NOT 'DEMENTED' ENOUGH.

Byline: Bob Strauss Film Critic

Another good John Waters idea in search of a decent script and direction, ``Cecil B. Demented'' presents a manifesto for unfettered personal filmmaking. I suppose the joke is that this very personal Waters production, like the guerrilla cineastes it depicts, displays a laughable lack of craftsmanship.

As with most of the Baltimore satirist's pictures, ``C.B.'' revels in ``outrageous'' prankishness that is actually pretty pale in comparison to his '70s trash masterpieces ``Pink Flamingos,'' ``Female Trouble'' and ``Desperate Living.'' It's also a celebration of campy bad acting, which, too, is a yawn. The one glorious exception to that here is Melanie Griffith, who almost redeems the whole, tossed-off mess with one of her sharpest comic performances in years.

She plays Honey Whitlock, a shrewish Hollywood actress who visits the City of Crabs for the charity premiere of her latest commercial monstrosity. The event is hijacked by the self-styled C.B. (Stephen Dorff) and his merry band of movie-loving terrorists, the Sprocket Holes. A mixed bag of satanists, mama's boys, ex-porn stars and sexually confused marginals, the Holes have all tattooed auteurs' names on themselves and taken vows of celibacy to cinema - at least until they finish shooting the movie C.B. forces the kidnapped Honey to star in.

As you might imagine, these kids don't have a very easy time managing some substantial pent-up rage. The violent verite-within-the-film recounts a series of raids on multiplexes and runaway production locations (for the Baltimore-set ``Gump Again,'' Forrest tells his bus bench neighbor that life is like a crab cake) where Hollywood pablum dominates. ``We are the ultimate bad review!'' the zealots cry before opening fire. The best bit is when art-hating family film advocates respond so angrily to their provocations that the Holes must run for their lives.

Gradually, of course, Honey comes around to the logic of C.B.'s poison love for good cinema, and her performances in the raid footage grows correspondingly more heartfelt. Any similarities to the Patty Hearst nightmare are entirely intentional; a Waters favorite, the kidnaped heiress turned brainwashed revolutionary has a small role here as an uncomprehending mother.

It would be nice to report that a similar Stockholm Syndrome effect takes hold when you're trapped in a theater with ``Cecil B. Demented.'' But whenever Waters starts to bring us around to an acute appreciation of his disdain for mainstream movies, he undermines the effect with stupid sexual humor, uninspired sight gags or excessive actor whining. What could have been a bracing attack on everything that's wrong with our current film culture, or at least a funny spoof of directorial megalomania as a cult-building phenomenon, ends up childishly underdeveloped.

A little more fully grown, full-blown dementia wouldn't have hurt.

THE FACTS

--The film: ``Cecil B. Demented'' (R; violence, language, sex).

--The stars: Melanie Griffith, Stephen Dorff, Alicia Witt, Adrian Grenier, Jack Noseworthy.

--Behind the scenes: Written and directed by John Waters. Produced by John Fielder, Joe Caracciolo Jr., Mark Tarlov. Released by Artisan Entertainment.

--Running time: One hour, 28 minutes.

--Playing: Regent Showcase, Hollywood; Playhouse 7, Pasadena; Monica, Santa Monica.

--Our rating: Two stars

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Photo:

Stephen Dorff shows a captive actress (Melanie Griffith) her ``motivation'' in John Waters' ``Cecil B. Demented.''