Donald Westlake's book is turned into a rather dull movie by director Gordon Flemyng. Jim Brown leads a rag tag team of respected character actors on a heist to steal from the LA Colliseum. Edited with a sledge hammer, the movie appears to be missing scenes. The jump cuts are not stylish, they're really odd. Brown is OK, but the supporting cast is terrific, including Ernest Borgnine, Warren Oates, Jack Klugman and Donald Sutherland. Julie Harris pops up (aping Geraldine Page as a tough talking crime broker). It's not bad, but it's certainly forgettable despite the colorful cast. Diahann Carroll and James Whitmore are wasted in a really lurid subplot.


I want to find out whether the complete 1989 TV series 'The Nutt House' is likely to be released on DVD. If anyone out there knows of any way to get this actioned PLEASE email me (or just go ahead and do it). This was one of the funniest and most under-rated TV series in the whole of the last 20 years. That good! We need to nag whoever to get this DVD. The highly-sexed, crazy housekeeper, Mrs Frick (played so perfectly by the delightful Beverly Leech) who took every opportunity to entice men into her private room. Then there was the untrustworthy hotel lift that, without warning, would stop short of the floor causing everyone to have to jump, or squeeze themselves, out of it to safety...solid gold stuff. The series featured a New York hotel which had fallen on hard times. It was run by the Nutt family and involved short sitcom style programmes about the day to day lives of the staff and (rare) guests in the Nutt House world. The opening credits came up as the viewer was taken on a rickety old wooden roller-coaster ride. For some unknown reason the series was not fully aired to its end. The series was (allegedly) not as well received in the US as it was by the crazy British audience who adored it and were distraught when it ended so abruptly. Many Brits have sought to get the series made available on DVD. As more and more old classic films and series are being released on DVDE nowadays, the huge fan club of The Nutt House sit and wait in trepidation in the hope that this will be included.


How does one appreciate one of televisions best comedians who never succeeded in the lead role of a comedy series? Harvey Korman was always a positive element in any comic (and some dramatic) shows and films he appeared in. From his days as "Gazoo" in "The Flintstones" to his first appearance in weekly variety on Danny Kaye's variety show to his glory days as part of the weekly ensemble on Carol Burnett's variety show (who can forget him as Eunice's husband, or as "Rhett Butler" or in the Charles Dingle part in the spoof of "The Little Foxes" - using the word "chitlins" as a minced oath), to his long association with Mel Brooks...Korman carved a nice niche for himself, frequently as partner to Tim Conway. And he did prove he could play drama as well. Just recall his performance opposite Buddy Hackett in the television film about Abbott and Costello, "Bud And Lou". The devils and turmoils that destroyed those comic giants came through with the two unexpected performances.

With such a record I felt it necessary to try to recall some unexpected work done by Korman that was just as good as the rest, but overlooked. One work was Korman as "Baron Hinterstoise" on "The Wild West", a Bismarckian German schemer planning to destroy America's reputation so as to open up the western hemisphere to European colonization. There was also his performance as "Von Zeppel" the fanatical aviation pioneer on "F-Troop", who gets Corporal Agarn to wear a Prussian military outfit complete with pointed helmet. But I noted the current obituaries brought in the long work with Mel Brooks, in the films "Blazing Saddles", "High Anxiety", "History Of The World Part I", and "Dracula: Dead And Loving It". Interestingly enough the obituaries failed to note how Korman and fellow Brooks' alumni Cloris Leachman were stars of this short lived comedy series, "The Nutt House".

Except for "Get Smart" Mel Brooks has not had great success on television (or any further great success - "Get Smart" being in a class by itself). His 1970s series, "When Things Were Rotten" was his first attack on the Robin Hood myth (later revisited in one of his movie spoofs), and despite some decent scripts did not succeed. Yet it lasted longer (by about four months) than "The Nutt House". "The Nutt House" lasted a big month, and (apparently) was so poorly received by the public that the last two episodes never were aired. Yet it was better than the public and the critics gave it credit for. "The Nutt House" was a type of spoof on novels or stories or movies like "Hotel" or "Grand Hotel" or "Weekend At The Waldorf" or "Plaza Suite". Set in a famous hostelry owned by Leachman, with Korman as her hotel manager, each week's episode dealt with some problem facing the hotel that threatened it's existence or had to be overcome. Korman, trying to follow the instructions of his employer (who was also his would-be girlfriend - something Korman is constantly trying to avoid). It actually worked quite nicely, although sometimes it actually left comedy and again showed Korman's handling of drama.

In one of the episodes a master jewel thief is at work in the hotel, and the staff from Korman down is aware of this. But Korman is also aware of pressures on himself because he is the manager that are beginning to make him doubt his abilities or his courage. But the conclusion of the episode was not funny but actually heroic. With the jewel thief holding several of the cast at bay with a pistol, Korman stumbles into the scene by chance to talk to a young woman who has been attracting him (actually a frightened partner of the jewel thief). The situation suddenly brings out Korman's total frustration and anger at the jewel thief, whom he rightly calls a phony and coward who pretends to be clever and brilliant but actually is so frightened he needs a gun to force a poor woman to protect him. This flusters the jewel thief enough to make him lose his edge and get captured though he manages to fire his gun before being rushed. Korman starts leaving when he realizes what his indignation almost cause happen. He faints as a result, thus reminding us that it is a comedy show.

The episodes had neat tricks in them. In one episode Leachman thinks she has manipulated events so that Korman will end up marrying her. But he gets knocked out before he can answer "I do!" at the ceremony. Leachman looks at various cast members about whether Korman's body language said the critical words or not. They all just shake their heads "No". At the end she looks at the camera beseechingly at the audience for their support. The camera shakes it's "head" "No!" too.

Korman and Leachman gave the show all they could as did Brooks, and it should have succeeded. Instead, it is in that select group of shows like "He And She" that were not successful, but ended being fondly remembered by those who caught them - and who now wish they were available on DVD or Video.

And it represented another proof of Harvey Korman's best work...for which he'll be remembered by his myriads of fans.


The world wasn't quite campy enough for that tagline when this film premiered. Too bad for the world, says I. I Was A Zombie For the FBI is an ahead-of-its-time, Southern-fried, zomboid romp through retro-B-movie territory, Memphis style.

My vote is intended to split the difference between interested and disinterested fans and original versus DVD versions. I lived in Memphis for 30 years. I am, as they say in those parts, partial to this movie for many reasons. All biases aside, the longer, older, grainier, slower version of Zombie is just plain funnier and more interesting than the recent anniversary DVD release. Most importantly, it's far more faithful to the sort of movie Zombie originally set out to parody; some of the new supers/effects on the new DVD seem intrusive and counter to the style of the original work.

I don't know why this film hasn't garnered a wider cult audience, given its long run on USA's Night Flight in the 80s alongside the likes of Forbidden Zone. Watch it now--especially if you love zombie movies and remember the "cola wars" of the 80s.


You know what? This movie is pretty different. I'm well acquainted with both cult movies and the b-movies made out of love for them, but this one truly gets into the spirit of the movies it's homaging while maintaining its own unique approach to the form. I'm not ashamed to say I like this movie very much, no matter its faults.

Two parts "Invasion of the Body Snatchers" and one part Anthony Mann, "I was a Zombie for the FBI" plays basically as you would expect: with its tongue firmly in cheek and with every frame a love poem to a filmic conceit. Two brothers play cat and mouse with FBI agents as they try to steal the formula to a popular Cola that has industry spreading across the country. An alien (or more?) appears and starts taking over people in the Cola factory, further complicating things with their classic, pre-Romero zombie-like dazes. The main FBI agent has a reporter girlfriend thrown into the melieu... zaniness and awesomeness ensue.

The DVD edition of this movie is a weird mix of original footage and additional special effects. Because of the sped-up nature of the editing for the DVD release, the movie is given slightly less room to really breathe, making a lot of its beats fall flat. Nonetheless, I actually disagree with a lot of the other reviewers and say that I rather like the added visual effects. It adds a level of Boris Karloff into the already delicious mix, and I don't think it's overdone at all.

Anyway, as cult-homage films go, it could be worse. It's best quality is the closeness of sensibilities to its original source.

--PolarisDiB


Out with the old n with the new...

I like this movie because of its rare style similar to the lost skeleton of cadavra.

Great no name cast.

an speaking of names

I thought the raspberry brothers should have used their real names.

though I have read a few reviews that hated this DVD because of the

changes what not in the film or score, but I think the f.b.i had something to do with this, so its the politics of DVD they should be upset with.

a classic si fi treat.


First off: Larry Raspberry? He's the "star" of this odd little picture and while his bio says he was in the Gentrys back in the 60's I seem to remember an album called "Larry Raspberry & the High Steppers" or something to that effect. Anyway, there's another Raspberry in this movie too, his brother, I'd guess. I imagine they got razzed in school about that. ANYWAY on to the movie: This takes place supposedly in the 50's or early 60's, and it seems to waver between when it wants to be as it talks about seeing Invasion of the Body Snatchers and then mentions a roomful of people as looking like the casting room for 'Psycho'. 50's or early 60's stock footage is interwoven with the actual film to give it a more authentic look, I reckon, and it usually works, except for the modern hairstyles and the distinctly non-period soundtrack. We have two escaped convicts, space aliens, and two rival Cola companies that all come together to make zombies out of the people of Pleasantville. I didn't know where this was filmed until the end and it's in Tennessee, I could tell it was somewhere in the south because of the obvious accents. Overall this is an interesting little movie and yes, even somewhat strange, but it's nothing terribly astounding. The look and the atmosphere is good, but trying to follow what's going on is a bit tough. I'd say this was fairly fun if you watch it in the spirit in which it was made, but don't expect a work of cinematic genius. 7 out of 10.


What else could you ask for in a early eighties low budget masterpiece? You've got overacting that would make William Shatner jealous, and some amazing shots that most ode to classic sci/fi film makers seem to be lacking.10 tentacles up for this wonderfully atmospheric trip back to the films of the fifties!


It's nighttime at the Hunka Cheese Factory and Hubie and Berite have eaten all they can eat. Their stomachs are dragging on the ground, and they're almost gagging. Hubie points out, "The avenge mouse eats 12 pounds of cheese in a lifetime. I figured tonight, we've lived 2,000 years."

In their twisted way of thinking, they figured since they've eaten all the cheese they could eat, there is nothing left to live for, so they write a suicide note stating "Goodbye cruel world. (signed) Hubie, Bertie, P.S. we've lived a full life."

The funny stuff comes when the two crawl into the big (and stupid) Claude the cat's mouth....but cat wakes up and thinks all of this is too good to be true, or a dream, and spits them out. It goes on from there and the mice keep trying to be eaten and the cat keeps being suspicious and spitting them out.

The cat even runs into the house's library and looks up "Mental Diseases - Their Causes and Cures" thinking either he or these little mice are nuts. The ironic twist is that the cat winds up thinking he, too, should end it all. We also get a dog involved.

A bizarre but clever cartoon that doesn't evoke a lot of laughs but has a unique story.


I once showed Chuck Jones's 'Cheese Chasers' to my best friend Amy, who remarked that it was the strangest cartoon she'd ever seen! Part of the masterful but lesser known Hubie and Bertie series, which more often than not tackled darker subjects than most cartoons, 'Cheese Chasers' takes suicide and mental illness as its subject and runs with its unique premise to create an exceptional and exceptionally black film. Having eaten more cheese than they can stand in the space of one night, the mice Hubie and Bertie decide there is nothing left to live for and therefore they should commit suicide. This one little event throws off the natural order in the animal kingdom to the extent that a cat and a dog also long for death by the cartoons end. Subverting the usual chase formula so that each character runs away from the character they would usually be trying to catch, 'Cheese Chasers' is a unique and absolutely wonderful cartoon. Just witnessing how disturbed each animal is by the twisted turn of events is enough to equally disturb the viewer while also provoking plenty of laughter. 'Cheese Chasers' is a highlight in the too often overlooked Hubie and Bertie series, perhaps only topped by the even blacker 'The Hypo-chondri-cat'.


The last and craziest of the six Hubie & Bertie cartoons, about two decidedly non-country mice. In this one, the pair have been living in a cheese factory and, having eaten enough cheese for the next two thousand years, decide to end it all, by leaping into the mouth of Claude Cat, their dupe in the Oscar-winning MOUSE WRECKERS. The entire cycles goes on and on, with many a funny sight gag. Highly recommended.


We all know what happens in cartoons when cats try to catch mice, but what happens when the mice want the cat to eat them? That's just what happens in "Cheese Chasers". Wise-guy rodents Hubie and Bertie have just eaten way too much cheese and feel that they can't eat any more of the stuff. With nothing left to live for, they try to get Claude the Cat to devour them, but he doesn't want to. Feeling that he can never eat another mouse again, he tries to get a bulldog to eat him, but that leads to pure confusion on the dog's part, to the point where all four characters end up doing something that no mouse, cat or dog would probably ever consider! I don't think that I've seen all the Hubie and Bertie cartoons, but this one is a really fun romp. With all sorts of gags, there isn't a dull moment in it. And you may just feel hungry for cheese after watching it (don't eat too much, mind you; you don't want to do what these characters did!).

Two thousand years. Yeah, I guess that life's like that.


MOUSE WRECKERS (1948) is my second favorite Warner Brothers cartoon (after the delightful FEED THE KITTY). Thankfully, a few years later, Warner decided to bring back the goofy mice from MOUSE WRECKERS, Hubie and Bertie, and the results are just about as terrific as the previous film.

The cartoon begins with enormously fat mice (Hubie and Bertie) leaving a cheese factory. They have eaten so much cheese that now they can't stand the thought of ever eating it again. So, they decide that life now has no meaning and they want to kill themselves by giving themselves to the cat to be eaten. But, just as the cat is about to eat them, he realizes that they mice MUST be poisoned--why else would they give up so easily?! So, he becomes phobic about eating mice--refusing ever to eat another. And, in the cat's case, too, he realizes life has no meaning without eating mice so he tries to get the dog to eat him! And, predictably enough, the dog is now afraid to eat cats because he thinks they are poisoned and most of the movie consists of the mice and cat doing terrible things to try to force them to be eaten! It's a real laugh riot!


Mice Hubie and Bertie, tired of eating cheese all day, wish to end it all by suicide via Claude Cat eating them. But Claude doesn't want to eat another mouse as long as he lives and the prospect wants him want to attempt suicide via a dog eating him. The dog is reasonable perplexed & a little bit scared in this very funny cartoon. The last of the six shorts that Hubie and Bertie starred in and probably for the best as where do you go after the insanity of this?? This animated short can be seen on Disc 2 of the Looney Tunes Golden Collection Volume 2.

My Grade: B+


After "Blair Witch Project" the scary "mocumentary" business went through the roof. Ten years later, the trend is still going strong, with at least a couple dozen films with the same concept of hand-held terror. "Lake Mungo" is by far the best since "Blair Witch". It accomplishes much more than this year's other big effort, "Paranormal Activity", which, I found rather tame at best. Played almost as a television news special, "Lake Mungo" is the most believable entry thus far. The downplayed, monotone performances of the actors is very effective. The naturalism they maintain only adds more edge and anxiety to the story. And speaking of story, unlike most of the other first person horror movies, "Lake Mungo" actually has a good one. It's an honest mystery, full of secrets and lies, wrapped around a paranormal thriller. It has enough twists, turns and enough surprises/scares to keep anyone's attention. Rarely have I experienced so many chills in one sitting. Don't wait for the Hollywood re-make already in the works, there's no need, the Australians got it right the first time (unlike you, Hollywood.) Don't miss one of the best horror films of 2009.


I was really surprised by this Aussie movie... I expected a straight forward ghost movie and at first you kind of get what you expect.... except for that the movie is entirely shot in the style of a TV documentary featuring mostly interviews with eyewitnesses, some old family video footage etc. mixed to a typical TV collage style. Funny thing is... this works damn good and is even more thrilling than your average ghost movie. The atmosphere is really dense and even though you barely see anything than blurry photos I was pretty creeped out in the first half of the movie.

The basic plot is about a family who loses their daughter on a swimming trip. Some time later the dead body is found but especially the mother finds no closure and soon strange things happen in their house. Its all the typical restless ghost haunting a house story but damn is it effective... and even better, half way into the movie the ghost thing gets dropped when some rather earthly explanations start to surface and the family looks deeper into the last weeks of her daughters life. Its all driving serpentine and when you think this is just a psychological movie it takes another turn back to the ghost story. The finale really gets you and leaves a lot of gaps for your mind to fill but thats what I really liked about the movie. Its a damn creepy ghost movie that makes you think and it throws you curve balls right until the credits roll. Forget all that Asian rip-off ghost stuff and give Lake Mungo a try... I doubt you will be disappointed.


LAKE MUNGO might sound like a teen flick or some camping murder spree so let me tell you clearly that this clever film is not another one of those. LAKE MUNGO is a tiny budget ghost thriller with about 4 major sequences I personally found terrifying. Actually frightening. Yes. The premise is this: a nice ordinary family in a rural town are heartbroken when their 15 year old daughter drowns at a family picnic. About a month later they realize her spirit is in her room at home and as a ghost she wanders through the house at night. The film is actually about the mind bending emotions the family experience in missing their beloved daughter but not wanting her as a ghost. And then the genuinely scary stuff starts. It is not a violent movie, nor is it a Blair Witch wannabee, it is a melancholy ghost movie with a terrific emotional dilemma and absolutely hair raising fright scenes. They film is made to resemble a 60 Minutes investigation... and uses home movies, call phone camera scenes and séances mixed with psychological settings and tape-recording confessions. I had no idea what was going to happen next and the revelations both visually and in the plot twists are astonishing. LAKE MUNGO has already been bought for a US remake but this little indie original from Australia is the real deal: a genuinely scary ghost film like THE SIXTH SENSE or the 1961 film THE INNOCENTS. I actually yelped several times in fright. And yelping is not my regular reaction. LAKE MUNGO in its present version might turn up in a horror fest near you and if you see it mis-labeled you will find it is the surprise of the event. EEK ! Remember the original 1980 film THE CHANGELING with George C Scott? Well it is as spooky as that.


With all this hype about the good, yet overrated Paranormal Activity, Joel Anderson's debut film Lake Mungo lies forgotten. This is a total shame, seeing as this is much better, and way creepier. Lake Mungo really is a very simple film, it follows the Palmer family as they deal with the loss of Alice (their daughter/sister). It is filmed in a documentary style, in which the family/friends/work associates are interviewed by an unseen person, with pictures and video footage shown as well. Eventually we discover Alice had many secrets, and the family try to find out about them and if they had anything to do with her passing.

The plot does not sound enticing, in fact, it sounds rather plain, however, this is not case fortunately. The documentary style really suits the film, and the actors are incredible and almost seem like they are not acting at all. The scares spaced throughout are genuinely freaky, and really got under my skin. Anderson makes sure the atmosphere is kept dense throughout the whole film, making every minute feel ominous. However, Lake Mungo does not just focus on the horror, but also how the family deals with the grief, and what they are willing to believe and do to help each other and themselves. The scenes in between the supernatural images and occurrences focus on how each family member (and some friends) deal with all that happens, and it is done in a refreshingly realistic (not over-blown, sentimental, or dramatic) way. There are a few twists along the way, and the final scene is very well-done, and will stay with you for a long time. Do yourself a favour, go see this movie, support movies which are actually good and don't rely on cheap scares. Recently my awesome homeland have been releasing some damn good horror movies (see Wolf Creek, Rogue, Black Water, Dying Breed, Lucky Country) and Lake Mungo is one of the best.

4½/5


I'm not exactly sure what I expected going into this, but it wasn't really what I got. But that's kind of a good thing. I guess I was expecting some tired old ghost story. What I got was a bit of that, but with a original slant to it. People expecting jumpy thrills will probably be a bit disappointed, but I rather enjoyed the fact that there's a bit more substance to the story. I'll avoid going into the plot much as it would likely give away at least some of the story.

I'm not really sure why IMDb lists this as a horror first and foremost. Sure, it has some horror elements, but I wouldn't even call it a thriller (again, it's got some elements, but it doesn't feel like the meat of the story belongs in that genre) let alone a horror. To me it's almost more of a drama about losing a loved one unexpectedly, grieving, closure, and the effects of clinical depression. With a slightly supernatural twist all shot in a documentary style, of course.

Again, I'm not really sure what I expected. I think it was more of a bland ghost story, so I was pleasantly surprised by some of the twists and turns the movie takes. I'd definitely recommend it even if it's not exactly (in my mind, anyway) what IMDb says it is.


I wasn't sure what to expect when I watched this film. I think it was completely misrepresented in its international promotion, as part of the 'Horror After Dark' festival last year. This 2007, and belatedly released, film is filmed in a documentary style about the Palmer family trying to deal with the tragic... loss of their daughter, Alice.

I didn't find the film frightening, but it was very atmospheric. Some scenes were quite foreboding. In retrospect, it is easy to see how this film could have been presented, had it been made in a typical straight forward way. The plot turns are all in keeping with genre expectations, but it was the choice to tell the story in an almost completely strict 'third person objective' view point that really had me engrossed.

The Hollowood remake is set for release next year - you know how they don't like those foreign language films - and expect it to lack any of the honesty and soul of the original. No doubt the remake rights, as is the trend now, were part and parcel with distribution rights. This is the current tactic of the American film industry now - distribution with the condition of remake rights.

That makes for a very sad situation, and if it isn't protectionist, I don't know what is. The only reason to remake this film is to cash in on this year's Paranormal Activity. I would watch that as well, but make sure it is the original cut and not the Spielberg one - it wasn't even his film! As for Lake Mungo - see it if you can. It is a very striking film, full of life for long after the credits have rolled (watch them all by the way) - don't watch any trailers.


As a long time aficionado of psychological horror and spooky movies, I was immensely impressed by this little Aussie flick. Most "scary" movies these days simply aren't, and many Aussie films struggle to have the production qualities of our overseas competitors.

Well, this film absolutely blew my expectations away in both regards. It is a beautifully crafted film - from the subtle yet convincing acting, to the magnificent cinematography, to the haunting sound scape, this is one of the slickest budget films I've been privileged to view.

As for the scares... wow. Just... wow. I'm not going to talk about what happens, but the plot always keeps you guessing, and is paced superbly. It's honestly one of the best scary flicks I've seen in years, and now ranks alongside Session 9 as one of my all time faves.

Highly recommended.


I think (I may be wrong here) that this was a selection for the After Dark Horror Fest. I'm a fan of what the Fest manages to achieve in terms of shining the spotlight on low to medium budget "indie" horror, but I'm sure that other fans who have seen a lot of these films will agree that your mileage may vary in terms of quality. Lake Mungo is by far the best I've seen from this franchise yet...

Mungo is filmed as a mocumentary, but somehow this terms just does not do justice to the movie. It's the closest thing I've seen to simulating a real documentary feel; better than "Paranormal Activity", "The Last Broadcast", "Blair Witch" and the like. The actors do an excellent job in creating believable characters. The film makers shot and edited so skillfully that I think there will be a lot of folks out there who will see this movie and actually come away confused as to its veracity. It's THAT well done.

No mater how good a film may look, however, its ultimate worth is based on whether or not it delivers to goods in terms of creativity and its ability to hold your attention (and suspend your disbelief...). Mungo manages both and delivered honest to goodness chills throughout. I haven't seen a movie this scary in years. There are plot twists galore and an ending that left me scrambling for the light switch.

There will undoubtedly be comparisons made with "Paranormal Activity". I feel that there's a lot more bang for your buck with this film. The whole "found footage of paranormal phenomena" is becoming well traveled road these days. It's use in Lake Mungo has more impact as it is used as supporting material to support a larger story, rather than being the entire story in and of itself.

This film is scheduled for a re-make with a release date of 2011. I have a feeling that it will do so well in the interim that a re-make will be unnecessary as everyone will have seen it already. See it!


I knew little of the film before seeing it and I was blown away by the premise and production quality. At first i had trouble discerning whether it was based on a true story or not, but i found as the film progressed that this became less and less relevant to my viewing experience. I was utterly enthralled in the first half of the film, the revelation that there might be something supernatural at play was realised beautifully, with some truly terrifying moments. This ghostly suggestion never overpowers the film; the story retains its dominant themes of grief and the process of grieving. The mise-en-scene was delightful, it was highly stylized and had real dreamy take on the horror conventions. For example the shots of the 'haunted' house might have been melodramatic and cliché, however this recurring image was often offset with the wheeling stars overhead, creating an ethereal quality that set it apart. I'd recommend this film to fans of psychological horror, its spooky, moody and satisfying with some great twists!

SPOILER ALERT! The twists in the second half of the film, though motivated and logical, were too redolent of Twin Peaks for me, so much that it detracted from my experience of Lake Mungo. Not only is the dead girl Alice PALMER (Laura Palmer being the deceased subject of Twin Peaks) but she was a young woman with a double life which was only revealed after her death. She is quoted as being a girl who 'kept it secret that she had secrets', secrets which involved a lurid affair, visions of death, and the seedy underbelly of a quiet rural town. The clues are pieced together from new footage of the girl which keeps surfacing, the deceased girl even buried evidence that is later unearthed. For all those who have seen David Lynch's fantastic series, all this will seem too familiar to ignore. The documentary style does give this similar story a new edge, as it lacks the indulgent melodrama of Twin Peaks. Also the supernatural element sets it apart,and the revelation at the end is something really original. END SPOILER

I would have liked the nature of the element of 'video' more explored, what it means to be filmed, what kind of reality video can offer, can we trust video, can we trust our own eyes? These are notions which I think are suggested by the ironic documentary style of a fiction film but this is never really focused on. This is what was lacking for me, especially considering my qualms mentioned in the spoiler. But this film is miles ahead of modern horror and drama, 8/10.


One of the scariest movies I have ever seen. Absolutely bone-chilling! Makes 'Paranormal Activity' look like the cheap piece of garbage it was.

The acting and editing sells the story as a real documented paranormal experience with all the twists and turns needed to keep it's audience on their toes, gripping their seat.

Somewhere between an episode of 'Unsolved Mysteries' & 'The Blair Witch Project.'

An original new look at the way ghost stories can be told. Just try and watch it alone! Lake Mungo is almost too creepy!!


Because After I Saw This Film I Was Freaked Out Oh & I Saw Orphan About That Time. This Is SCARIER. Let Me Explain The Plot: Sixteen-year-old Alice Palmer drowns while swimming in the local dam. When her body is recovered and a verdict of accidental death returned, her grieving family buries her. The family then experiences a series of strange and inexplicable events centered in and around their home. Profoundly unsettled, the Palmers seek the help of psychic and parapsychologist, RAY KEMENY. Ray discovers that Alice led a secret, double life. A series of clues lead the family to Lake Mungo where Alice's secret past emerges. Lake Mungo is a mystery, a thriller and a ghost story. That Thriller Part...Is Sugar Coating It. Who Wants To See Man-Thing Or Final Destination 1 3 Or 4 Or Maybe Even The Strangers Or Orphan & On The Way Lets Get The Sixth Sense Yeah I Saw All Of These Horror Films. Were They Scary...NO!!!!!!!!!!(Even Though I See Alien As A Sci-Fi Not A Horror). This Proves The Fact That You Don't Have To Go Into Gore To Get Scary. Heck The Only Death In The Whole Movie Is Alice Palmer. Very Scary. The Return Of True Horror.


All I can say about this movie is WTF the concept is the same as your Blair Witch,Paranormal Activity and so on but somewhere between the halfway point of the movie its almost as the director lost all his sense of thinking and drops a twist which makes you go huh,and then about another 45 minutes or so later when you see the ending credits that is when you will have the reaction WHAT THE F***.

I read another user reviews about this movie and was looking forward to a good scare unfortunately this one does not deliver anything of such sort.I would definitely say pass on this one,i will give it 2 starts simply for the fact that it was shot well other then that hopefully the 2011 remake delivers more then this.


Lake Mungo follows the familiar mockumentary style that has become the stable of many a modern day horror film. The film is painfully slow with some incredibly bad performance by the cast who seemed to working with dialogue and without any genuine emotion to their grief. Lake Mungo feels like someone watched Twin Peaks a few too many times then stumbled across The Last Broadcast and decided they want a J Horror moment as the cliff hanger moment. Clever ideas that were poorly executed. The film has way too many unrealistic ideas for a so called realistic ghost story. The film felt like it had it's running time padded out with plenty of shots of the sky and the Australian bush backed with atmospheric music. The bushland could have become key element in this story but instead it's relegated to running time material. Lake Mungo is all about the atmosphere and the potential for things to happen which never materialise in this film. This is one of the rare occasions that the idea of Hollywood remaking this film is actually interesting because hopefully the new writers will expand on the good concept and deliver whole lot more action, horror and drama.


Aldrich Ames is the CIA Chief of Soviet Counter-Intelligence for a long time, without having any promotion. His Colombian wife Rosario Ames (Elizabeth Peña) is a very greed woman, pressing him for a better life and status. Full of debts, and with low self-esteem, he decides to look for the Soviet Ambassador and offers a list of double agents to him per US$ 50,000.00. The money comes easily and Aldrich does not stop anymore, delivering many American secrets to Soviet Union along eight years. The experienced agent Jeanne Vertefeuille (Joan Plowright) comes to CIA Headquarters to conduct an investigation of the leak of information. With the collapse of the communist system, Aldrich becomes desperate and commits a final serious mistake. This movie-for-cable-TV is very above the average. The story hooks the attention of the viewer, as well as the performance of Timothy Hutton, Elizabeth Peña and Joan Plowright. The screenplay focuses mostly in the family, the financial problem and the lack of perspective in the career of Aldrich Ames, and the viewer may end the movie with some sympathy for him. Maybe this is the flaw in the plot, since the guy indeed was a disgusting traitor of his country for money. My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): `Perfil de Um Espião' (`Profile of a Spy')


What an achievement - Someone took the time and bother to make a TVM I enjoyed , this is probably down to someone coming up the shattering , radical idea of bringing an interesting involving story and making it into a feature length television movie

!!!!! MILD SPOILERS !!!!!

Aldrich " Rick " Ames decides he`s not getting a big enough slice of pie for working at the CIA for so many long years so decides he`s going to get his own back by selling secrets to the Soviets , and the best thing is that it`s based on fact . I did notice that one of the reviewers takes issue about the accuracy of this tale, I did see a documentary on the Ames case on the history channel and while it didn`t mention he flew to Geneva thinking it was Zurich ( Yeah this was probably invention ) it did state he did have a severe drink problem and turned up for work in brand new cars , something his colleagues at the CIA never ever noticed - You`ve got to worry why it`s called the Central Intelligence Agency ? There is a minor flaw with the screenplay and that is it looks like it`s going to turn into poor old Aldrich only became a traitor because he wanted to give his family the best out of life , but it doesn`t really turn into an excuse , so why do we have to learn about his sick mother in law and his wife wanting to go to university and getting final demands left right and centre ? . But like I said it`s only a minor flaw <br /><br />A good TVM and it`s interesting to note the director was John MacKenzie the same man who brought us the Brit gangster classic THE LONG GOOD FRIDAY and who also directed DEADLY VOYAGE one of the greatest made for television films ever .


Fascinating to see Timothy Hutton nearly disappear into this role, using subtleties to create the alcoholic, intellectual persona inside whose head there is a lot of action we don't otherwise see. A thoughtful movie. The meetings held in cocktail lounge/restaurants were interesting.


Derailroaded might be about music, but Wild Man Fischer isn't particularly musical in any conventional sense. More of an outsider artist, or maybe just an exploited freakshow, suffering from paranoid schizophrenia and creating during his manic peaks. This is more a study of mental illness than anything else, and we see Fischer beginning to treat the film crew as he has finally treated everyone who has tried to help him in the past. Notable scenes include a re-enactment of an interview between Dr. Demento & Frank Zappa, done with puppets, in which each reveals to the other just how beyond-the-pale crazy Fischer is.


I had the pleasure of being in the audience during the East Coast premiere of "Derailroaded." Never having heard of Wild Man Fischer, I didn't know quite what to expect other than a documentary on an outsider musician in the vein of Wesley Willis. This film tells a touching story about a troubled rock and roll singer. There were moments in the film where I almost felt tears swell up, and there were moments when I got shivers watching Wild Man perform. It's a very nice human interest piece. The only real problems with it is the sound editing. The volume is often too high during sections of Wild Man's 2001 performance in Los Angeles. There are also moments where the background music buries the interview dialogue so you can hardly make out what's being said. We were told this was because the audio sources varied, but I still felt like this could've been corrected. Disregarding this, a lot of us in the audience came out humming Wild Man songs. This really sparked an interest for me and I feel it is a fitting tribute to an almost rock legend.


I saw Derailroaded at the ICA in London and I am thrilled to see it is being released on DVD. This film stuck in my head for days (as well did the song "Merry Go Round"). I was not aware of Wild Man Fischer, or any Outsider Music for that matter before seeing this film. My sister was diagnosed with schizophrenia in 1998 and I often watch films with themes of mental illness. This is one of the best films I have ever seen about mental illness and definitely the best documentary about a rock musician I have ever seen. I find that most rock documentaries and "bio-pics" about musicians share the same theme: Talented musician gets hooked on drugs, falls in love, gets off drugs, dies. Many studios feel that if they find someone that closely resembles Ray Charles or Johnny Cash, it is an excuse to make a film. Obviously, these films make money and become popular, but to me they are growing very old. Wild Man Fischer has lived a one-of-a-kind life and has a one-of-a-kind-mind...and Derailroaded is a one-of-a-kind experience. An amazing, heavy, unique rock and roll story, told with passion and sensitivity by the Ubin Twinz. It is often humorous, but not exploitative. This is a BRILLIANT film and now it's one of my new favourites.


Derailroaded played at the Kansas Film Festival on 09/10/05 and I got a ticket. The documentary is of Wild Man Fischer, a Rock singer from the 1960's. I never heard of him but Frank Zappa produced one of his albums and he was the initial pitchman for Rhino records and recorded the Rhino radio jingle. Wild Man Fischer suffers from paranoid schizophrenia which has profoundly impacted his life and career. In some of the concern footage from the early 60's you see him jamming with Frank Zappa (very nice to see him again) and see glimpses of what might have been. For years Dr. Demento was a big fan. In fact he played once at Giants stadium with Zappa, Janice Joplin, The Byrds and Hendrix so he wasn't a hack. If you have never been around true mental illness this film is an eye-opener. Mental illness isn't funny; in fact it is extremely scary. Fascinating movie. Two things stand out for me. The first is Billy Mummy (the kid from "Lost in Space") turned out pretty well. In fact he seemed to have his stuff together. He might be Wild Man's only friend. The second was the Dr. Demento puppet show where Frank Zappa finds out how crazy Wild Man really is and breaks it off. The family interviews are touching and tragic. His family has pretty much stuck by Wild Man all these years and seem to truly care about his welfare. From the Aunt dying of cancer who gives him a place to live to his brother dropping off groceries. A wonderful glimpse into the birth of Rock and Roll and a life completely out of control. See it.


I've read several reviews here that are very negative principally because the reviewer found Wild Man Fischer's music to be either annoying or talentless or some combination of the two.

While it is true that without his music Wild Man Fischer would have no claim to fame, and sometimes it's difficult to see the connection between all the plaudits lauded upon him by the various celebrities in this documentary and the numerous rather poor examples of his songs generously placed throughout the film, this documentary isn't really about how great or annoying his music is, it's about the Wild Man himself, and it turns out that it's a genuinely interesting story expertly told.

I have to admit here some bias. I am one of the handful of people who actually purchased "An Evening With Wild Man Fischer" when it was originally released in the late 60s. I listened to that record quite a bit actually. I never once thought of Wild Man Fischer as a great Artist (with a capital "A") but I did recognize that there was more to the music than the surface - the music revealed the man underneath and his tragic story which was interesting. Plus, the record WAS entertaining in an odd sort of way.

Larry "Wild Man" Fischer in many ways was saved by his music. Not only has it been his means of escape throughout his life, a bizarre sort of self therapy, but it has also served as a magnet drawing in people who through their influence and belief in his music have gone out of their way to be helpful to him. People like Frank Zappa, Mark Mothersbaugh, Barnes & Barnes & Rosemary Clooney to name just a few. That's really what this story is about.

And as it turns out, Larry doesn't make it very easy to be helpful to him.

Time after time his paranoia causes those close to him to have to distance themselves - sometimes for their own safety - because Larry really is a wild man who is subject to paranoid delusions as well as auditory hallucinations. This even happens to the filmmakers during the course of filming this documentary.

The filmmakers do an exceptional job not only of following Wild Man Fischer around and documenting his various moods and behaviors, but they manage to get access to many people who have known or worked with Larry in the past and get their takes on different events (I do wish though that Dr. Demento had been encouraged to sit up for his interview - he reclines on his side with his head propped up for the duration of his interview while duded out in his Dr. D outfit - complete with top hat - it's distracting and makes him look like a pretentious doofus). In addition there's a lot of rare archival footage in the movie which I found highly entertaining. There's an exceptional animated segment produced by Pat Moriarity that was also memorable.

What I wasn't prepared for was the overall sadness of the movie, sad in that here is a man who genuinely has a vision and a desire and the determination to try to make something of himself but whose affliction is at the same time both the wellspring of his inspiration and the source of his inability to achieve his goals. When he has his paranoid schizophrenia in check he loses his 'pep' as he calls it, his ability to create and perform, so the irony is that when he loses his mental disorder, he loses his art. Put another way, if Larry wasn't crazy, he'd be a nobody.

Sad also because here is a man who obviously craves attention and love and yet his paranoia constantly rears its ugly head and destroys important relationships needlessly. Bill Mumy, probably the longest running relationship in his life, finally had to distance himself from Larry. When asked what was the best thing about working with Barnes & Barnes Fischer answers without hesitation that the best thing about it was having Bill Mumy to talk to - having him to talk to all the time. When asked how he feels about the fact that he no longer has a relationship with Bill Mumy, he tears up some papers the filmmakers are working from then walks off.

The final scenes in the film at the side of his bed-ridden aunt, probably the only family member who really believed in him and gave him unconditional love, are genuinely heart rending.

"Derailroaded", like all good documentaries, encompasses the totality of its subject and brings it home in all its ugly-beautiful reality. In many ways, this documentary reminded me of "Crumb" in its mixture of oddball outsider pathos. Deserves to be seen.


Derailroaded has to be one of the worst, most unnecessary pieces of filmaking ever. The object of this film is Larry "Wildman" Fischer a quasi musician of dubious importance. We learn Wildman Fischer enjoyed some minor success as a fringe artist in the seventies. I use the term artist in the most liberal terms, as Larry's artistry consists of screaming nonsensical lyrics into the microphone. Absolutely awful sounding. It couldn't really be fairly described as music.

They follow the exploits of Fischer, a paranoid schizophrenic, from his early years through the near present. Most of the current footage is done with a camera and microphone in Larry's face with predictably obvious results. The audience doesn't need an hour and a half of this to see the poor fellow needs some help. The whole wretched thing has a carnival side-show feel to it. This film is so over the top that for a while I thought it was a docu-drama spoof in the vein of Blair Witch Project.

In the end you wonder if this was about mental illness or the fall of a Rock Musician. Sad to say I don't think many people have even heard or care about Fischer as a musician. Even fewer will care about the films treatment of schizophrenia. Either way it's a complete flop.


Very disappointing! I saw this documentary at a screening event and I actually walked out of the theater cause it was so bad. The sound editing was terrible, fisher's voice is enough to drive anyone into a mental institution (seriously - like freakin long pointy nails on a chalk board), and the bottom line is i don't think anyone really even knows of or cares about this man. I mean I certainly never heard of him, my friends never heard of him, so why make a film about him? why? My suggestion to the producers....try making a documentary about something worth watching next time and hire a different editor and sound person while you are at it. Also, maybe go back to film school, if you even attended, and try it again


As a veteran filmmaker and critic, it's pretty obvious to me that this film was produced by narcissistic, pot-smoking dingbats with minimum knowledge of film and film-making. They take a subject, who most people have never even heard of or care about, and produce a documentary that completely falls flat on its face. The simple reality of the matter is that Fischer is just another non-conforming, dead head, bohemian, pseudo-iconoclast who isn't even worth learning about. These "dudes," who probably just graduated from Tisch, treat him like he is the greatest thing since sliced bread just cause his multiple personality disorder somehow gave him the vision to perpetuate complete excrement, which is considered to be artistic mastery by his cult following. I went to college with people like this too - they were usually the ones role playing to dungeons and dragons while smoking hash on a Saturday night with the dead playing in the background. Congratulations to the Ubin Twinz - can't wait to see what they churn out next.


this is an incredible movie and if your a clerks fan (which I'm assuming is the only Kevin smith film you've seen because its blasphemous to watch them out of order) then this is even better. mallrats is the kind of movie you watch once on DVD and don't take it out of the drawer, because you know you'll wanna watch it later. its laugh out loud funny and anyone remotely interested in the inner workings of a geek or, like me, you are a geek, then this will give voice to the geek generation and make it cool. Recently, The OC has made comic books cool in the form of Seth Cohen. but before there was Seth, there was Brodie.

easily the greatest character lee has ever played and the best character that Smith has ever written, Brodie is obsessed with two things, Comics and himself. and as long as the two are together, he doesn't care. which is exactly what must be changed. ill let you find out how.

jay and silent bob make a welcome comeback in a slightly more central role with a lot more to do. with hilarious results.

i originally put 8 for this movie. but thinking about it again its a 10 and its going in my movies :) l8er days PaUl :)


This movie is really extremely funny.

That is, if you are into either Comics, Science Fiction or Shopping Malls.

The basic idea is simple: Two dumped guys try to win their girl-friends back, and their brilliant strategy is to hang around in the local shopping mall.

What makes the movie work is the wonderful mix of slap stick humor, intelligent puns and gross sexual innuendos. The actors are excellent in their roles, and I was surprised to see Ben Affleck and Claire Forlani, two coming actors, credited for supporting roles.

For a comic fan this movie is a awfully funny experience. But I can imagine that the film looses some of its appeal when you are not familiar with the Marvel and DC comic heroes and the strange passion (and science) of collecting comic books.

And to everybody who has also failed in seeing a sailboat in those dumb 3-D-pictures, this movie provides some comfort...


Many people are down on this movie, but I found it funny and enjoyable. I wish the movie was a little bit longer and there was room for more stuff it seems. Jason Lee does a great job as Brodie the bum Bruce, Jeremy London stinks as T.S. Quint. Mallrats has memorable lines and scenes. Jason Mewes and Kevin Smith are stellar as well as the rest of the cast of characters except for Ben Affleck who I can do without in this movie. I think you will like this film if you enjoy the mall.


Granted, it's weaker than his other three films to date. On the other hand, a weak Kevin Smith movie is stronger than a strong film by most other writers/directors. This film is hilarious! It takes mall culture to a higher level! A good contrast to Richard Linklater's/Eric Bogosian's Suburbia, though it's better than Suburbia in most ways. Many of the pop culture refs and the satire of young adult life make this film even cooler! And how the hell did he get Stan Lee to appear? (And he was surprisingly really good!)

This is Shannen Doherty's best role (mainly because she's hardly ever on screen;), Jason Lee's best role, and Jeremy London's best role (not to be confused with twin brother Jason who was the awesome Randall Pink Floyd in Dazed and Confused...though Ben Affleck and Joey Lauren Adams were both in Dazed as well...)

Look for an amusing role played by Ethan Suplee (Seth in American History X)

Overall: this film just plain rocks! It's got great quirky writing, great direction, solid acting, a three-nippled topless clairvoyant, a hilarious love connection parody, a 15 year old nympho (played by the amusing Claire Forlani), Stan Lee...what more could one ask for?? It's not his best, it has flaws, but it's still classic Smith! An easy 7/10!


Mallrats tells the story of two friends who are dumped by their girlfriends on the same day. They seek solace at the local mall where they hang out all day doing nothing but talk about their girlfriends and comic books. They get into a series of situations that eventually leads to the two enlisting the help of slackers Jay and Silent Bob to get their girlfriends back. This is the second film in the "New Jersey" series by Kevin Smith. This entry is miles better than its predecessor Clerks.

I loved how Kevin Smith did this movie. Kevin Smith is a comic book geek, so I'm glad he made a movie to portray that taste. Comic book lovers will truly enjoy all the references and parodies within the film. I know I did. That's what made the movie even more enjoyable to me. The appearance of Stan Lee was the cherry on the ice cream for me. Aside from that, this movie is just paced and styled better than Clerks was. This was non stop laughs whereas Clerks was more of a satirical black comedy. Also, a lot happened throughout the film even though it only takes place within a day and within the same mall, rather than Clerks which was slow moving and downright boring in some parts.

I enjoyed the acting in this movie. Jason Lee is hilarious as comic book fanatic Brodie Bruce. Jay and Silent Bob have a lot more to do in this film than in Clerks, and they make some of the funniest scenes in the movie.

Overall, Kevin Smith had his practice with Clerks, so he had the resources to make a better film, and he certainly did. If you liked Clerks, or even if you didn't, you'll love Mallrats.

8/10


After being dumped by their girlfriends, T.S and Brodie decide to head to the mall for the day to forget their worries. But after all the mayhem they manage to get up to in the mall, they just can't get their ex-girlfriends off their mind. So the two team up with the help of Jay and Silent Bob to come up with a plan to win them back. Though, they got the likes of T.S' girlfriend's dad and that of a scummy store manager to overcome before winning back their girls.

Don't you just love the self-loathing, slacker generation! After the huge and promising success that was "Clerks" for director/writer Kevin Smith. Obiviously there was pressure to repeat that winning formula with his follow up. Even though "Mallrats" is a more bigger and polished studio bound production of "Clerks" set in the mall, it just didn't take off at all. It came and went by with little interest. Maybe it doesn't hold that fundamentally cunning humour and smarting realism that made the low budget film "Clerks" originally quirky and fresh. I'm not a big fan of Smith's work, as I've only caught his first three flicks and I still think his third film "Chasing Amy" is the best. But this commercially mainstream project isn't all a failure, because the film still does come up with an entertaining tale of laid-back characters with a muster of jokes set-up in a mall. Definitely much more crass and juvenile are the gags this time and somewhat the humour tries to be funny than naturally being it. But what compensates it is that there was a continuous roll with one after another, so if one didn't work out there's another that would hopefully evoke a laugh. The film is actually made up of little episodes that happen throughout the day with something endlessly popping up and many characters deciding to make a scene. It's all over the place you can say. There are some memorably comical sequences like that of the Stan Lee cameo, the Easter bunny and that of the cheesy date game show. But there's one lewd segment involving chocolate pretzels, which will make you barf.

What makes this quite fun is that of the lively performances of Jason Lee's self-absorbed Brodie and the always reliable pairing of Jay and Silent Bob. Also adding to the enjoyable mess are Shannon Doherty, Claire Forlani, Jeremy London, Joey Lauren Adams, Priscilla Barnes, Michael Rooker and a slimy performance by Ben Affleck. The spontaneous dialog is self-conscious with its referential gags and it's filled with a carefree attitude and pure nonsense amongst the stemming wisdom and frankness. Especially those facts considering that of the mall's customs and the respect it deserves. Heck! I should know, as I had a friend that persistently visited the mall everyday just to be there for the sake of it. Though, I thought it turned into moralistic babble in the dying stages. But these things don't take away from sarcastic interplay and skits that are generated throughout the running time, even though it really seems like an eccentric melodrama with humorous overtones at times. A nice bubblegum rock soundtrack crops up to mould itself within the context and the camera-work has a professional touch too. The best way to take it is to see it as good undemanding fun!

Smith tried outdoing himself here, but sometimes it doesn't work and it seems more conventional than his other films, but that doesn't stop this from being alluringly amusing and satisfying when you comes to the ending credits.


After seeing the truly excellent 'Clerks', director Kevin smith's first feature, I had high expectations of 'Mallrats' and have to say that I was dissapointed.

True its not the worst film ever but its not a tuch on 'Clerks'. Here's why:

The characters: Brodie (Jason Lee) is a good character, the 'Randal' of 'Mallrats if you like but I found T.C highly annoying and irritating. T.c is meant to be the' straight guy' to Brodie's wise-ass but he just angers me. All he does is whine (Thats all Dante did but...)

The script: 'Clerks' had a brilliant script, the dialouge was well observed and real without being meaningless. 'Mallrats' script isnt bad but its not as clever or as well realised as clerks.

Jay and Silent Bob: IMHO, these two characters cant carry a film on their own (JASBSB is a prime example of this). In mallrats they're normally supporting roles are made to be more main, more involved in the story. IMO they are weak characters and Mewes' acting is extemely poor.

While this film isnt terrible, it is the 2nd worst film in the new jersey trilogy. JASBSB is the worst.


This movie is well written and there are some quite entertaining jokes from the main characters Brodie and T.S. such as their argument over where in mall a cookie stand is. The story "flows" well and the characters are interesting and likable but I reckon that the characters of Jay and Silent Bob are the highlight of the movie. Their attempts to dismantle the stage by "exploiting its weakness" are genius. There is some sex type content, not very much however and its quite mild (I think) but I think it could have done without it, however that's just me I like my intercourse scenes absent and visible mammary glands blurred. If you are anything like my brother however (who is the total opposite in that area), you will enjoy these bits. Overall a very funny movie with some great jokes and well devised humour.


After being dumped by their girlfriends, T.S. (Jeremy London) and Brodie (Jason Lee) go to the mall to keep their minds off the situation. Soon, however, thoughts turn to getting their ladies back and the dynamic duo will have to fight mall security, a fashionable male (Ben Affleck) and a game show producer (Michael Rooker) in order to succeed.

Writing a fair review of "Mallrats" is one of the hardest things for me to do, and it's no surprise that I haven't done so in all the years I've been writing reviews. The film came out when I was fourteen, and I went to see it with my cousin at the local mall after a rousing bus trip. We had seen the ambiguous advertisements in the back of comic books for months and just knew this was something we had to see. Once in the theater, we were practically alone -- there were only three other people, including a younger woman and her grandmother, both of whom walked out early on.

For whatever reason, I identified with this film. I hadn't yet seen "Clerks" and I didn't have the background in film to really understand all the references to "Jaws" or "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid" or "Apocalypse Now". But the potty humor mixed with the intelligent dialogue (about scatological topics) hit home with me, and even now -- thirteen years later -- it remains my favorite film.

I've given the film a high rating because I simply can't get enough of it. I have the trading cards that were sold at the time, I've visited the Eden Prairie Mall where the movie was filmed (it's in Minnesota). But, I want to stress this, my high rating does not by any means indicate this is a critically beautiful film. Read the reviews of the professionals at the time (Ebert, Maltin, and others) and you'll see that it was more or less expected to bomb (although I think in hindsight many more people found the film to their liking).

Are there flaws? You bet. Watch Jeremy London, for example. A horrible, horrible actor. Even with these odd ,scripted conversations he comes off as forced, and if you watch him while another actor is speaking, you can see him physically preparing himself to speak his lines. He can't become T.S. Quint, he can only be Jeremy London. Shannon Doherty, likewise, just doesn't seem to hack it... she's a better actress than many, but this film just didn't work for her. She comes off as a reject from "Empire Records".

Clearly, I am pushing this film. Watch "Clerks" first (even though this one takes place first in chronological order). If you like "Clerks", try this one. Then try "Chasing Amy". All three are great. Personally, I think Kevin Smith's films went downhill after that. He may disagree and I know many of the fans do. But if you don't mind intelligent potty humor, "Mallrats" is for you.


To render the proper justice of Mallrats genius, it should have started as a novel. As a movie, I saw it get judged and snubbed by the film buffs, but let me disagree here, take Mallrats for what it is, an entertaining portrait of consumerism counter-culture.

Petulent formula you might say? Well think about it. Mallrats has been made in 1994 and was portraying the first generation of grown up kids put up face to face with mass capitalism. As the portrait shows kids with mixed up feelings and a sense of confusions towards this abundance, it remains fun.

Thats what Mallrats is. Pure fun. Kids forming their identity against all the abundance of stuff pushed down their throat. Crazy situations in a mall, epic story of reconquering your true love...in a mall...are they buying stuff? No. Sometimes you almost forget the thing is in a goddamn mall.

I've had fun with this movie. Brodie Bruce is the prime example of the empty criticism towards his generation. Its not what you do that defines who you are, its who you are that defines what you do.

Pure non-arrogant fun, killer dialogues and a legacy that lives on. Thanks Kevin Smith


This is a niche film. If you can put yourself into the mindset of a 20-something slacker, who has no ambition whatsoever in life, this film may engender some sense of emotional investment in its characters and a sense of identifying with same. However, if this situation is impossible for you, then you will not only not see the humor herein, you will most likely bemoan the time wasted in its viewing.

This is a Jay and Silent Bob flick wherein the two buds are dumped by their gals, subsequently seeking major wound-licking in the mall. It plays like the Revenge of the Nerds, though not as intelligently, nor with the same amount of heart, but with a more modern spin.

If you've of a mind, this can be highly entertaining. If not, don't say you weren't warned.

It rates a 7.2/10 from...

the Fiend :.


Kevin Smith's second feature is actually very similar to his first. Both are set over one day and feature the exploits of two friends who have little hope for the future. However whilst 'Clerks' was a fairly realistic film, 'Mallrats' has much in common with 1980's teen films and sometimes comes across as a teen romantic/comedy. One scene even contains a bit of gross out humour which called to mind 'American Pie'.

Despite this, 'Mallrats' is a great film that is really, really funny. Kevin Smith's flair for dialogue and characters shine here. Brodie has to be one of his greatest creations and keeps the film entertaining throughout. Even the typical cheesy romance parts keep the viewer engaged because of the humour used throughout. Ben Affleck also makes a great villain - partly because I hate his other movies so much.

I still think that this is a film for people who know films by Kevin Smith. So 'Clerks' would be a good film to see before 'Mallrats'. But if your a fan there is very little that can go wrong in seeing this film. It always raises a smile whenever I think about it.


This is the second film by cult, independent film-maker Kevin Smith. After the success of Clerks gritty, realistic story, Kevin Smith was given a budget (still small) and more respectable actors to work with.

Unlike his debut however, Mallrats takes a similar premise and aims squarely for the teenage comedy market. Hence a heavy dosing of slapstick and crude humour courtesy of Jay and Silent Bob amongst others. Mallrats centres around Brodie Bruce (Jason Lee) and T.S. Quint (London) as they try to win back their girlfriends at the local mall. Simple, barely original storyline. But at least it gives Smith the chance to flex his writing skills yet again.

Jason Lee is great in his first major movie role and he easily makes the most of his dialogue. The rest of the cast are average and simply do the jobs they are intended to do. As for Jay and Silent Bob (Jason & Kevin), they yet again steal the movie simply by dropping in and out of the main story. One batman gag here, one dance scene there and the film is theirs. Playing a slightly more central role than in Clerks, these two are still great.

Overall Mallrats is an acceptable second offering from Smith that he would later better with Chasing Amy. Watch Mallrats expecting crude, entertaining teen comedy and feel satisfied. If you feel like more afterwards, move on over to Chasing Amy and give that a whirl. Either way, Kevin Smith has continued to build his cult via Mallrats.


Well, this film is great, it's one of the few decent american comedy films of the 90s,Jason Lee i feel puts in a great performance. Everytime i see the film it still cracks me up, even after a few years have passed (nearly a decade....does time go that fast!!!) There's no real "serious" acting, but comedy films are rarely powerfully acted dramas! i rate this an 8.

Comments are welcome to me via my email. PS-entitle the subject MALLRATS (so i know it aint spam!)


This film doesnt make the mistake of taking itself too seriously. The dialogue alone kept me interested throughout the picture so I never found myself suffering through a section of the movie to get to "the good part" Given the genre and the title of this film Im not expecting material deserving of an Academy Award. It does exactly what it sets out to do and in doing so earns a 9 out of 10 rating from me.


Fabulous Movie. I suggest watching this cult epidemic in order too, and yes you either love it or hate it!

Many well defined and colourful characters all with a key role in a movie that just keeps you glued to the screen. Many great one-liners too, a definate must see, although perhaps not your average family movie!


Mallrats is by far the best of the whole series of Kevin Smith movies. Jason Lee is EXCELLENT as Brodie Bruce. The performances by everyone are excellent! It's also so very hilarious. Jay and Silent Bob only make it better. Buy it, buy it, buy it, buy it, buy it, buy it.


**spolier warning**

this movie has know story line - but is set in a mall the film is mainly about 2 guys who loose there girlfriends but then try to get back up with them even if it means going on a game show - this film will leave laughting again and again. i would recommend it to anyone? 10/10 - stars to great hollywood actors - SHANNEN DOHERTY AND BEN AFFLECK.


This is without A doubt the best Kevin Smith film yet.Considering that it started with An assassination plot,I believe it turned out wonderful.Jason Lee is spot on perfect in this.There is not anyone else alive that could play Brodie better.The acting is great for A mid ninties comedy.Smith has not made A movie as funny since.No sophmore slump here.If you watch the flick again and not expecting Clerks you may just enjoy it.


I can see to a certain extent why the critics hated this. It is pretty much made for a selective audience. I actually watched this with someone who had no idea who Stan Lee was. I'm not sure whether this is just really thick or maybe you had to be born at the dawn of the comic book era, or even just be a little sad...but the general public, like your average middle class suburbanite would hate this film coz it can be really gross at times. I do love Brodie tho', definately the best character in this film. Watch it anyway, really brightens up a Sunday!


Mallrats is one of those films that very few saw in a movie theatre, but went on to become a cult favorite thanks to the home video market. It boasts a "hot, young" director and a cast of likeable characters that like to cuss a lot. Add a hip soundtrack, and you've got the complete package. For those of you 21 and older, go to the View Askew website and check out the "Mallrats Drinking Game". It makes for a good night with friends.


Although he seemed to be somewhat disappointed by his movie, and from what I gather so did most of the reviewers and audiences, I found this to be one of Kevin's better movies. Maybe it was because I saw this one after I had already seen Dogma and Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back, but now I got some of those great "in-jokes" that were included in those movies. Of course the running gags and themes that present themselves from one movie to the next make this a real gem. Anyone who doesn't appreciate these films and this writer and director needs serious therapy....And no, I am not related to the guy....


To start off with, Jay and Silent Bob rock as always, T.S. is a little anal but that adds to his overall character and pans out to his advantage at the end of the film, Willam is underrated, Brandi and father are a great example of a modern day middle class father/daughter relationship, (and she FINE to!!!), even the lovely Shannen Doherty deserves usually unwarranted praise if just for the lift scene, but the star of the whole movie has got to be Brodie. If not for the preoccupation with superhero sex organs, supermans potential birth control or possible future realistic child bearing partners, then just simply for the answer to what noises do you make when you're having whoopee. According to commentary said noise was supplied by the unappreciated in our time Jay mewesey mewes but delivered with such conviction that i use it as my answerphone message on my cell. Kevin Smith, View Askew, boys, you all did yourselves proud. Even your commentaries are better than most of the other films floating around the cinemas for the past decade. Thank you for making a sad man and best friend very happy.


This movie is one of the best I have ever seen. The story line is great for any audience: kids just learning the story or adults who never wanted to grow up. Spielberg's imagination and his way of sticking close by the original story makes this film a delight to see if you ever wanted to be a lost boy in never land. Every time I watch this film I notice another superb detail and use of irony. The story ties together beautifully and is easily one of my very favorites. It makes you want a never never land of your own.


Another movie which everyone trashes . WHY ? WHY ? WHY ? OK it does not have such a great plot (on the action side) but it is one of the most beautiful stories printed in celluloid . The first hour of the movie is probably the best one . Even the fact that 30 minutes pass before the trip to Neverland without any action and you don 't get bored (and I have seen it several times) is a very positive sign . We are introduced

to the family of Peter (Robin Williams) a workaholic lawyer who travels to London for Christmas to meet his dear step mother Wendy (Maggie Smith) . One of the most legendary one-liners is said when she hears that he takes advantage of bankrupt ("sinking") companies . " So , Peter you 've become a pirate! " . When his children are mysteriously kidnapped he encounters a fairy (Julia Roberts) who tells him he is the long-lost (and short of memory) adult now Peter Pan . She forcely drags him into Neverland where they meet his old nemesis , the one armed chief pirate Captain James Hook (Dustin Hoffman) who still wants his revenge. The sets and costumes are brilliant . Hook belongs to a kind of movies which prove that cinema CAN MAKE DREAMS COME TRUE . There are classic scenes such as the first scene where Tinkerbell meets Peter or Peter on the pirate ship meeting Hook . Unfortunately the plot utterly falls flat during the second hour but the marvellous finale hopefully restores our interest . Despite the lack of plot the story itslef is

very engaging . The kid becomes an adult and must deal an old enemy

before leaving this fantasy world forever . Julia Roberts and Dustin Hoffman give good perfomances . The latter , to me , is STILL unrecognisable under the make up , after the 6 or so times I have watched the film . Is it really him ???!!!. Maggie Smith is very good and Bob Hoskins as Smee is enjoyable . One of the reasons I wrote this review is to declare that this IS Robin William 's best dramatic performance to date (forget the Fisher King or Dead Poets Society) . He is purely excellent in both aspects : a typical-mannered, obsessed with career yuppie initially , and at the end he finds his old madness and is a campy and WILD hero which looks like a restless and hypercinetic kid. (I don 't believe there would be another actor capable of playing Peter Pan). In the middle of course he is very confused and sceptical about what is going on . Nevertheless Hook is one of Stephen Spielberg 's better works to date . For you who like fantasy films it is a must see . Forget the bad comments from cynical people . Maybe they lost the kid inside them forever .

HOOK 8.5 /10


This notoriously hard to get (at least legitimately) movie follows the travails of five nuke apocalypse survivors in the late 1970s. Their task is to drive their armored personnel vehicle cum Winnabago from Bakersfield CA to Albany NY. On the way they stop off in Vegas, Salt Lake City and Detriot bumping into maniac mutant cockroaches and some radioactive hillbillies along the way. 99% of the time the sky is a swirling orangish red that transfers its Gatorade hues to most sequences in this movie. The locations are all dust, sand and rock... this is after all Damnation Alley and the Earth has been tilted off its axis. An absolute trash B movie that I'm sure many of those associated with would rather forget, it is nonetheless hugely compelling. After viewing you can appreciate the cult classic status of this film, yet to not be entirely sure why that is so.


A stogie-chewing George Peppard heads a team that welds together an armored vehicle out of spare parts, taking satisfaction when a plan comes together.... Jan-Michael Vincent mans an AWOL missile-firing government vehicle copiloted by a cranky white-haired guy....

Capsule descriptions of "Airwolf" and "The A-Team"? No, you'd be better off watching an episode of either of those shows, but unfortunately I'm describing "Damnation Alley", the wildly unfaithful movie adaptation of the novel by brilliant Sci-Fi author Roger Zelazny.

Now, I'm sure few Zelazny fans would disagree that "Alley" is one of the least of his works, but this film takes Zelazny's somewhat decayed fruit and manages to squeeze onto the floor whatever juice it had in it, leaving only the decay.

All that remains of the book is the basic setting, the cross-post-apocalyptic-country road trip plot device (though with the book's suspenseful motivation for the trip replaced by a vague "let's see what's over there"), the "Run the storm or dig in?" scene, and a main character named Tanner. Well, I *guess* you can call him the main character. Just as Tanner and Denton take equal turns driving the truck (no, I will not call it a "Landmaster" -- Zelazny never would have given it such a dorky appellation), not even needing to tussle over the usual single steering wheel, Vincent and Peppard seem to be given completely equitable screen time in which to shine, an opportunity they each squander in equal measure.

Notice I did not say *Hell* Tanner. No, this is not the novel's violent last-of-the-Hell's-Angels anti-hero, but instead a pretty mild military boy who's, well, kind of cocky I guess, and, uh, likes to ride a dirt bike... (cue faux expectant look). But at least Tanner is inspired by the book. The rest of the characters are, well, uninspired, and purely the invention of the screenwriters.

And as for the setting, it's close enough to be recognizable, but is not the world that Zelazny was exploring in the book. Different post-apocalypse stories have chosen to stake their respective posts at different points along the timeline, from "28 Days Later" to the far-flung dystopias of "Planet of the Apes" and "The Time Machine". In the novel, Zelazny looked at the world a generation after the holocaust, an interesting point to examine, where government has established control again in the remaining population centers, and the recognizably ordinary lives people can lead in these pockets of safety is in sharp contrast to the nightmare world that lays down the road apiece. Instead of keeping this setting, though, the authors of this film decided to go with a world maybe a year or two after the bombs, which presents a much less interesting vantage than any of the time-points noted above. But even life at this point along the eternal road could have been interesting to examine, had the movie taken the time to do so. Unfortunately it did not, so I must respectfully disagree with those commenters who said that this was one thing the movie did well. What we get instead is mostly some people riding around the country and encountering dangerous situations that could be successfully transplanted to any time period.

I likewise must disagree with those that said that the movie did a good job portraying the experience of the military officers who witnessed the end of the world at the beginning of the film. While I realize that military personnel are trained to remain calm and productive under pressure, these folks witnessing the huge barrage of nuclear warheads showering down upon America didn't appear to be under pressure at all! People were milling casually around or sitting and doing their usual paperwork while the world ended! Pretty much the only expression of angst or concern we get is when Jan-Michael puts his head in his hands at the end of the sequence, but his portrayal could serve equally well for some other movie's 50th-billing character Man With Headache.

Other random things I must criticize: George Peppard's accent isn't particularly badly done, I guess, but it sure is annoying.

When the one reasonably likable character makes an exit, the other characters seem not to care very much, and seem not to display any sign afterwards that they remember such a character had ever been around.

As others have also alluded to, one of the most anticlimactic endings ever.

But the film is not wholly devoid of charm. The sky effects are indeed pretty neat-looking, and I'm sorry I didn't get to see them on the big screen, though the near-complete failure to try to maintain registration between moving (or even stationary!) ground and sky elements is very jarring and fake-looking.

Speaking of the sky, the film also does a commendable job of recreating the bizarre, scary, and vengeful weather depicted in the book.

The score is certainly not among Jerry Goldsmith's best work, but it's better than the material it underscores, and it has some kewl analog synth squawks you don't get to hear in his other work.

The truck is also pretty cool, though the stretchy material connecting the two halves looks comically flimsy in the harsh environments the truck rides through. Not surprised to hear that's the one element that does not survive on the show vehicle today.

But I have to say that if you insist on watching a movie where the main characters venture out from one of the remaining safe pockets of humanity in a dangerous post-apocalyptic world in their heavily armored, missile-firing truck, and occasionally drive dirt bikes out of the back of it, you would do much better to watch George Romero's "Land of the Dead" instead. (If the Landmaster or other elements of "Damnation Alley" provided any inspiration to "Land of the Dead", it's by far the best thing this bastard child of Zelazny has given to the world.)


It's truly unfortunate and even mildly depressing how your personal perception changes over the years. I remember seeing this film on late night television when I was a young lad and I instantly loved it for life  or at least I thought I would at the time. "Damnation Alley" has a lot of elements to appeal to young and naive audiences, especially 15 to 20 years ago, when computer generated effects didn't dominate cinema yet. It has the impressive heavily armored truck, gigantic mutated scorpions and carnivorous cockroaches, funnily colored skies and a massive number of explosions. Moreover, the film starred not one but two of my childhood TV idols (George Peppard of "The A-Team" and Jan-Michael Vincent of "Airwolf"). I finally re-watched "Damnation Alley" now, and what mostly astounded me was how amateurish, clumsy and boring the film is seen through the eyes of an adult! This is one seriously incoherent mess of a film, and even though the 'Landmaster' truck still remains an ultra-cool method of transportation, the rest of the scenery and special effects are pathetic and not the least bit convincing. Allegedly, Roger Zelazny's novel is a masterwork of Sci-Fi, but the movie adaptation most definitely is not. The first fifteen minutes are unimaginably dull and handle about absolutely nothing, really. Bunch of military guys, including the three male protagonists, sitting comfortably in their base camp whilst nuclear bombs kill 99.9% of the earth's population and even tilt the freaking planet off its axis. Later, an even stupider accident wipes out the remaining survivors at the army base so that only four people are left alive. They decide to undertake the dangerous coast-to-coast journey from California to Albany in their Landmaster truck, because they picked up vague radio signals hinting there may be other survivors. The posse quickly loses a member but also pick up a woman and a kid during, and each time they make a stop there's a different menace to face. There's the earth's unbalanced and wacky climate, cannibalistic insects and  of course  the biggest horror of them all: fellow dehumanized survivors. The premise sounds like the ideal post-apocalyptic Sci-Fi stuff, and it is, but the elaboration and Jack Smight's sense of direction literally bring this film down. Being a fan of low-grade and obscure genre movies, I can tolerate bad special effects and a lack of continuity in the script, but there's a whole lot more wrong here. The characters are wooden statues and none of the actors seem really interested in providing them with emotional or intellectual depth. Tanner and Keegan are supposedly best friends (they even sing cheesy songs together), yet when Keegan dies Tanner shows no reaction or doesn't even mention his name anymore for the remainders of the film. There's almost no development in the relationships between the original travelers and the survivors they pick up along the way and throughout the entire film there isn't a single dialog that is properly written out. The sequences with the flesh-eating cockroaches and the encounter with the savage rednecks generate a few isolated peaks of suspense and thrills, but overall "Damnation Alley" is mostly uneven and tedious. And, just when you presume the film couldn't possibly sink any lower, you're faced with the most implausible and infuriating climax in the history of cinema. I can honestly say I've never witnessed a more pathetic forced happy-ending in my life.


I've long had an interest in exploring those halcyon days of science fiction film-making, before Star Wars and its ilk took over the genre almost completely, ending the wonderful decade before with its intelligent characters, thought-provoking story lines, and emphasis on speculation over laser blasts.

Sadly, Damnation Alley is not a good representation of the period. Belonging to one of the hoariest and most overused sub-genres (even in 1977), the post-apocalyptic survival movie, it tells the tale of a couple of Army officers (Jan-Michael Vincent and George Peppard) who take a couple of armored and armed (with rockets, no less!) bus-sized ATVs on a cross-country trip from the desert southwest to Albany New York  the only place that they can get a radio signal from 2 years after the bombs fall. Interestingly enough, Peppard and Vincent happen to be the two guys who turned the keys and launched the American retaliatory strike, which we see in the opening minutes (loads of stock footage, as is nearly all of the special effects work)  but this is never mentioned again and in fact the film completely ignores politics and any kind of moral questioning for a PG, Disneyish adventure mode.

In fact one of the oddest things about the film is the mood, consistently closer to "high adventure" or a weekend in the country than to fighting for survival. When early on one of the original four members of the expedition (Kip Niven) dies it's acknowledged in about 15 seconds; when a second crew member (Paul Winfield) gets eaten by giant scorpions (which look more like beetles) it isn't mentioned at all! Eventually we have to have the token female (Dominique Sanda, beautiful but completely wasted) and adolescent (Jackie Earle Haley looking totally normal as an adolescent), a run-in with some crazed mountain men types (the leader of whom reminds one of Harry Dean Stanton and should have been played by him), a moment of near-destruction or two, and finally a deliriously improbable and ridiculous happy ending.

This was filmed in Cinemascope and with a budget of 17 million which may seem like very little now but in 1977 was pretty high for a genre film and about double that of Star Wars. The money wasn't well spent. Plodding, predictable, poorly-acted with ludicrous effects throughout (ooh, color filter skies! poorly blue-screened giant bugs and lizards!), desert settings that were chosen I think more for their cheapness than for their beauty, this makes the previous couple of years' A Boy and His Dog and Logan's Run look like masterpieces. Only for the sci-fi completist I'm afraid.


This is a really fun movie if you like post-atomic flicks! Or any Jan Michael Vincent flick, for that matter. The effects are sometimes cheesy, but overall the atmosphere and film-work on this are pretty decent! It's also fun to see Jan Michael 'AIRWOLF' with George Peppard "A TEAM" together. They make a good pair! The 'bug' scene is very fun- and includes some great Jan Michael motorcycle wheelies! The tornado scene is also cool. This movie definitely takes you to a different world, and the strange sky color throughout sort of makes everything seem - well- post atomic! It's a clever movie, not too violent, but it definitely is worth the buy! If you are a Jan Michael fan, this would be a MUST have as he looks fantastic as usual.


Okay first of all, forget the egghead, moviegeek, fanboy rumblings you will read about this movie. They are taking things way too seriously. This is my all time favorite "B" movie. Bar none. This movie has it all, cheesy effects(I will say that the weather effects were beyond top notch, though), classic acting(come on Jan-Michael Vincent and Paul Winfield? It doesn't get any better!), and a great "B" storyline.

Damnation Alley starts out with a lot of intensity...okay it meanders like a drunken parapalegic, but once we get beyond that we realize that lo and behold-the world- *poof* she is gone. World War III is done and over in less time than it took to get Normal, Ohio off of FOX. We then jump right into the world after the war, which apparently show us that the only people surviving nuclear winter will be "B" actors-go figure.

George Peppard, Jan-Micheal(Hiccup!)Vincent, and Paul Winfield head off on a road trip to stop a home made porno from reacing George's girlfriend in...wait...that's not right. Oh yeah, they go to Albany, NY-the last bastion of civlization (snicker snicker) And on the way they meet many strange settings...well George and "Hard Livin'" Jan-Michael do...Paul gets offed by a bunch of blood thirsty cockroaches-see I told you the only thing to survive would be "B" actors.

They soon meet up with a slu..I mean a woman of questionable repute in Las Vegas and a young man who I believe to be that possum looking kid from deliverance. After running into the local branch of NRA in a secluded ozarkian setting they make their final run to the promised land....Albany, NY. I won't give away the ending...yeah like it's a shocker...but I do recommend you see this classic "B" film.


Damnation Alley is set in a post apocalyptic America in world war three a band of survivors led by air-force major dent-on George Peppard following an accident at their base travel in style in a land-master which essentially is a deluxe camper van which is capable of traveling over rough terrain it has to be seen to be believed! i one can see where George A Romero got his 'Land of the dead inspiration!

is one of those films that typically grows on you, i happen to enjoy it what's not to like? for starters the casting is excellent you have George Peppard before he entered further stardom with the A-team, complete with a southern accent( just wait till he utters the immortal line 'the town is full of Killa cockroaches! Jan Michael Vincent before he became famous with air-wolf the wisecracking Token black guy Paul Winfield, who suffers a fate worse than death when runs afoul of 'said Killa cockroaches' French actress Dominque Sanda as a Vegas show girl along for the ride and a Pre -breaking away Jackie Earle Haley as a waif who is adept at throwing rocks at disgruntled hillbillies! it's an enjoyable romp which is aided invaluably by Jerry Goldsmith's music score. the major downside is 'Damnation Alley' was shot in anamorphic widescreen unfortunately it remains to be seen whether fox decide to release this and they should. for the time being we'll have to make do with the horrendous panned and scanned copies.


This movie did have cheesy acting and special effects, but at least it wasn't filled with the fear, anxiety and hopelessness of the movie '' The Day After''. In order to enjoy ''Damnation Alley'', you really do have to turn off your brain and turn on your imagination. Unlike most, i actually liked the ending of this movie, it did at least offer hope that humanity wasn't completely wiped out in the nuclear holocaust. ''The Day After'' seemed to imply that all living things would eventually die in the aftermath of nuclear war.

''Damnation Alley'' is not my favorite movie by no means, but i watch it every time it happens to be shown on one of the cable channels.


One of the most neglected aspects in appraising DAMNATION ALLEY is Jerry Goldsmith's tough and tender score, which seamlessly links together the plot, makes the frightening opening sequence even more frightening than it really is -- and sonically wallpapers over much of the less than stellar acting and action sequences.

 Sadly, the soundtrack to Goldsmith's panoramic score has never been released (shame on Fox!) and only a sequence has been recorded (by Goldsmith, on a CD entitled FRONTIERS for Varese).


Good points: 1) The opening sequence (supposedly within the bowels of a secret military base) is one of the most frightening nuclear war sequences filmed. 2) The "Landmaster" vehicles are the ultimate in monster trucks. Imagine, an armored RV that can climb over rocky terrain, dodge killer storms and overgrown insects at 60+MPH, and is amphibious... oh yes, and you can use parts from any junkyard to fix it, too. 3) The weather effects were unbelievable for when it was filmed (1977 -- no computers were injured in the making of this film!) and would be hard to duplicate today unless Industrial Light and Magic took a shine to the project. 4) Jan-Micheal Vincent has his eyes open, and George Peppard was still in his pre-"A-Team" form.

But seriously, this is one of the better sci-fi "survivors versus the world" movies. The book outlined the cataclysmic weather as part of a "freak shift in the jet stream" but I think the nuclear war premise is more likely to kick the earth off its axis. Add to that overgrown scorpions, carnivorous cockroaches, and more than a few wildly desperate (dare we say "cannibalistic"?) survivors, and the journey from western desert to midwest town becomes much like Odysseus's ten-year trek home from the wars.

Now, if someone would only resurrect the Landmaster for a truck show, I'd be happy.


Damnation Alley, 1977

This film follows some would-be heroes as they survive a nuclear holocaust in 1970's America. It starts out at a protected military base that burns down for the stupidest of reasonsa cigar falls on a Playboy magazine and just happens to be too close to explosive tanks! Then some military guys trek out across the desert landscape that was once America in gigantic armored motor-homes of some sort.

Along their way to, um, Albany in New York (which they believe apparently survived the nuclear holocaust unscathed), they cross vast expanses of listless desert and, an abandoned city filled with killer cockroaches, and some rednecks. Each and every shot reeks of continuity issues with bizarrely coated hues which carry little or no explanation. One shot will be all blue-ish, the next, coated in ugly green hues, the next two will be fine, but different contrasts of light and dark, then the next one will be a hue of green with really queer "lightning" in the sky. The whole movie is like this. I mean, this was the best they could do for the post-apocalyptic radiated earth? It's so f*cking ugly! And after a while, on a big enough screen this can get really irritating on the eyes! It also has some needlessly giant scorpions what are spliced into the film in the most obvious possible way. They're purple for no reason.

****SPOILER WARNING SECTION**** Eventually, the token black guy is eaten by cockroaches, the rednecks are blown up, a little kid and a woman are found separately, one of the RV's is destroyed, and they find Albany (or something) which not only survived the unexplained nuclear holocaust, but reverted to the perfection of Leave it to Beaver's America. Overall, fairly insipid, and occasionally boring.

3/10

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Ever since the first time I saw this movie, I have loved it. Even considering it was a low budget movie it was still a very good story and very well acted. I even like the roaches. My favorite part of course is the Landmaster vehicles it was and still is one of coolest movie vehicles ever made. There was even a Saturday morning TV show called "Ark II" (1976) TV-Series 1976-1979 that used the same concept for their vehicle and there have been other movies that used the same basic design for their stuff. some people don't like the ending, but I for one thought it is just fine, when you consider other movies like The Day After Tomorrow (2004) the ending is fine. I for always watch this movie whenever it on TV. One of the cool things is to watch two actors Jan-Michael Vincent who of course did Airwolf and George Peppard who was also on TV about the time doing The A-Team both in the movie is awesome. If you like, sci-fi flicks that entertaining then watch this movie and make up your mind.


Killer cockroaches, Jan Michael Vincent, Paul Winfield, George Peppard, giant scorpions, ultimate SUV's, inbred hillbilly types and dusty old Las Vegas where the slots still work...all combine to make a fun little, albeit cheesy, flick.

As a kid this movie was a fun Saturday matinee movie and to this day, still a fun Saturday Matinee movie...grab a big bucket of popcorn, turn your brain off and have some cheesy fun...