Usually when independent filmmakers get satirical about their own works and the sometimes comparatively pretentious works about their colleagues - sometimes for lack of better ideas - they lack a sufficient self-critical distance. JUNK - written, directed, and starring the makers of ZMD: ZOMBIES OF MASS DESTRUCTION - gets by nicely on the rapport of its lead duo (not great actors but naturalistic enough that their stoner attributes do not seem like posturing and they have an obvious affection for the movies they are making fun of), assured direction and pacing for a sophomore feature (the festival version apparently ran over two hours), consciousness of the "mutual admiration society" tendency of flocking filmmakers as well as the sometimes unsubtle ways they work through their own issues on film.

When his film ISLAMA-RAMA 2: MOUSTAFA LIVES is accepted into the Outsider Film Festival in Seattle, filmmaker Kaveh (Kevin Hamedani) must reunite with his estranged co-writer Raul (Ramon Isao) who enrolled in Columbia University's writing program to pursue a career in writing fiction. Kaveh is honored that his film is getting two screenings at the festival, while Raul is saddened about his contribution to the dumbing-down of American culture. When Kaveh's agent Saul (Kieran Mulroney, GETTYSBURG) informs them that the "Japanese Roger Corman" Yukio Tai (James Hong, BIG TROUBLE IN LITTLE CHINA) will be attending the festival to receive a lifetime achievement award (unlike Corman, Hong may have been more prolific onscreen than offscreen but the actor also went behind the cameras for films like HOT CONNECTIONS, TEEN LUST and THE VINEYARD), the pair plans to pitch him a "pro-choice zombie western" only to discover that a pair of artier rival filmmakers are also planning to pitch him "Jodorowsky's HOLY MOUNTAIN or THE SEARCHERS meets Kafka's METAMORPHOSIS meets THE TRIAL". Going with the agent's recommendation of pitching a remake or a sequel of a horror movie, they work on pitches for GREMLINS III and CHUCKY: POV; however, they soon discover that the ploy of dressing up like waiters to gain access to the producer's penthouse room doesn't work as it does in the movies when said producer has gun-toting bodyguards, their filmmaking rivals, and even their trusted allies can betray them in more personal ways. BLACK DYNAMITE auteur Scott Sanders, Marcus Dunston - writer of entries in the FEAST, THE COLLECTOR, and SAW series - appear as themselves, while director Lynn Shelton (HUMP DAY) and TROLL 2 star George Hardy - the subject of the documentary BEST WORST MOVIE - also appear in small roles.