Get Crazy
Tags: cult

Plot synopsis:
It is December 31, 1982, and the Saturn Theater is preparing for its big New Years Eve concert. The show's midnight finale is having technical problems that narrowly avoid injuring owner and master showman Max Wolfe (Allen Garfield, credited as Allen Goorwitz), who has operated the Saturn since 1968. Fortunately stage manager Neil Allen (Daniel Stern) is on the job. Then former stage manager Willy Loman (Gail Edwards) shows up, and to Neil's chagrin Max refers to her as "the best in the business."Max Wolfe holds a 30-year lease to the theater, but his toadying nephew Sammy (Miles Chapin) has other ideas. Reptilian concert promoter Colin Beverly (Ed Begley, Jr., wearing a white polyester jumpsuit) arrives with his henchmen Mark and Marv (former teen heartthrobs Bobby Sherman and Fabian), who parrot their boss's every assertion with a slight paraphrase. Beverly offers to buy Max out of his lease with what seems to be a sweetheart deal at Beverly's concert auditorium and stadium, but Max refuses. Colin Beverly, cementing his role as the evil villain, replies, "This building is coming down and eighty-eight stories are going up. So f--k you and f--k rock and roll." Max, incensed, lunges at Beverly, only to collapse of an apparent heart attack. Outside, Sammy informs Beverly that he stands to inherit the theater from his uncle, and Beverly embraces Sammy as a new ally. He offers Sammy the same deal he offered Max -- if Sammy can get Max's signature on an agreement to transfer the Saturn's lease before midnight.Dr. Carver (Paul Bartel) arrives to check on Max, and advises bed rest. Meanwhile, one of the stagehands is stealing drugs from the doctor's bag. Coming up with only aspirin, cortizone, and suppositories, he laments that they have "too much work and not much time... what we need is something that's going to blast us into the fast lane." With a flash of light, a cloud of smoke, and the strains of Adrian Belew's "Big Electric Cat", Electric Larry suddenly appears -- a seven-foot-tall man with no face and glowing red eyes, wearing a flat-brimmed pimp's hat with mirrored band and a silver trench coat, and carrying a chrome attaché case. He waves a gloved hand over the case and it magically opens to reveal a stash of pills of every conceivable shape and color, and suddenly the stage is alive with artificially sped-up activity.The various performers for the show are introduced:* Captain Cloud and the Rainbow Telegraph, Max Wolfe's favorite band, arrive in an aging bus that is painted à la the Merry Pranksters' Furthur. The Captain (the Turtles' Howard Kaylan) is carrying a backstage pass for New Years 1969, not 1983, but no matter -- Max gives him the finale for old times' sake. Captain Cloud replies blissfully with one of his many tripped-out-guru epigrams: "The end is always a new beginning."* Nada arrives in a battered 1957 Chevy Belair, and her entire 15-member band piles out of the back seat in a "clown car" gag. The band is an amalgam of many disparate styles of music that appeared on MTV in the early 1980s -- part bubble-gum pop, part New Wave, part garage rock. Locked in the trunk is "Special Guest Star" Piggy (Lee Ving of the L.A. punk band Fear), a self-destructive, anarchistic punk -- with an articulate knowledge of music business contract terminology.* King Blues, the King of the Blues (Bill Henderson), a spoof of Muddy Waters. Although he is a kindly man, King Blues' opinion of himself is so great that a eulogy for a fellow bluesman ends with the King threatening God "you better take care of him, or I'm going to wax your ass."* Auden (Lou Reed), "metaphysical folk singer, event of the '70s, [and] antisocial recluse," hasn't been heard from in six years -- but Max is certain he can convince him to play the Saturn, since he's "calling from his deathbed." Auden answers the phone in a shot that mimics perfectly the cover of Bob Dylan's Bringing It All Back Home, except that everything, including the woman lounging on the couch, is covered in cobwebs. Hearing that Max is making "a deathbed request," Auden bursts into song (using that phrase as a lyric) and decides "there's a concept album in this, I'll be right over." He hops into a cab and tells the driver to "take the scenic route, I got some things to work out."* Reggie Wanker (Malcolm McDowell), "20 years of rock and roll and still on top", is a Mick Jagger spoof with his own private jet and a countess for a girlfriend. Years of fan adoration (and drug use) have left Reggie jaded, bored, and uninspired with his life as the ultimate rock star.The new by-the-book fire inspector, Connell O'Connell (Robert Picardo), arrives and informs Neil that no fireworks and no open flames will be permitted in the theater.Max and Neil give a brief pep talk to the Saturn staff, then the doors are opened and the audience streams in. While the ushers (including Clint Howard) take pains to search everyone and begin to accumulate a massive stockpile of confiscated contraband -- including kegs, firearms, and a 500-pound bomb -- they seem oblivious to the seven-foot tall walking marijuana joint that enters excitedly, accompanied by two Rastafarians.King Blues opens the show, performing two of his "own" hit songs, "The Blues Had A Baby and They Named It Rock and Roll" (by Muddy Waters) and "Hoochie Coochie Man" (by Willie Dixon). Next the Nada Band take the stage and perform "I'm Not Going to Take It No More." Piggy leads the band in a viciously punk-rock version of "Hoochie Coochie Man," complete with stage dives and slam dancing, and King Blues recognizes it from its opening notes. He appraises Piggy's rendition warmly, saying, "Who said a white boy can't sing the blues?"After their set, Nada, Piggy and the band return triumphantly to their dressing room, only to be disappointed by the poor selection of refreshments. Nada says, "champagne again?" which cues Electric Larry to reappear; this time his attaché case contains a large rock of cocaine, which grinds itself into powder and distributes into neat lines with a wave of Larry's hand. Piggy, inexplicably, panics at the sight of Larry and flees the room.Reggie Wanker heads for the stage, while fires of appreciation (many of them much bigger than the concert-cliché upraised lighter) burn throughout the audience. At the same time, the fire inspector is chasing the giant joint, now partially burned down, through the mezzanine with a fire extinguisher.As the show proceeds, Sammy tries to find ways to sabotage the theater, including fueling a fire in the basement and cutting the fire hose. Neil and Willy manage to put the fire out by connecting their hose to a water pipe in the dreaded mens' room. Mark and Marv give Sammy a bomb, which he plants in the rocket ship that Max will ride during the final countdown to midnight.Reggie sings a celebration of egotism, "Hot Shot," then moves on to a version of "Hoochie Coochie Man" (leading King Blues to "bask in my own genius.") During his set Reggie sets off fireworks, and the fire inspector (now in the audience) rushes the stage. The bass player hits the inspector with his guitar and kicks him off the stage, a reference to Pete Townshend's treatment of Abbie Hoffman at Woodstock. The inspector runs backstage, where he collides with Sammy (who is fleeing the impending bomb). Both are knocked unconscious and fall to the ground. Electric Larry, unbidden, shows up for the third and final time to squirt an eyedropper of clear liquid (presumably LSD) into the tank of the water cooler. He delivers his only line -- "Happy new year" -- and vanishes. Moments later the inspector and Sammy are revived and drink water from the cooler, which almost immediately gives them animated rainbow visions. The inspector is last seen spraying his fire extinguisher at random, seeing fires everywhere, while Sammy abandons his greedy persona and starts giving away his material possessions.Willy overhears Mark and Marv talking about the bomb, and is captured by them and Colin Beverly. They lock her in the trunk of Beverly's limo and drive off. Auden, still riding in the taxi cab, realizes that day has turned to night and orders the driver to "step on it." The cab soon collides with Beverly's limo, which releases Willy, who escapes and runs back toward the theater.During a ridiculously extended drum solo, Reggie has returned to his dressing room for an interlude with about a dozen half-naked groupies. His girlfriend, Countess Chantamina (Anna Bjorn), discovers his infidelity and invites the nerdy, virginal stage hand Joey (Dan Frischman) into another dressing room as an act of retribution. Reggie finds them and, feeling betrayed, returns to the stage to deliver a heartfelt ballad reprise of "Hot Shot." As the song ends, Reggie walks backstage, where he asks Neil for a glass of water -- which comes from the now-magical water cooler.Left wanting an encore from Reggie, the audience begins to get unruly, so Neil puts on a cartoon -- a black-and-white print of the 1935 Technicolor short The Sunshine Makers. Meanwhile, Reggie heads to the bathroom, where his penis initiates a conversation with him, explaining that tonight's performance was Reggie's greatest because it had emotion. Reggie decides to name his penis as his band's new manager, telling his bandmate Toad (the Doors' John Densmore), "Rock and roll is going to be fun again."Only a few minutes before midnight, Willy reaches the theater and tells Neil about the bomb. With the help of Captain Cloud, Neil learns from Sammy where the bomb is hidden, and he radios up to Max, who is already riding the booby-trapped rocket ship down a wire from the upper reaches of the theater. Max finds the bomb and tries to throw it to Neil, but instead it lands in the crowd, which tosses it playfully, as if it is yet another concert beach ball -- overhead from person to person. As the crowd counts down the final ten seconds, the bomb makes its way out of the main hall, through the lobby, and out the front door. Just as Colin Beverly's limo pulls up to the curb, the bomb is tossed into it -- and the last second ticks away. There is a big explosion, everyone shouts "happy new year," and Captain Cloud leads them all in "Auld Lang Syne". Beverly, Mark and Marv crash through a skylight, relatively unharmed, and the celebration ends happily.As the last of the audience leaves, Auden finally arrives, having paid a cab fare of $11,864.90 with the cash in his pocket. Neil introduces Auden to his younger sister, Susie (Stacey Nelkin), who is a big fan. Max gives Neil the lease to the theater, saying he intends to retire. Neil offers partnership to Willy.The end credits roll, while Auden sings Reed's "Little Sister" to an audience of three: Susie... and in the balcony, the giant joint and a lonely German Shepherd guide dog. The final caption reads, "Thanks for the memories to the entire staff of the Fillmore East 1968-71."

Review: No one mentions it when you talk about cool '80s cinema, but it's better than a pack of "Fast Times" or a pair of "Breakfast Clubs" for my money.It's a rare thing to see three such beauties as Gail Edwards, Stacy Nelkin, and Anna Bjorn all adorning the same film, but who on Earth in 1983 could have thought it would be the career highpoint for all three of them?
Why isn't Malcolm McDowell's fantastically hilarious Mick Jagger send-up as celebrated as Bill Murray's Carl Spackler in "Caddyshack?" What more evidence do you need that life's unfair!
How about one of the zaniest films since "Hard Day's Night" celebrating rock 'n roll passing though the chasm of time with barely a whisper of recognition?
Perhaps you even managed to find a copy of the film, which may be like climbing K2 for video collectors, forget DVD.
You have to watch this film a few times to pick up even most of the craziness.4.
Relevance to the time - The 80s were the decade of greed and ugly silver-plastic pants, so who is a better movie villain than Colin Beverly?
And then there's the other culture clash, that of New Wave performer Nada (Lori Eastside crossing Joan Jett with Toni Basil) and McDowell's take on Jagger's "Emotional Rescue" period, including a Keef substitute in John Densmore playing drums."Get Crazy" can be sad to watch.
There's also an eerie opening where Wolfe, riding a flying machine, crashes into an electrical apparatus, which is exactly how Wolfe's real-life basis Bill Graham died years later.But otherwise this film is just a ton of fun, a time capsule that hasn't gotten a minute older for all the New Years that have passed between then and now..
The parodies of famous rock stars (courtesy of Malcolm McDowell), punk rock, and blues artists was very well done.
Don't try to think your way through this movie...just sit back, put your mind on cruise control, and enjoy the ride!!!.
Playing off Daniel Stern with the line from Blue Thunder "Catch you later" with the forefinger pointed like a gun was just too cool.Electric Larry was too much like people I went to high school with.
The video title has a very unfortunate Finnish translation (which translates back to "Star Gang")and the absence of letterboxing results in booms aplenty, but NOTHING can ruin my joy of watching this movie again and again!.
It is so full of silly things, injokes about the Rock n Roll 'thing' and absolutely outrageous performances that it is always fun to watch and to show to friends.
Malcolm McDowell's scene-chewing Jagger-Bowie character of Reggie Wanker is an absolute highlight and look for some amazing personalities in roles in this movie.
Lou Reed gets to play himself, basically; the hippy bands of the 60s that just won't leave are portrayed as they are (and this was 1983, for Pete's sake, never mind 2006!), the ego-glamrockers get their due with Malcom MacDowel, The punkers have their turn, and the blues godfather kind of watches it all from the wings.My favorite scene is at the beginning at a bluesman's funeral - King Blues does the graveside eulogy, in which he says, among other things, ..."You were the greatest...musician, drinker of whiskey, and lover of women (minister starting to wince at this point)...
'God, this is my man, and if you don't take care of him, I'm gonna wax your a_s!" - thunder rumbles, minister backs away from the grave, and the blind a capella blues singers who've been crooning away all through the scene start bumping into each other, saying "'scuse me, scuse me" - one of them falls in the grave and yells "I'M NOT DEAD!!!!" - OK, it loses in telling - just get the film and enjoy!.
This really is a time capsule--but unlike traditional capsules, this one doesn't get stale the second--or third, fifth, tenth...-- time you peruse the contents!Today's Lou Reed is way too serious (what did you feed him full of anyway, Laurie Anderson?!?), so this is a great look back on my musical hero when he was still a real person.
A Classic Rock Parody Equal to Spinal Tap. This movie is a great parody!
Malcolm Mcdowell plays the part of the Egotistical Rock Star as only he can.
Fabian and Bobby Sherman make great henchmen for bad guy Colin (Ed Begley Jr.) Lou Reed As Folk Singer Auden is eccentric and closes the movie as only he can.
I first saw this film over ten years ago, and still think this is the ultimate drugs, sex and rock and roll picture ever made, and certainly one of the funniest films I'ver ever seen.
True, the movie is funny for many different reasons, but for me, the best thing about it is Lou Reed.
So funny, so deadpan (because, c'mon: it's Lou), and a great performance of "Little Sister" at the end.
Every time I watch it, I notice something different, especially different characters in the crowd at the concert and other things in the background.
Malcolm McDowell is one of my all time favorite actors and he puts on a great show, although he should stick to acting and NOT singing.
Lou Reed plays a pretty decent song during the credits, so don't turn off the tape as soon as the credits start to roll!
The other music consists of the same song in different forms, blues, metal, and whatever you want to call the version that Malcolm McDowell sings.
I first saw this film as a 14 or 15 year old and have seen it many times.
it is very rare to get the right mix of comedy/music in a film and i believe that they did this superbly with spinal tap a not to close second.And although i have not seen it for many years it still holds a very special place in my movie memory..
Rock and Roll High School (from the same director, and not half as funny) gets the cult treatment, but this gem, with so many injokes about the music business, and some great comedy moments, and a cast full of "is that who I think it is?" gets lost in the shuffle.
Truly great comedies about rock 'n' roll are about as rare as a dog that speaks Norwegian.
If the only great rock comedy that you can think of is THIS IS SPINAL TAP, you owe  it to yourself to give this forgotten gem a chance.
Set backstage at a New Years concert (at a venue that is clearly modelled after the Filmore West), GET CRAZY chronicles the loopy adventures of a bunch of techies, insane bandmembers, scheming relatives and an extraterrestrial drug dealer (???).
There are too many great moments to go into here, so I won't even try, but pay attention to Malcolm McDowell's turn as a David Bowie/Mick Jagger character named Reggie Wanker.
Allen Garfield (billed as Allen Goorwitz) plays the owner of a concert hall in Los Angeles, preparing for a New Year's Eve rock and blues blowout, who is threatened with a takeover attempt by slimy concert promoter Ed Begley Jr. Director Allan Arkush knows how to make a cult film, and this one comes complete with hip casting, some great music, wild gags and in-jokes, but what is accomplished with cheerful rebellion is soon mitigated by shapeless scenes and static slapstick, one out-of-control, overeager sequence after another.
The overall tone is jovial and chummy, as if we were co-conspirators in the picture's euphoric craziness, but Garfield is too intense an actor for his role--he pretends to have a good time, much like the rest of the cast, and it doesn't wash.
There isn't, in fact, one character in this group as lovable as Riff Randell from Arkush's 1979 midnight-movie entry, "Rock 'n' Roll High School".
As the night progresses every band that plays does a version of the blues standard "hoochie coochie man".
When watching the movie the viewer should take notice of the actor with the big hair and beard.
This is a shining satire on Rock'n'Roll including tributes to concert impresario Bill Graham and the whole hippie music scene, but with swipes at many others.
A funny funny funny movie from the director of Rock N Roll High School.Featuring hilarious cameos by Lou Reed and Howard Kaylen (of The Turtles).
I saw this movie, many years ago, during the Christmas season.
When I found that Lou Reed was a star, I had no doubt that I was not wasting my time.
In this case, I would say that this is a musician's movie, not because there is so much good music, but because it parodies that "rock and roll" lifestyle.My favourite parts are, Lou Reed's journey while writing the song (I believe that the journey is supposed to be influencing it, but "Death Bed Request" is not a real song, as far as I know), and the dog being kicked across the room, by the person whom I believe to be the antagonist..
do we really need to watch the same movies over and over?
For all those who love to have a good time, this movie is for you.
In "Get Crazy", a theater owner who thought he was going to die realize he's soon be having fun every year rather than worrying.
This movie is a bit of a spoof of a lot of stars, but the tribute is for real.
I thought this movie was a lot of fun.
Allan Arkush's lesser-known but superior follow-up to ROCK'N'ROLL HIGH SCHOOL (1979) was an affectionately cheeky tribute to his own days as an usher at the legendary New York concert venue Fillmore East which, during its four year tenure between 1968-71, housed live performances by scores of major rock and jazz artists.
The light-hearted satirical film provides the viewer with a rare opportunity to see actors being rock stars (Malcolm McDowell as a vain Mick Jagger-like superstar named Reggie W**ker) and vice versa (Lou Reed as a recluse folkie in the Bob Dylan mould named Auden and John Densmore, the former drummer for The Doors, as W**ker's drummer who goes by the name of Toad); other renowned musical personalities who are respectfully sent up are Jerry Garcia (via Howard Kaylan leading a group of hippies who believe themselves still back in 1968 rather than 1982!) and Muddy Waters (played by Bill Henderson who also utters the film's funniest line while delivering, of all things, a funeral eulogy: "God, this is my man, and you'd better take care of him, or I'm gonna wax your a**!").
The rest of the cast includes even more colorful characters, namely: Daniel Stern as the overtaxed organizer of the star-studded New Year's Eve concert; Allen Garfield (billed as Goorwitz and portraying Stern's employer who is struck down by a mild heart attack); Miles Chapin (as Garfield's overly ambitious and treacherous nephew); Ed Begley Jr.
(who, made up to resemble Andy Warhol, plays greedy billionaire Colin Beverly and is looking to buy off Garfield and take over his property); 1960s teen idol Fabian (unregonizable as one of Begley's monosyllabic henchmen!) Lee Ving (as an animalistic punk rocker, prone to head-butting anything from car booths to stone walls, and fronting an all-girls band!), Paul Bartel (as the proverbial "doctor in the house" who, overtaken by enthusiasm, eventually leaps off the balcony into the audience below!); and Robert Picardo (as an overzealous fire marshal); ubiquitous character actors Dick Miller (as Stern's father) and Mary Woronov also have cameos.
As if all of the above were not enough source of entertainment already, we also have a Jewish Blues band, an electric ghost-cum-drug pusher(!), a motorcycle gang and Stern's overeager younger sister (to whom Reed croons "My Baby Sister" – a song later retitled "Little Sister" and issued in a Reed compilation album – over the film's end credits, a performance only witnessed by her, a dog and a human joint!); on the debit side, I do not think it was such a great idea to have all of the bands performing at the New Year's Eve concert doing their own take on the same song i.e. Willie Dixon's Blues number, "I'm Your Hoochie Coochie Man".Apparently, McDowell had not read the entire script before accepting the role of Reggie W**ker and hence was not aware that he was expected to, at one point while inadvertently high on acid, conduct a conversation with his own dick (who is subsequently appointed the band's new manager!)...not that this should have unduly troubled the lead of Tinto Brass' infamous star-studded epic CALIGULA (1979)!
On the other hand, while Lou Reed's character may have ostensibly been channeling Dylan (in its clear reference to those eight years in the wilderness following his 1966 motorcycle accident) but Auden (a reference to poet W.H. Auden, perhaps?)'s lifestyle and working methods – living with what looks like a transsexual (a reference to Reed's 1970s relationship with "Rachel") and composing lyrics right off of the streets (he spends most of the film stuck in a taxicab that takes him all the way out to the desert while strumming his guitar and coming up with lyrics) – is pure Lou Reed!
I had previously seen the film via a pan-and-scan screening on the MGM Cable TV channel but I eventually upgraded my copy to a Widescreen one in time for my mini-Bob Dylan tribute.
From the director's other works, apart from ROCK'N'ROLL HIGH SCHOOL I am also familiar with DEATHSPORT (1978) and have just gotten hold of Hollywood BOULEVARD (1976) which he co-directed with Joe Dante.
Get crazy is a dropped on its head,spun in the cotton candy machine film.Based on the Fillmore east,it features Lou Reed aping Bob Dylan,Howard Kaylan aping Jerry Garcia,Malcolm Macdowell channeling Mick Jagger etc.director Allen Arkush worked at the Fillmore,so he based his experience on the screenplay,injecting a dose of rock and roll high school in the mix.
The supporting cast includes Bobby Sherman and Fabian as henchmen who are helping to sabotage the new years eve party so their boss can build on the property.Mary Woronov and the late Paul Bartel {Eating raoul}round out the cast.Watch for the marijuana cigarette spectator who gets smaller as the film goes by..
Every New Years Eve. This movie is a classic.
It has been a tradition in my house on New Years Eve and has been for at least 15 years to watch "Get Crazy".
Has some great B stars of the time and is just a fun movie.
Takes place in the "Saturn theater" on New Years Eve 1982.
Definitely worth watching if you're in the mood for a movie that makes fun of itself !!!.
Packed with celebrities from the film world as well as classic rockers turning in some great comic performances, such as Lou Reed as a Dylanesque recluse on Dante's cab ride, and John Densmore (actual drummer from the Doors) as the quintessential, wild man on the skins and perfect foil to Malcolm MacDowells Hyper-Jagger/Bowie amalgam.
With characters like a walking joint, levitating, hookah vending Rastafarians and every jonesers dream, in the quixotic, cloud of smoke appearing,minute-man drug dealer: Electric Larry, be warned Get Crazy is no after school special.
LSD is actually used as an anti-evil solution, and they must seek the well played Captain Trips like character to translate.With a great soundtrack of music spanning genres from punk and glam to classic Chicago blues, featuring the song Hoochie Coochie Man done at least three ways, this is a great party film.
Great Movie period.
I've personally rang in quite a few new years with this movie.
And now that I got at least one teen it's time to start ring in some more new years with this movie.
This takes place at a theatre in California that's having a huge New Years Eve party to welcome in 1984.
Especially good is Malcolm McDowell who does a vicious (but hilarious) parody of Mick Jagger.
One can only wonder how such a film was ever made...if anything it is a great example for all screen writers on what to avoid doing with their scripts..
You haven't seen an outlandish movie like this in a long time.
Or more correctly, you haven't seen a movie like Get Crazy, ever and you never will again.
I know exactly where I was that night, but it wasn't really memorable, yet this movie will be, once you've seen it.
But before that we meet an array of the most craziest rockers every assembled, though you can't top idolized and aging punk rocker, Reggie W..ker, a real well you know, wonderfully played by Malcolm Mcdowell in one of his best ever performances, the last of the three best, all just mentioned, although Miles Chaplin good too, runs forth as Max's parasitic nephew.
The crazy s..t, and rib poking humor is so original and consistently funny in this movie, and you just gotta meet, Bob Dylan lookalike rocker Audine, played brilliantly by too a famous rocker.
A must for New Years Eve..
After Dick Clark and Times Square go off, on goes the movie.
So I would also like to point out that the music is good and I look forward to hearing each year, so again I'll say give it a look see, especially on New Years Eve..
The best thing about it is Lou Reed's performance of Little Sister at the end.
Between the brilliant comic timing, imaginative casting and over-the-top Foley work, it's one of my top ten films.
First-time viewers (especially older ones) will be amazed to see how many musicians are acting in the film, and that they can actually act!
John Densmore (The Doors) is great as Toad, Howard Kaylan (The Turtles) is brilliant as Captain Cloud, Bobby Sherman and Fabian make totally believable sycophantic henchmen and Lou Reed is great as Auden, the Bob Dylan-esquire singer.
If you can find this movie, buy it, rent it, love it.