Victor’s Big Score

Victor’s Big Score is a strange dark comedy about a bad, broke barber who’s intent on finding love (or at least sex) and improving his fortunes by any means necessary. The film opens on an on-the-nose sight gag in which four barbers in the shop sing in harmony as the titular hairstylist cuts a client’s earlobe while ogling the man’s wife. Victor (Seth Barrish) is a schmuck, unencumbered by ethics, and he is further corrupted by his gleefully amoral best buddy, Don (Joe Biscone).

Victor is at his lowest point when we meet him, having been evicted for non-payment. His story begins to remind us of Seymour Krelborn from Little Shop of Horrors, down on his luck and scraping along. Things look up when he has the good fortune to meet the woman of his dreams. On their first date, the lovely Betty (Eve Annenberg) tells him that she’s a good Christian girl who loves sex. Later, Victor asks about a room for rent at the home of the elderly Thelma (Elaine Wood), who is desperate for company and takes an immediate shine to the barber. Suddenly everything is coming up roses.

“…Don hits upon the idea of Victor convincing the elderly widow to marry him, then waiting for her to die…”

Victor’s personal devil, Don, appears to be living his best life in a boozy, low-rent blur, keeping a scrapbook of photos of women he’s slept with, and haunting dive bars for his next conquest. Don is the eternal inciting sidekick that every protagonist dreads: pushing the main character on toward dangerous adventure while watching from the sidelines with a drink. When Victor tells Don about Thelma’s posh home and how wealthy she seems to be, Don hits upon the idea of Victor convincing the elderly widow to marry him, then waiting for her to die and inherit her fortune. He offers to assist Victor in this boneheaded plan, for a percentage, of course.

This plan imperils all the recent positive aspects of Victor’s life. His relationship with Betty goes south when she hears of it, and Thelma’s niece, Lucy (Marci Rose), responds to him swooping in on her expected inheritance by bringing in martial-arts wielding muscle, in the form of Mr. Bruno (Chang Sik Kim), to sort Victor out and send him on his way. Pivotal moments of revelation come during a hurricane that soaks a hotel where Victor and Thelma are staying, leading to the tagline: “A story of love and hurricanes.”