In the not-so-distant future, a variety of environmental disasters have led to the final collapse of Western civilization. Society as we know it may have been lost, but sex and dancing are still in style in this funny post-apocalyptic satire. Sexually ambiguous hipster Ricky G. (Johnny Simone) leads an encampment of rave kids who have created a makeshift city on the outskirts of Winnipeg, Canada. One of the community's leading citizens is DJ Sabu (Jérémie Yuen), whose sexual appetite has led him on a mission to seduce 2,000 men before a looming flood destroys the village. Sabu is close enough to hitting the magic number to have chosen the special man he wants to be Mister 2,000--Happy (Craig Aftanas), an attractive but socially gauche and paranoid UFO-ologist who is able to communicate with alien life forms. Happy works at a pig-slaughtering factory, and routinely inhales industrial waste so that he can hear strange alien voices warning him of the end of the world. He is told that if he gives himself to Sabu, the aliens will take him with them. His romantic encounters with Sabu lend moments of tenderness and affection to the film, plus a bit of serenity in the midst of the surrounding madness. However, Sabu has a rival for Happy's affections--evil body-modification advocate and hair stylist Spanky O'Neil (Clayton Godson), who tries to foil Sabu's plans by abducting Happy. Spanky is a twisted male version of the Wicked Witch of the West. The action unfolds at a series of raves on an old garbage hill in an industrial landscape populated with characters right out of a John Waters movie. They have names like Dildo Queen and Magnolia Thunderpussy.
This authentic, tripped-out rave movie doesn't make much sense. It's an amazingly sexy, experimental, trippy, explosive, psychedelic ride, unique and hilariously bizarre. But it's also kind of weird, a conceptual nightmare, absolutely outrageous in a daring and progressive kind of exploitation movie that offers little to the mainstream public, but does represents an important niche in the cinema world. "Hey, Happy" was shot in 16mm Cinemascope with expansive views of the prairies around Winnipeg, and its railroads. The design is striking, and the colors vivid against the bleak post-industrial, pre-apocalyptic locations. The music score is varied and the story is a good blend of dystopian science fiction, sadism, and romance. Noam Gonick directed this Canadian film.
