retro vibe. It’s a revival of a revival genre, and an effective one at that, but ultimately it’s not a revolution, just a tasty slice of neo-grindhouse sausage.