Ghosthouse...a movie with horror and mystery in damn doom depth without deterioration! I don't exactly know why, but since I watched this movie first in 1988, I've seen it about thirty times. Why am I addicted to this movie like no other move? In 1988 I was only eleven and got afraid that Henrietta would turn in front of my bedroom window or beneath my bed. No other movie had the same terrifying impact on me. Then I felt sorry that it scared me, but nowadays it feels just thrilling in a nostalgic way. I used to be afraid of deserted empty houses in forests and even for the empty attic in my former home. Ghosthouse gave an extra dimension to this fear. The sounds that are used for Ghosthouse perfectly rhyme to the building-up of the suspense, even from the beginning on. Objectively considered, the story is not quite original as most persons die in a similar way as could be expected. The plot is similar to some other horror movies as well. However, the way Mark and Martha little by little discover the origin of the doom in the house is very suspending: Valkos was very violent and mysterious so that could logically be declared that he caused most of the horror. However, with some hazy hints, Mark and Martha slowly found a trace to the burial and the black man on the burial told them the immaculate truth in the end! Most of all, the radio signals built up the suspense by the first very vague but thrilling impact they had on Mark and Martha. Even when they found the transmitter of Jim, they couldn't understand how the signals were conceived. Finally, I think Lara Wendel played her role very well: the fear she felt while being haunted perfectly was reflected in her eyes in many ways. An excellent non-eradicating epic of horror!!


Ghosthouse (1988) is very good for a low budget horror, it's very creepy and has haunting music in places!!! It's about this bunch of young men and women who decide to explore this run down old house that has been boarded up for years.

The house is still haunted by the young girl who used to live there and her spooky clown doll (the clown is great by the way).

It's not long before bad things start to happen to the group as they begin to realise that evil lies within the house!!! Ghosthouse is a very good film, with lots of creepy moments and some gore, the music is great too.......... the same music is used in "Stage Fright" which is another creepy horror movie, both are well worth checking out. 8/10 for this one.


Ghosthouse - La Casa 3 (aka House: La Maldición Final) was released in the eighties when the House franchise was a pretty big business, not so big as the Friday the 13th or Nightmare on Elm Street franchises but something important. Fortunately Umberto Lenzi only tries to exploit this franchise only superficially and he creates an intimate ghost story. A young couple tries to find the answers for a strange radio phenomena and that leads them to the famous haunted house of the title, from that point they and some other guys find themselves threatened by a strange and powerful ghost.

This movie has some cool gory moment right from the beginning. But we couldn't expect less from Umberto Lenzi. But Ghost house isn't such an extreme piece of carnage as Cannibal Ferox or other works of this extraordinary filmmaker. Ghosthouse has more suspense than massacre. Even having nothing but low-budget Lenzi delivers a good worthwhile horror flick using his imagination to give a handful of creative killings and a good use of the cameras makes the rest.

The music is a completely different stuff, we could define it as the typical bugging synthesizer music, this is not a low point, on contrary this is the music that helps to create the uncomfortable ambient that surrounds the movie. Recommended for fans of Lenzi (yes he have some fans!), if you appreciate B-Movies and don't criticize every second of them you will find that Ghoshouse is stunning.


The Evil Dead was called La Casa in Italy and that means The House, Evil Dead 2 was La Casa 2 but Ghosthouse is La Casa 3 so this is Evil Dead 3 in Italy but although this has nothing to do with a cabin and deadites Ghosthouse is a very good film. The music is very creepy and does sometimes send a chill down me especially with the ghost of the Girl and the Clown doll that haunt the people in the house.

The gore is another interesting thing because the murders are something different for a ghost film, the acting is OK in some parts but that isn't a main thing for Ghosthouse. If you're interested in a haunted house flick with something different to it then check Ghosthouse out for some creepy and gory scenes.


This movie, in my opinion, is one of the better Haunted House/Ghost movies I have seen. The acting was alright, and I did enjoy the story, sure there were a couple predictable moments but there was also a few surprises thrown in with a bunch of very creepy/eerie moments, which include a freaky looking Clown doll. This movie did manage to create an eerie atmosphere which also helped it out. I gave this movie an 8 out of 10. If you are considering renting this movie definnately rent it, you will not be dissapointed.

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"Ghosthouse" is about a group of obnoxious teenagers trapped in a haunted house where terrible crime took place years ago.A ghostly little girl in white and her creepy clown doll are causing all the terror.A radio operator and his girlfriend trace the source of a weird,scary signal that keeps interrupting his radio.They trace it to an old,abandoned house where they meet a group of teenagers staying in it.The script is half-assed and the acting sucks,but "Ghosthouse" provides plenty of good bloody fun.The evil doll clown looks creepy and the nursery theme is haunting.If you are into late 80's Italian horror give this one a chance.7 out of 10.


One of the most popular formulas used for scaring people is that of an evil house. Whether you're a believer or not, the supernatural can be a fascinating subject and perfect material for a good Horror film. Over the decades this particular type of Horror film has evolved, from classics like 'The Haunting,' which eschews the use of big effects for suspense and subtle scares to more recent hits like 'Poltergeist,' which does a great of mixing style and substance, still being very scary. Just about every country has produced a movie set in a haunted location, and no country does it the same way as any other. Italy is known for some for some very surreal and even whacked out Horror films that have found success abroad. They are far less conventional than many American Horror films, which is part of what makes them so darn interesting.

Pros: A great location, perfect for a haunted dwelling. A simple, but effectively eerie score. Some of the performances are decent. Moves at a pretty good pace, especially in the second half. A few good and very blood kills. A few nice effects. Some really creepy sequences and images. So bizarre and twisted that it has this great dreamlike quality.

Cons: Nearly plot less. Some wooden performances. Has many plot holes and lapses in logic. Some of the effects are shoddy. Too many characters and none are developed enough for us to get invested in them.

Final thoughts: You'll be apologizing to your brain afterward, but if you have a liking for Italian Horror then you'll likely enjoy the ride anyway. Most Italian Horror films lack logic, but like 'The House By the Cemetery,' a film this could seen as a loose sequel to since it uses the same location, 'Ghosthouse' is even more out there and nonsensical than usual. Doesn't change the fact that it's a fun and trippy flick.

My rating: 3.5/5


Ghosthouse (La Casa 3) is a decent, yet flawed haunted house chiller directed by Umberto Lenzi (under the painfully obvious pseudonym, Humphrey Humbert. The story concerns a young girl and her demonic clown haunting a house just outside Boston. 20 years earlier, her mother and father were brutally murdered by the evil clown, and the daughter died under mysterious circumstances. 20 years later, two college students hear a distress call coming from a short wave radio. The trace it to the now decrepit and dilapidated house and soon meet two brothers, their annoying sister, and one of the brother's girlfriend camping at the house. Soon, they all begin to die at the hands of the evil clown and the little girl.

For the most part, Ghosthouse succeeds at being atmospheric and suspenseful, mostly due to the creepy nursery rhyme that either the little girl or the clown sings (it was hard to determine who it was). The house was played a major part in the film's dreadful, melancholic atmosphere. For trivia, it was the same house used in Lucio Fulci's less than desirable, HOUSE BY THE CEMETERY.

Ghosthouse had it's fair share of gore, unfortunately not too much of it, and it was difficult to see it due to the poor lighting. The acting was also a bit uneven and the dubbing of the actors poor. But that's to be expected with any Italian horror film. The ending was a bit downbeat, but a neat way to close the film. Another issue I had with Ghosthouse was that the actors were extremely annoying, and they all deserved to bite the bullet. The ending also felt rushed. Perhaps, their budget ran low, and they had to come up with something less expensive at the last minute.

Overall, Ghosthouse is worth seeing if you are a die-hard fan of Italian horror. Like most Italian horror films, it succeeds in being atmospheric and melancholic. Unfortunately, it ends up just becoming a run-of-the-mill haunted house slasher flick with uninspired performances and ludicrous situations. It is quite rare on video but it receive a DVD release in the UK. Seek it out only if you enjoy these kinds of films.


Hiding behind the ridiculous soubriquet Humphrey Humbert, Umberto Lenzi (of Cannibal Ferox fame) directed this lame late 80s Italian/US co-production that starts off bad, and then rapidly goes downhill.

The film is a mish-mash of dumb, illogical, spooky (and sometimes deadly) happenings which occur to a group of teens staying at a deserted house. The cause of these supernatural events: the tormented spirit of a girl who is cursed to haunt the building because her father, a funeral director, gave her a clown-doll which he stole from the coffin of a dead child (what a great father: bringing home his daughter an ugly-as-sin present lifted from a corpse!).

Also mixed-up in the strange occurrences are a young couple who have followed a mysterious signal that they picked up on their ham radio set; they arrive at the house just as the weird and grisly deaths begin.

Lenzi's film is totally devoid of suspense, has plenty of elements which make no sense whatsoever (including a disappearing Doberman and a killer caretaker with a limp), features lousy acting, some dreadful special FX and some even worse examples of 80s fashion, and completely rips off the Tobe Hooper/Spielberg hit Poltergeist for several scenes (however, with a much smaller budget and a less talented crew, the results are laughable).

Lenzi's next film, Le Porte dell'inferno, was further proofas if we really needed itthat the director's best days behind the camera had long since gone.


some good gory scenes, otherwise the continuity, and other factors concerning the production sux.

the actors are kinda bad...

the plot if there is one is not that great =D it reminded me of a porn flick =D if there were no gore, this movie would not be watchable.

i little boring i guess...

i was reading a book, while watching this one... and i watched just the parts with the gore.

this movie is definitely not a winner, but i've seen worse, unless you have really nothing else to do, then you can watch.

oh lord the radio part is real crappy =D


Being a big fan cheesy 80's movies an Italian haunted house movie sounded like it'd be right up my alley. unfortunately this movie lacked everything a good b-rated horror movie should have; not much gore (I mean why else would somebody wanna watch an Italian horror flick), no naked babes, and on top of that it wasn't scary in the least. Basically the only thing it had going for it was the cool creepy music. Maybe if you absolutely can't stand clowns it might creep you out a little bit but otherwise i'd recommend avoiding this.

GHOSTHOUSE starts off promising with a couple decent deaths but it gets boring real quick. Nothing happens for the majority of the movie and when it does pick back up towards the end it's still pretty lame. It was so boring it took me three tries to finally finish it without falling asleep. I don't usually care about plot or acting but if i'm watching a horror movie i expect the victims to try to at least pretend to be scared. Not even a chick getting cut in half by guillotine can save this one especially since you barely get to see it. I'll give it 3 stars outta 10 because that's about how many scenes caught my attention. If you're looking for a good cheesy Italian horror flickthat delivers the goods check out PIECES or DEMONS instead.


A copy of Umberto Lenzi's GHOSTHOUSE was lying at the bottom of my closet for almost ten years now. I knew I'd seen it once, but I couldn't remember much of it. So last night I decided to watch it again. And, honestly, I don't know why I didn't remember anything of it. Because this is one memorable bad movie! Pretty bad Italian haunted house rubbish. If this was Umberto Lenzi's shot at making American movies, then he blew it big time.

Now, the first two murders in the prologue of the movie were actually quite good. Typical brutal Italian style and a bit classic in a way. But then flash-forward 20 years or so, and all goes down the drain. Laughingly bad! A radio-operator hears the most unconvincing cry for help ever on his radio. He and his girlfriend discover the origin of the transmission. It seems to come from an abandoned house. Some youngsters are spending the weekend there in the yard with their trailer-van. Et voilà, enough meat for the grinder as the house appears to be possessed by a girl and her doll (who died 20 years ago).

There's a lot of silly dialogues. But the dubbing is rather good, I must say. I think they mainly used the actor's real voices. Although there's one girl (I think it's Lara Wendel) which has such a thick accent, you can hardly understand a word she says. There's also that stupid joking black guy who serves absolutely no purpose (except getting killed). And don't get me started about that annoying nursery rhyme...

However, there is some amusing stuff going on (but there's no logic to it whatsoever, of course). There's one guy that suddenly falls into a lake of milk (!) in the basement (kinda cool). When he crawls out, his girlfriend mistakingly takes him for an oozing zombie and stabs him to death with a pair of hedge-scissors. Hahaha, I had some fun with that! The old caretaker was a hoot too. He's supposed to be half-crippled, but he manages to chase almost every single girl that crosses his path.

And then that tomb on the graveyard, that looks from the outside like a Hobbit's house... It has electricity in it??? There's a night-lamp that still seems to work after 20 years?!?!?!?! And the girl's corpse doesn't show any decomposing signs after 20 years of rotting away??? And can someone explain to me what was up with that ghost-dog? Barks a few times and doesn't do anything... and then vanishes. Nothing makes any sense in this movie! But the ending was good though: Bus of Death, hèhèhèhè...

So this movie is worth watching once, because it's pretty hilarious. Some death-scenes are mildly amusing, and I must say that some sequences succeed barely in being scary (the washing machine in the basement, some scenes with the doll), but in the end it's just a bunch of silly, illogical nonsense. I haven't seen a lot of Umberto Lenzi's movies (I've only seen CANNIBAL FEROX and NIGHTMARE CITY, which I both enjoyed), but to me it seems he's just a mediocre Italian director when it comes to horror-movies. Fans of Lenzi might wanna check out GHOSTHOUSE (that's what they'll do anyway), but if you're just beginning to discover Italian horror-cinema, then go with stuff from Argento, Bava, Soavi and Fulci.


This is not the worst movie I have ever seen, but its very bad, people track down a weird radio broadcast of someone yelling for help to an old house, there is a little girl with a doll that plays bad music in what I am guessing is an attempt to annoy people to death.

People die, badly, then the little girls grave is burned....the end.

Oh yeah, I forgot, at the end one of the characters says "She was just a normal little girl till her dad got her that doll."

WHAT? How could this guy possibly know this?

Awful.


Director Umberto Lenzi proves that he was a one-hit wonder in the horror genre (CANNIBAL FEROX) with this pathetic attempt at a haunted house story. Released in Italy as HOUSE 3 (sort of like THE HORROR SHOW was released here as HOUSE 3), GHOSTHOUSE is not even worthy of a free rental.

A radio junkie and his girlfriend investigate transmissions from a mysterious house and are helped by four campers spending the weekend on the estate. Take away logical plot, inventive camerawork, good acting, and intelligent dialogue and you have GHOSTHOUSE. Noteworthy for featuring Eurocult favorite Donald O'Brien as a psychotic caretaker (he is horrible here), there is nothing else to recommend. It's like Lenzi watched a bunch of better horror films and injected elements from Fulci's HOUSE BY THE CEMETERY (the house even looks the same!), FRIDAY THE 13TH, POLTERGEIST, and THE HAUNTING. None of the attempted scares work, despite one good sequence of blood coming out of a faucet. Some good gore effects are highlights, but are too few and far between. The musical score is horrendous and is the perfect excuse for using the mute button.

GHOSTHOUSE is not even fun for diehard Lenzi fans. Instead, seek out CANNIBAL FEROX for an excellent horror film or one of Lenzi's many awesome cop thrillers. In my opinion, GHOSTHOUSE isn't even good enough to be used as toilet paper for the world's fattest woman. It should be burned, along with a small select group of thoroughly unwatchable films, and its ashes dumped into the deepest ocean never to be seen again.


When people saw the film "Day of the Dead" for the first time, some said that it should be burned on a pyre... I think that they really meant Ghosthouse.

I don't know what is worse about this film... The fact that the cast attempts to act or that it actually tries to be a horror movie. The premise is horrible, the acting is worse and I am not even going to comment on the directing or editing. (When you see the shadow of the sound man in a shot, you should be shot). AND WHAT IS THE OBSESSION WITH CHILI?????

Don't ever bother... ever....


Ghosthouse is apparently the second sequel to a film called 'La Casa', which I've never heard of. It's probably just another example of the confusing Italian horror tradition of sticking numbers after random titles so people will go and see the film. Anyway, basically what we have here is yet another haunted house flick. It's basically about a bunch of people that move into a house and find it's haunted, and then they all die in grisly ways - the usual! The film was of interest to me only for the fact that it's directed by the great Umberto Lenzi, although it came more towards the end of his career and as anyone who knows anything about Lenzi will tell you - his later films weren't his best! The film is mostly rubbish and quite boring, although there is a fair bit of gore. It's slightly creepy - and somewhat reminiscent of Lucio Fulci's masterpiece 'The Beyond'. The noise that the ghost makes (sounding something like a kid doing an impression of a frog) is creepy at first, but it's also massively overused and soon becomes old - though it may well have been an inspiration to the noise that the ghost in 'The Grudge' makes. I can guarantee that you wont give a damn what happens by the time it reaches the conclusion, and I wont recommend this film as it is the very definition of a waste of time!


Every single film critic's review of this I could find - Leonard Maltin and Roger Ebert being two of these critics whom I particularly respect - have given it a pitifully low rating. I can't completely figure it out, but I think the reason this movie failed to garner better reviews might have had something to do with the timing of its release; one must remember that the Vietnam War was still an open scab for this country in the mid-'80s, and all the film treatments of the war up until then had been pointed tragedies - from "The Deer Hunter" to "Apocalypse Now", "Coming Home", and even director Sidney J. Furie's other 1978 Vietnam film "Boys in Company C." So, audiences and critics were probably not very open at that time to a film about a romantic relationship in the middle of the war with a semi-happy ending. However, in hindsight this movie deserves a second look, and seems to have received one, as indicated by the positive reviews I have read from virtually every amateur online reviewer, which would qualify this movie as a sleeper 20 years after its original release.

Essentially, the movie has an old-fashioned storyline with 1980s sensibilities - the type of movie that would have been more at home in the post-WWII era along with such films as "From Here to Eternity" or "The Best Years of Our Lives." I disagree with Ebert's review, which said this was simply one of those ridiculous movies where "the whole world was a stage, and millions of people were fighting and dying so that these two goofballs could swap spit?" Ken Wahl and Cheryl Ladd play fairly likable, 3-dimenional characters - he a shallow Naval surgeon who volunteered for wartime duty for the experience, and she an altrusitic nurse with strong street-smarts. They meet at a Naval base hospital where Wahl has taken an injured soldier for emergency care, but complications ensure when he tries to carry on a relationship with her in the middle of wartime. I thought the film held the utmost respect for military personnel in the war - the attention to technical detail was superb, and the final credits list no less than six military technical advisors. In addition, I was most impressed by the convincing battle scenes, and believe that these scenes might be some of director Furie's best work, easily in the same league of "Boys in Company C" and even "Platoon." Make no mistake: this is a war movie with a romantic story angle, not a romance movie with a war story angle, and I believe director Furie makes this important distinction very clear.

Furie was right to make a movie about Vietnam with a unique storyline: after all, I am sure there were romantic relationships that developed in that war, with such close contact among medical personnel in trying circumstances. Additionally, he deserves credit for making the first and only film I can think of to portray the service of women in the Vietnam War - the acclaimed TV series "China Beach" is the only other portrayal of similar subject matter. This movie was just released at the wrong time, when audiences were expecting only angry, hard-hitting social commentary. "Purple Hearts" is another example of why Furie is the Rodney Dangerfield of film directors, never receiving any respect when it is due. While no masterpiece, I still recommend this little-seen film.


This thoroughly entertaining movie has two intertwined story lines: a talented Navy doctor (Ken Wahl) trying to save lives while coping with the challenges of working in a war zone, and his involvement with a talented nurse (Cheryl Ladd).

Other reviewers have already commented on the superb photographic artistry, so I'll just say that, more than 20 years after first seeing it, what still stands out in my mind is its ending.

It's astonishing that (as of June, 2006), Purple Hearts still has not been released on DVD. Until then, you still may be able to rent or buy it on VHS.


This movie was so beautiful. After seeing it, I read some of the reviews and I thought they were not anywhere near to what I saw. I always like to see movies where people find love where they least expected it. I just knew that in the end, he would find her at the hospital. This movie was perfect. I would definitely see it again.


First off, this is a much better movie than you would think by just looking at the cast and production.

Yes, essentially this is a wartime romance with all the tear jerky stuff you would expect. (which I happen to enjoy too) But, and this is where things take a turn toward the interesting, this film properly portrays several elements of the US military during the Vietnam War. Including what I consider an incredibly detailed Navy Seal Ops unit, both in characterization and temperament. It borders on the bizarre that such a nugget of special ops combat would be hidden inside a romantic flick.

Their mission, of course, is based on the real life US Army Special Forces rescue operation/raid on Son Tay Prison. But the effect is amazing. A sort of "what if" had the Navy been tasked with the rescue.

Additionally, the firebase hospital scenes were again surprisingly realistic. As well as the actions of the personnel on the naval hospital ship. I'm not sure who the advisors to the movie were, but their on-hand knowledge were well used by both the director and cinematographer.

This was at the height of star Ken Wahl's career - so it comes as a sad reminder of careers that 'could-have-been'. The acting is well done and the romance with beautiful Cheryl Ladd very tangible.

Finally, kudos to Lane Smith who portrays the by-the-book Navy doctor, Commander Markel - and R. Lee Ermey as the Marine Gunnery Sergeant. Not surprisingly R. Lee wasn't stretching his acting muscles too much since he is in fact a globe-n-anchor combat vet who did multiple tours in Nam. If you enjoy the berating bark of everyone's favorite jarhead, check out History Channel's "Mail Call" which R.Lee hosts.


A real feel good movie. The ending is the best, just like I would want this kind of movie to end. I saw this movie when it came out in 1984 and I have been looking for a copy, now that I can afford the price. I finally got one off of E-Bay. I enjoyed the action and the romance. It is really a good movie for the person who is tired of the movies coming out today. Cheryl Ladd is one of the most beautiful women in the business, and a terrific actress, Ken Wahl is also a very strong character and the combat scenes are fantastic. I also noticed that R. Lee Ermey is in this movie playing his best character a Marine Gunnery Sargent. If you get the chance find a copy and watch.


I loved this film. It is one I will watch time and time again. It is a War film for the men and a love story for the women....O.K. there is a lot of swearing in the film but it is in context.I have not seen Ken Wahl in anything else but will now watch out for films with him in. Cheryl Ladd was very good in the film.


I love a good war film, and I love a good romance. This film had both, and more besides. I'd never seen Ken in anything else before, and he quite simply blew me away. Every time I watch this film, and I still do, regularly, there is always something new in it. Ken is surrounded by great actors who bring out the best in him. Cheryl was absolutely perfect as his leading lady, and Whizz was just a blast alongside being a faithful buddy. Hanes was a fantastic choice, too, bringing a youthful intelligent and likable black man into it was a brilliant thought. The two sexual scenes were awesome. Tasteful, but sexy. Gut-wrenching, but hopeful. And the ending...beautiful.

I love it. Simple as that.


A surprisingly good warmovie.

It has realistic battle scenes, competent acting plus it shows the Vietnam war from the medics' and doctors' point of view. The romance was believable and Cheryl Ladd was always a decent actress (and good-looking).

Battle scene highlights: the NVA assault on a USMC firebase. Those Marines' bloodlust was on a par with the NVA's!

I don't like chicks' movies, or *romantic* movies. I do agree however, that nearly all warmovies need a healthy dose of realistic romance. 'Purple Hearts' provides us with just that.


This movie is a fond memory for me, yes i know that sounds weird as it is a movie about a horrible war that i am too young to know about. The reason is, The man Ken Wahl portrays in this film is my grandfather. The names have been changed and no one ever officially stated that it is his story. But it is. This is what happened to my grandfather in the 60s. He was sent home to Lakewood WA where his family lived (my grandmother uncle aunts and father were) he never related the intricate details to any of us. he worked as a doctor for the rest of his life. He passed away in September 2002 on the first anniversary of 9/11. but as i watch this movie, i am reminded of him. and what he did for his country.


It's a bit of a shame that the IMDb hasn't got a cover image of "Dark Tower" published yet. As usual, the VHS cover is much cooler than the movie actually is and it shows a crowd of people gathering around a skyscraper, shaped like an enormous coffin. The movie itself is painfully disappointing, especially if you take a closer look at the people who were involved in making it. The directors-duo Freddie Francis and Ken Wiedernhorn both have much better films on their repertoire. Francis made some great British horror classics in the 70's, like "The Creeping Flesh" and "Tales that Witness Madness", while Wiederhorn single-handedly was responsible for the only recommendable 'underwater-Nazi-zombie' flick ever made: the unique "Shock Waves". Some of the cast-members too have delivered better films. The male lead Michael Moriarty frequently works with Larry Cohen ("Q  the winged Serpent", "The Stuff") and Jenny Agutter will always be remembered for her starring in "American Werewolf in Londen". I avoid talking about the film's plot simply because there isn't much to say... It's pretty much a reworking of "Poltergeist" (which I didn't like, neither) in a skyscraper, with the restless spirit of a murdered person avenging himself on anyone who enters the building. Agutter plays the brilliant architect who seems to be the ghost's main target and Moriarty is the clairvoyant police officer who looks after her. The opening sequence is promising, with a guy falling 17 storeys down and crushing an extra pedestrian along the way! Unfortunately, the screenplay then turns into a boring mess without tension or surprises. Moriarty teams up with a couple of other paranormal investigators and they uncover some dark secrets. There's practically no gore, no humor and no feeling with the characters. Moriarty gives his lousiest performance ever and even Agutter's gorgeous eyes can't save this mediocre movie.


Architect Agutter is haunted by her dead husband in a skyscraper she designed, and when people start getting knocked off mysteriously detective Moriarty comes in to investigate. Incredibly boring attempt to rip off both `Poltergeist' and `The Shining', it was so uninteresting that I couldn't make it through the whole thing in just one sitting. Nothing happens, it just keeps building up and building up to absolutely nothing and leaves you wondering why you just sat there for 91 minutes? Why did an actor like Michael Moriarty waste his time with this? 2 out of 10, completely uninteresting.


Dubbed and low-budget, this horror movie is long, boring, and not particularly interesting except for the parapsychologist whose presence and storyline is wasted, Kevin McCarthy completed wasted, and a plot premise that held promise but wasn't fully utilized by a script that seemed to wander. Fortunately Mr. McCarthy gets to continue to perform in contemporary roles even now, particularly SLIPSTREAM (2007). Michael Moriarity is also not given sufficient opportunity to shine in this movie either. And Mr. Moriarity continues to gain better recognition since this movie. A disappointing movie that really doesn't present anything that isn't better done elsewhere.


THE DARK TOWER is an obscure movie that had a lot of potential but squandered the whole interesting idea of an evil building due to some really weak acting, a listless script, totally unfocused direction, and a cast that's seemingly above the age of 40! It's always great to see Jenny Agutter in anything but she deserved a better project than this. The direction is truly bizarre. I'm sure the fact that the great Freddie Francis was replaced by another director has contributed to the weirdness of the film but I wonder what they were attempting to do. It's as if they tried to make the building into a character, and at a certain point, they actually succeeded, not because of some great feat of direction but because the human characters are so weak and messed up that the building looked positively sturdy and 3 dimensional compared to them.

And speaking of humans, I've never seen such an old looking cast. Yes, Jenny was in her late 30s when she made the movie but because practically everyone is above a certain age, this gave the movie a sorta poky feel to it, which was the last thing THE DARK TOWER needed.

But the thing that kills this bizarre quasi-mess is the ending, or the resolution of the mystery/story. It was more funny than scary. One has to see it to believe it.

A real curio of a movie worth seeing for fans of bizarre films.


What is the main reason to see a film with Jenny Agutter in it? That Agutter's in it. What's the best thing about that film? That Agutter's in it. And this one also has Carol Lynley and Anne Lockhart in it (though practically as extras). How many ghost stories make sense? ZERO. Others review this flick as if a parapsychologist COULD make sense but that is impossible. The two male leads did a fine job with their OF COURSE stupid characters but I will admit that Kevin McCarthy sure was wasted. SPOILER ALERT: If you're wishing to point out dopey things about the film (though of course EVERYTHING is stupid), the ghostly decomposed body of the murder victim couldn't have decomposed, as it was sealed in concrete. Why didn't you others point THAT out? THAT was the main error in this flick. If other people's problem with this film is that it doesn't scare you, I've NEVER been scared by ANY movie so I cannot relate to that factor in reviewing.


While I've never been a -huge- fan of Adam Sandler's films, I have watched them and laughed throughout most of them. I'm the type of guy who enjoys some slapstick, some raunchy humor, and a lot of zanyness.

I went into Zohan not expecting anything but pure frivolous humor. You don't go into films like this with any expectations, and I think that's where a lot of the reviewers prior to myself went wrong. They went in expecting to see an evolution of Sandler's humor, and while I would say that Zohan raised the bar a tad, it's still Adam Sandler. Yes, it's going to have a corny ending, a lot of physical humor, and a healthy dose of humor aimed at the more intelligent in the crowd as well.

Overall, I couldn't stop giggling, laughing, and chuckling throughout most of the film. After a long streak of not seeing any humor films, I thought it was the perfect thing to bring me back to comedies. The last few years, especially, have been incredibly lackluster in regards to comedies (if that's what evolution of the genre is, count me out, by the way), and I found Zohan refreshing.

I think another thing a lot of the other reviewers missed, is that the film in no way expected to take itself seriously. The only serious moments were cheesy, predictable, and ultimately corny, which is irony in itself and only contributed to my bemused chuckling. Yes, a lot of the humor bordered on racial stereotyping, there were a lot of over-the-top accents and allusions to the Middle East, so if you're the type to get touchy about that, feel free to skip. I found it to be a rather hilarious joke on the seriousness that everybody applies to the stereotyping. The stereotyping is, actually, rather fair and towards the end even shows plenty of "good stereotyping" (as accurate as stereotyping ever is, which is to say, rarely).

Really, the film laughs at itself. Are there some bum moments? Certainly, but it seems that's been the case for almost every film I've seen in the last few years, but it was grand seeing the cast and crew not try to make this the 'next great comedy' and just have a buttload of fun.

And if the cast and crew are laughing at themselves (which you can clearly feel through the screen), you can't help but laugh with them.

If you want to spend an hour or two snickering and have an open mind, give Zohan a shot. Don't expect an evolution of comedy. Don't expect the bar to be raised, because that's not what this film was trying to do. It was trying to be ridiculous and make people utter that ever so fantastic groaning-giggle followed by the heart chuckle.

Don't let the other critics fool you, they've probably forgotten the meaning of the word 'satire'.


Look folks, this is ADAM SANDLER we're talking about here. Yes, this is the same stuff that he was doing ten years ago with "The Waterboy." Yes, this is the same company that brought us "Happy Gilmore" and "Click." And yes, while I have aged a bit since I could appreciate the his silliness, there is still a part of me that enjoys the goofy fun that Adam Sandler likes to put on screen. I knew very well coming in to the 7:45 showing of "You Don't Mess with the Zohan" that this was going to be crazy. And sure enough, it was. But you know what, I liked it, my friend liked it, quite a few people in the audience liked it, it was a good time had.

Adam Sandler loves to put himself in ridiculous situations. In "Gilmore," he was a hockey nut with a hidden talent for golf. In "Mr. Deeds," he became a billionaire overnight. This guy has played football (twice), gone on fifty first dates, paused and sped up his life, and married Kevin James. Now, he's an Isreali counter-terrorist with a fetish for cutting hair. Oh, and he loves making sexual remarks as much as Borat does. Sound familiar? Thought it did.

So how does the humor compare to previous Sandler features? Well, it's unfocused. Part of the problem is that three writers with different mentalities are writing the script. The silliness comes from Sandler, the raunchy stuff comes from Apatow, and everything else comes from Smigel. Although I found myself laughing at quite a few parts (particularly when the Zohan was on the job as a soldier), there were also a lot of parts where I was thinking to myself "Come on. Another shot of the crotch?" (Or butt, or some other sexual reference) All of these various ingredients have been thrown in together, and the end result is, let's face it, uneven.

But though the movie may have lacked focus, I couldn't help but have fun with it. You see, unlike "Mr. Deeds" (which I found boring and lame), this film goes whole hog. Sandler and the cast surrounding him do almost everything in their power to make a joke out of something. These guys aren't sleepwalking through their roles, to the contrary, they're having a great time putting on a show. It's contagious. About halfway through the movie, I began to realize the reason I was having fun with the "Zohan" was because this movie essentially gives out an open invitation to enjoy the silliness that was being presented. By the end of the movie, Sandler had done the most outrageous acts I had seen him do since "Happy Gilmore." And frankly, I think I prefer Sandler when he just tries everything.

Fans of Sandler will most likely enjoy this one, non-fans should pass. For what it's worth, "You Don't Mess with the Zohan" is a good continuation of the act Sandler has put on for us for over a decade now. Worth a Saturday matinée.


The critics are out in full force and tearing this movie a new one. I can understand some of the criticism, it's a brainless comedy chop full of cliché jokes, stereotypes, crude toilet humor, so it's to be expected that it's going to receive a lot of negativity.

With that said, that's exactly why I loved this movie so much. I'm a movie buff, have over 2,000 DVDs in my collection. I love virtually every movie genre there is. So, I knew full well what I was getting myself into before I paid my ten dollars and a Coke the size of Zohan's crotch.

What I loved about this movie so much, was that the jokes never stopped coming. I've watched all of Sandlers movies, many of them have long breaks of nothing much to get in stitches about. Sandler is the type of actor that I look to for this sort of humor. When you're having a bad day and want to watch a brainless, popcorn flick that will most likely have you cracking up virtually the entire movie, then I suggest you see this movie as soon as possible.

This is another reason why I love Sandler so much. He's not afraid to push the envelope to garner a laugh. He knows he's capable of doing a more serious role and have success. I know how good he was in Punch-Drunk Love and Reign Over Me, but he's very versatile and I can't complain about an actor with that quality.

I gave this a 7 out of 10, I'm not afraid to admit that I liked the Zohan.., and I certainly wouldn't mess with him!


You know, sometimes I just don't understand what the heck is going through Adam Sandler's head. He's a funny guy with natural charisma and, I would guess, a reasonable level of intelligence. So why does he feel compelled to write and produce films of such appallingly low quality? It worked with his initial efforts, Billy Madison and Happy Gilmore. Those two films defied any sense of logical criticism. They were sloppy, yet contained a maniacal sense of anarchic glee. He seemed thrilled at what he was getting away with. Yet, since the release of those films over a decade ago, he has continued to crank out by-the-numbers mediocrity that lacks any feeling of comic discovery.

It is my unfortunate duty now to inform you that his latest, You Don't Mess With The Zohan, is by far his most wretchedly awful film to date. Sandler's character this time, a Mossad agent who dreams of being a hairdresser, would probably fill a lame Saturday Night Live skit, but stretched to over 100 minutes is akin to Chinese water torture.

Zohan isn't any normal secret agent; he's a walking caricature of crass Middle Eastern stereotypes and snickering vulgarity. With a Wham!-inspired haircut and a penchant for shtupping elderly women, he finds employment at a small salon run by the sweet, yet blank, Dalia (Emmanuelle Chriqui), a Palestinian woman with no patience for Zohan's sexism. As can be predicted, despite their antagonistic relationship, they soon are yearning to "make the bam-boom". Their insipid love story intermingles with a laugh-free subplot featuring Zohan's nemesis the Phantom (John Turturro) and a hapless Arab cab-driver (Rob Schneider, ladies and gentlemen...) ineptly planning murder attempts.

Now, racial stereotyping and crude humor can be used to great comic effect in the proper hands. The makers of Borat toed the line brilliantly, delivering great vulgar hilarity mixed with social commentary. You Don't Mess With The Zohan is not even in the same time zone, much less ballpark. The film is amazingly hostile and mean-spirited, mocking its targets with unfiltered scorn for the majority of the running time, yet tacking on a "we're all the same" message at the end. It's like the school-yard bully who beats the snot out of you all semester but wishes you a good summer at when vacation time rolls around. Why did no one involved in this debacle pull Sandler aside and gently suggest that this material was unfilmable? Also concerning is the amount of animal abuse presented for cheap laughs. There is a particularly soul-killing scene featuring Zohan and two friends playing hacky-sack with a cat. Now, a good writer would use this undeniably objectionable act as a springboard to a larger pay-off. That would redeem the bad taste and warrant the scene's inclusion. Not here however, where the only apparent joke is that a trio of grown men are kicking the stuffing out of a helpless animal.

What is almost fascinating about Zohan is how little interest the screen-writers have in their own story. New story lines are launched at random to replace the ones running out of gas. I couldn't believe that the introduction of an evil land-developer to the film occurred near the end of the second act. It would seem that writers' Sandler, Judd Apatow, and Robert Smigel knew that their material was limited and hoped that by padding it liberally, no one would notice. Hence, the heavy helping of crotch close-ups, homophobia, hummus jokes, and dry humping present. As well, the endless cameos come off as desperate and pointless, although it is amusing that Mariah Carey has finally found a fitting companion piece for Glitter.

To call You Don't Mess With The Zohan a misfire is a grand understatement. It's a dreary trudge through migraine-inducing territory that is all the more unforgivable considering the level of talent involved. There's an old adage that it takes true skill and artistry to create a truly horrific film, as hacks will only produce bland mediocrity. Well, Zohan is a colossal achievement, a film that will receive endless mentions on "Worst of 2008" lists, and the rants of legions of angry ticket-buyers. With that said though, Sandler may have inadvertently found a point of agreement for Israelis and Palestinians. I think that both sides would agree that You Don't Mess With The Zohan flat-out SUCKS!


I have been coming to IMDb for movie reviews for a few years now and have never commented on a movie...until now. I must say that I was personally a bit confused when I saw the rating on this movie. I expected it to be much higher. (currently a 5.8) The theater was packed on the day I went to see this (opening weekend)...and I went with 6 other people. All of us laughed a lot and left the theater talking about how we thought it was a very funny movie. Consistently the remarks were that we didn't expect it to be so good! The laughs in the theater were very loud and seemed to be coming from throughout the auditorium. Perhaps this humor isn't for everyone but it never occurred to me until now that there would be so many lower ratings. I say this because I most always feel the reviews here at IMDb are right on and rely upon them for my movie going choices. My wife feels the same way about this...very confused at the lower score. Oh well...each to their own as humor is unique to each individual. My recommendation: For anyone considering this movie...if you like Adam Sandler, over the top sexual humor and just plain weird material....see this movie.


I've been a fan of Adam Sandler for much of my life. . . all the way back to his SNL and 'Airheads' days. I've seen him go through many phases, from some great films like 'Punch-Drunk Love,' 'Reign Over Me,' and 'Big Daddy' to some of his lower-end films like 'Eight Crazy Nights' and 'Little Nicky.'

'You Don't Mess With the Zohan' is not one of his best films, but it's still enjoyable. Personally, I'd place it along the comedic quality of 'Billy Madison'. . . contains mostly sight gags and juvenile humour. But, c'mon. . . sometimes that's what we need. Our world is going to Hell, so shouldn't we have some relief from the pain and torment we must witness on a daily basis? No. It's not a great film. But it's funny and stupid and entertaining. And that's the reason to see it. . . don't expect a comedic masterpiece like 'His Girl Friday' or 'Forrest Gump.' Expect what the film actually as and accept it as such. . . if it's not for you, then it wasn't MEANT for you.

Final verdict: 6.5/10.


I read over the reviews from other IMDb users and am surprised how many mentioned that this film is "racist" or "insensitive". It begs the question: Are people going into to ADAM SANDLER films searching for serious or deep social and political commentary? This movie is a comedy and it stars Adam Sandler if you walk into that theater expecting anything except a stupid-funny movie then you need to instead leave the theater to go home and hit yourself in the face with a rock, after all it can't do more damage to your brain.

In the most simple of terms this movie stars Adam Sandler if you do not find him and his over the top antics funny then I would delicately suggest that you do not see his movies as I understand they are not for everyone. To preempt any whining from people saying that "Other Adam Sandler films made me laugh but this one was not the same" let me remind you that the movie you just saw was called You Don't Mess with the Zohan NOT Happy Gilmore. If you walked into this theater expecting to see Happy Gilmore then again let me remind you that you can actually buy Happy Gilmore on DVD and also there is a rock at home for your face. NEWSFLASH! Movies do have differences from one another and thank heavens they do or the only Adam Sandler movie we would ever have is Happy Gilmore recycled over and over.

Finally and perhaps most important of all this movie was never intended to somehow explain or even explore the difficult and tense situation in the Middle East it was not even necessarily supposed to poke fun at it. This movie was supposed to make you laugh. If you laughed and had a good time then who cares? Everyone in the theater with me was laughing through the movie and having a good time. That is what I look for in a comedy so thumbs up Sandler for a fun night out.


If your expectations are high going into movies like this, then please, do yourself a favor and never watch a movie again. This is an Adam Sandler movie and we all know what he's like and what type of humor we're going to expect.....and this movie is no different.

I wanted to laugh, and this movie did just that for me and more! Being from Israel, I found his jokes funny and very witty. I don't know if none-Israeli's would find half the jokes funny though.

The movie tried to delve into the whole Israeli-Arab conflict, but it doesn't go deep enough to make much of a point.

See the movie if you wanna laugh, A lot, but don't see it if your looking for a an Oscar movie night.


"You Don't Mess With the Zohan" is the newest regurgitated $hitfest unleashed upon us by the brilliant minds of comedian Adam Sandler and director Dennis Dugan. The movie chronicles the absurd, zany story of Zohan Dvir, a ridiculously offensive special agent of an Isralei counter-terrorism organization known as the "Mossad". His extraordinarily stupid fake accent and personality that would insult the intelligence of an eleven year old give the writers, (Adam Sandler, Judd Apatow, and SNL writer Robert Smigel) the framework to create a movie that is incomprehensibly bad.

The movie begins with Zohan in his home country doing stupid $hit, which is what he does pretty much for the entire movie. As the movie scrapes along, you're pondering what the hell "Zohan" is even supposed to be. "How does he have super powers?" "Is he a superhero?" "Why the hell am I watching this?" "Why does Adam Sandler always have to play the role of a super savvy cool-guy when the only reason anyone really liked "Happy Gilmore", "Billy Madison", "Bulletproof", "The Wedding Singer", "Big Daddy", "Little Nicky", or "Mr. Deeds" is because of his supporting cast?" "Why can't Adam Sandler play a pedophile addicted to methamphetamines who is married to a retarded homosexual and spends his free time wiping his ass with an American Flag?" Veiled behind the facade of a retarded accent, a stupid haircut, and a constant beating of dick jokes, narrow minded cultural references, and pretty much anything else that would annoy anyone with a shred of dignity, Zohan expresses aspirations of becoming a hair stylist {in which he will make people s' hair "silky smooth"(which he repeats at least SEVEN times before the movie ends and you stop wishing to stick your head in an oven for watching this hideous abomination), which is another stupid idiosyncrasy of every single Adam Sandler movie in the past nine years, which is including a "subtle" reference to one of his older movies, which the writers apparently think is cute}. After a literal five minute long homosexual joke, he moves to America.

Not long after his arrival,(in,...you guessed it... NEW YORK CITY!!!, where every single movie ever made takes place) he finally achieves his goal of becoming a hairstylist.

Nearly an hour into the movie, a bit of plot is finally revealed (the time between had to be used as filler for Adam Sandler tea bagging at least twenty different characters and further humiliating himself into oblivion). Zohans' arch enemy, Palestinian terrorist leader Phantom (John Turturro), reveals himself. Apparently, he is also a superhero like Zohan. There are several scenes illogically strewn together depicting Zohan doing some more stupid $hit and further cementing this movie as being the most racist mainstream movie ever made that the American public completely ignores because they're too dense to be able to comprehend anything that isn't expressed explicitly. When there's about a half hour left in the movie (I'm probably not correct on the time frame because I was trying my hardest not to pay attention to the movie for fear that the movie would have pulled me into the depths of insanity, so try to bare with it), Zohan enlists the help of socialite millionaires to aid him in his battle against Phantom. Among these people is Michael Buffer, the famous boxing announcer. I'm still in awe of the throngs of people who were dragged screaming into this fiasco. But I'm still frustrated because of the relentless cameos. Seriously, it is not necessary in any movie.

I know that I'm skipping around the plot a bit, but I am trying not to think too much about this movie.

At the end of the movie, the Palestinians led by Phantom and the Israelis led by Zohan have an ultra explosion-filled showdown in the streets of New York as the result of some idiotic subplot regarding Rob Schneiders'affinity for his goat (because every single person who lives in the middle east who isn't a terrorist is a goat farmer), some other retarded subplot, and some other retarded subplot. The movie predictably ends with each group realizing their differences and learning to love each other. There. I spoiled the entire movie for you because it really doesn't matter.

In the midst of all of the racism, sexism, xenophobia, and pretty much every other idiotic antisocial American sentiment that entrenched this travesty of a film, there is one notion for me that resides over all others. It is the fact that the creators of this movie actually thought that they were making a good movie. To me that is mind boggling.

Overall, I give this movie a 2 out of 10 because there were a total of three times when I chuckled at the movie. It's a pretty bad ratio because the movie has to have the record of most attempts at trying to make its audience laugh. However, it was agonizing to watch, so I'll give it a 1 out of spite.


Let me just say, I am a big Adam Sandler fan. I love and find most of his movies funny. This one was not. The jokes were lame, and way too crude for a pg-13 rating. I just kept thinking my daughter was watching this two seats away, and I felt uncomfortable with the many reverences to sex. It lasted two hours but didn't have two hours of comedy material. It felt preachy about tried to teach tolerance when it came to people from the middle east but came off unbelievably stupid. I find it strange how great comedy writers like Adam Sandler and Judd Apatow could produce such a piece of crap! I wouldn't waste your time on this one. Or wait till it hits H.B.O.


The story line was crappy as hell. I felt like falling asleep. The only 3 times you saw the bad guy, he wasn't acting suspicious. It really made me reconsider going to see another Adam Sandler movie. Zohan is basically another continuation of his character in "Click." Except with more raunchy behavior. No one really wants to watch (or listen to for that matter)Zohan do a 75 year old lady. Some of the scenes were put in order that didn't make sense and many of the scenes were not even needed. I honestly don't think I laughed once. There is no other way to describe You Don't Mess With The Zohan than just another movie with humor like Epic Movie. No one could drag me to go see it again.


I am not an Adam Sandler fun, but I appreciate his work when he do something good. This movie is a "it could be good, if they intended to made a trash movie" movie.

The end of the movie is not enough to save a disastrous work that aimed to be funny, its just boring. his super commando jokes, outdated disco fewer all the crap in the movie made itself boring. Showing an ass frequently is not so funny, as mentioned in "Idiocracy", making a movie about an ass does not fit a person capable of to do better, like Adam Sandler is ridiculous. Oh I forgot to mention, he can do many things with his ass, real talent.

Not for me, not for sane people. Save your time, save your money.


This movie had one or two funny parts but that's it. Most of the laughter was uncomfortable laughter. It was insulting to so many different groups of people that I can't believe it was even made. It is not acceptable for kids younger than 17. There are too many sexual jokes and innuendos and unacceptable sexual situations. It makes Isreali men look like they want to hump every woman they meet and disco every where they go. The first time in the movie it was a little funny but after it was in every scene, it became tedious.

Most kids wouldn't enjoy the movie or think it was funny anyway. They just wouldn't understand most of the jokes. For example the inept Palestinians keep calling the Hezbollah hot-line and get a recording with options such as "to order terrorist supplies press", etc. Most kids don't really understand or appreciate the humor in this. My friend brought her 13 and 10 year-old and had to leave the movie.

The only redeemable parts were when the Palestinians and Isrealis come together in the end but it wasn't enough to save the movie. My husband thought it inappropriate to be joking about terrorism at all. We demanded and got our money back.


First, it is important to say that as a rule I like Sandler. I feel he was able to roll a successful comic career into a sometimes brilliant movie career. While I generally don't expect a deep experience, he is entertaining and sometimes touching in his work.

That being said, this movie was a complete waste of time. Yes, I got the Israeli references. Yes, I got the New York angle. And, yes, I was very alive during the 80's and the attempts at humor were not lost on me. Quite simply, the material wasn't funny. I don't mean it was "unfunny" by comedy standards, I mean it was unfunny by Adam Sandler standards.

There were a couple of scenes that were quite humorous, and they thankfully weren't drawn out to lose the effect. Unfortunately, there was nothing of redeemable value to link those moments together.

Do yourself a favor, if you aren't a Sandler fan, don't go near this steaming pile and if you are, fight the urge to "give this a try" and go watch your favorite Sandler flick instead.

2 Stars is being generous.


To comment on this movie, there are two main sides: First one would be Adam Sandler, I have always liked his movies, for the light kind of comedy he presents, you watch and you laugh but you don't expect to come out of the movie with a deeper message or something remotely philosophic to think about, I find that when Adam Sandler tries to go deep, his movies become quite depressing and nonsensical, "Click" quickly comes to mind.

The thing about the Zohan, is that I laughed a lot in some parts, but I find his affairs with the older ladies to be a bit repetitive and leaning towards downright BORING. Also the crude language and the oh-too-much "crotch" view makes it quite impossible to let your kids watch the movie, which is a pity, because I find the hilarious fight scenes and the Zohan's "supernatural" cool stunts would have been fun for kids to watch.

Second point of view would be from an Arab point of view; I started watching this movie, preparing myself to get offended, and mind you I am a very broad minded person ... However, I was pleasantly surprised, for the first time in my life I see a movie that does not picture Arabs as animal-like, heartless, brainless killing machines. They are just people, trying to make a living, even the avenging one has a reason, the Zohan stole his goat.

Watching this movie, I tried to forget that I am an Arab, and I see that it is portraying - in a very silly and somehow inaccurate way - two opposing sides, and suggesting that they stop fighting, get over their differences to see that they are in fact similar.

The movie makers get my personal "thank you" for that, it is no different than watching a movie about the conflict between "black" and "white" people after the civil war, or about Americans and Japanese directly after WWII, there is no prejudices against Arabs here.

For the very first time, someone has discovered that Arabs are human beings too. So THANK YOU.


Zohan is a Special Agent from Israel, but his dream is to be a hairdresser. Decided to pursuit his dream, he fakes his death during the pursuit of a rival agent named "Phantom" and goes to America, precisely New York. He has a lot of problems to get a job in a salon, until he is hired to work in the salon of a Palestinian woman named Dalia. Proving to have talent as a stylist and pleasing old ladies with sex, Zohan makes a lot of success, specially among the elder women. He also meets Michael, a guy who eventually becomes his friend and offers Zohan his house to stay for sometime. But Zohan's fame will bring him some problems too, and after he falls in love with Dalia, a big confusion is going to start.

This movie is the worst thing I saw in 2008. It is boring,annoying and I didn't even had the nerves to watch until it ended. It's so Lame!! Why Adam Sandler would make a horrible movie like that is beyond my comprehension,specially because he has a potential to be a much better comedian then that! They tried to copy the Borat formula of a hairy naive foreigner from a middle east country with a strong accent, but they didn't have the same success in doing that.

Nobody should watch this movie, unless they want to suffer for almost 2 hours of boredom and stupidity.


I always have hated Adam Sandler movies although I found this one and Deuce Bigalow rather amusing at times. Part of the problem in "getting" the humor is that movies like "Zohan" and Deuce Bigalow in Amsterdam requires you to have a better than average understanding of the culture it is mocking. If you've ever spent any significant time in Amsterdam you'd find the Deuce flick much funnier as the silly satire it is. Same goes for Zohan - it's 10 times funnier if you've been to Israel at least once and even funnier if you understand Hebrew. You must live in New York and have lived through the 80s to really get all the jokes. This is a total "turn off your brain" movie and has a lot of physical comedy, including some "political thoughts" that, in the end, we're all just people. For those who weren't happy with the obvious, predictable ending, the movie wasn't meant to ruffle feathers. Oddly enough, even my friend who hasn't had any background for this movie thought it was a simple, funny movie. Your call but keep an open mind and don't listen to all the critics here. The fact that the Hulk could be an 8.0 says all you need to know about the ridiculous critics here. Go and enjoy.


I will use a Adam Sandler line to explain how I hated this film. In the same voice and tone as Adam did in Mr Deeds. You sick you sick. How could you? Again, your sick your sick how could? How could you make such a bad film. The movie has crotch style jokes. Sometimes and I say maybe sometimes such a joke is funny the first time, but not a entire movie. Again you sick you sick how could you Adam? The preview shows the few funny parts, and the real joke is on us the viewer spending $9 dollars on Sandlers latest production. Makes the infamous Weekend at Burnies look like the classic Groundhog day or Caddy Shack. I give this film a one. Run do not walk. Run run away fast from this film.


Before I review this film I just want to tell you, I'm not of of those people. Those people that go to movies like this just to write about how stupid they were, I enjoy some silly light hearted movies, I love a good Sandler comedy but this was just plain bad.

I kind of knew Zohan would be bad inside but I still wanted to see it, I loved Little Nicky even though critics trashed that. So I thought Zohan might be quite misunderstood as well. Boy! I was wrong. You Don't Mess With the Zohan was a shoddy and obnoxious attempt at a comedy movie. It is utterly silly and tries to get you with shock factor but ends up being just plain weird.

It gets a four because while it mostly reeks of bad, it still has some good jokes in it, the beginning to film promises a very odd and refreshing new comedy and the first 5 minutes will tickle your spine. But then it just gets odder and odder - to a point where it's almost unwatchable and through this try hard weirdness it still produces some lovable Sandler comedy. And while rear, the occasional joke is very laughable.

The plot seems promising, but totally fails on content. It wanders to far from the plot and ends up to be so silly it's offensive, it's tries to throw random jokes out like Family Guy. It fails miserably and in result is a very messy, unco-ordinated film. Plus it's completely stereotypes Middle Eastern people. It's like the writers didn't get the memo that everyone is now supposed to be equal. And for overseas people watching, it completely reverses America's efforts to appear more open minded and equal.

In summary, Zohan is while occasionally funny, 99% of the time a very messy, silly, outrageous (not in a good way) film. Go see it if you like to laugh at other races and enjoy very brainless toilet humor.


Comedian Adam Sandler's last theatrical release "I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry" served as a loud and proud plea for tolerance of the gay community. The former "Saturday Night Live" funnyman's new movie "You Don't Mess with the Zohan" (*** out of ****) constitutes his plea for tolerance toward Israeli and Palestinian immigrants in America. These unfortunate people are often punished in America for the crimes of their counterparts in the war-ravaged Middle East. Although "Zohan" advocates a lofty cause, Sandler doesn't let his political agenda overshadow his usual crude, below-the-belt, juvenile shenanigans that rely on obscene bodily functions, promiscuous sex, and far-fetched harebrained idiocy. Indeed, the hysterical horseplay that Sandler and company revel in may distract you from the plight of these uprooted, misplaced misfits that had fled to Uncle Sam's shores because they believe America is a Utopia. Interestingly, Sandler plays a Jewish counterterrorist agent of the Mossad, Israel's secret police, with a hopelessly corny accent. Zohan's exploits appear to foreshadow Will Smith's upcoming "Hancock." Zohan is the best Jewish secret agent in the whole wide world. He is literally indestructible. He catches bullets in his nose. He can swim faster than a dolphin, and a razor-toothed piranha fish in his bikini swim trunks amuses him.

Zohan (Adam Sandler) is cooking fish at the beach when his superiors interrupt his vacation and inform him that the dreaded Arab terrorist, the Phantom (John Turturro of "Transformers"), is up to his old tricks again. Naturally, Zohan is furious! Actually, Zohan captured the Phantom three months ago, but the politicians have exchanged the Phantom for political prisoners. Now, Zohan must nab his nemesis again! The Phantom and Zohan tangle in a spectacular fight in the sea and Zohan doesn't survive. In reality, Zohan deliberately fakes his death so that he can immigrate to New York City and realize his life-long dream of cutting hair for Paul Mitchell. Zohan gives himself an obsolete Frankie Avalon haircut, trims his beard, and smuggles himself onto a plane bound for America. If what happens before his flight seems outlandish, once he is on the jet, he spends his time in the cargo hold with two fluffy dogs named "Scrappy" and "Coco." Zohan styles their hair from photos in his Paul Mitchell haircut book.

At first, Zohan has no luck getting a job with Paul Mitchell, much less cutting hair. Zohan defends Michael (Nick Swardson of "Reno 911, The Movie") in a street brawl after a motorist blames Michael for his accident with a delivery truck. A grateful Michael invites Zohan to stay with his mother, Gail (Lainie Kazan of "Dayton's Devils"), and him. Zohan practices cutting Gail's hair when he isn't having in lusty sex with her. Eventually, Zohan gets a job sweeping up hair at a salon owned by Dalia (Emmanuelle Chriqui of "Wrong Turn") who as it turns out is a Palestinian. Indeed, Zohan knows about her heritage but doesn't let it bother him. One day when one of Dalia's hair stylists doesn't show up, Zohan takes advantage of her absence to cut hair. Much to Dalia's surprise, Zohan wins the allegiance of the over sixty crowd. Older woman line up around the block to have him fashion their hair. After each session, Zohan takes each older lady in the back and assuages their sexual appetites.

Meanwhile, a millionaire real estate developer Walbridge (Michael Buffer of "Rocky Balboa") hikes the rent to force Dalia and others like her out of her store to make way for his mall with a roller-coaster. Zohan surprises both Dalia and Walbridge's people and forks over the money for her to pay the rent. An angry Walbridge contacts a white supremacy group to ignite a neighborhood war between the Israelis and Palestinians. This happens about the same time that Zohan falls in love with Dalia. Perennial Sandler cohort Rob Schneider of "Deuce Bigalow" appears as a cretinous Palestinian named Salim who doesn't know the difference between nitroglycerin and Neosporin. He tries to blow up Zohan for an old grudge. It seems Zohan beat Salim up and stole his goat.

"You Don't Mess with the Zohan" qualifies as a surreal comedy. Scenarists Robert Smigel of "Saturday Night Live," Judd Apatow of "The 40-Year Old Virgin," and Sandler himself vigorously ignore the laws of logic in this zany comedy. The movie that most closely resembles "Zohan" is "Little Nicky," because both characters boast supernatural abilities. "You Don't Mess with the Zohan" will keep Adam Sandler fans in stitches.


You Don't Mess With the Zohan, latest Adam Sandler's comedy is a exaggerated and ridiculous movie that you will enjoy. It takes a tough topic like the conflict between Palestine and Israel and makes it an entertaining and laughable movie for the people. The story about A Mossad agent (Sandler) fakes his death so he can re-emerge in New York City as a hair stylist is a little exaggerated and with some repetitive jokes but still very funny to watch. It is the typical Adam Sandler comedy that includes beautiful women, sexual humor and a clumsy but lucky guy that tries to be a different or better person The cast is very good beginning with Adam Sandler that although his performance is a little exaggerated, he manages to make it funny. Rob Schneider as a Palestinian cab driver is very funny. John Turturro as the Phantom is also very good, Emmanuelle Chriqui with a decent performance as a sweet Palestinian girl who owns a beauty saloon and a brief but convincing appearance by Chris Rock as a Jamaican cab driver. In conclusion, a funny movie that you can either go and see it in theaters and spend a good time or you can wait until it comes out on DVD and watch it home.


I usually enjoy a good cheesy comedy, I enjoyed some of Adam Sandler's previous films. But this was missing a key component, it wasn't funny! It was simply terrible.

It's not worth going into much detail, suffice to say none of the jokes (if you can call them jokes) were not funny, the storyline was almost nonexistent the characters were irritating and unlikeable.

It was painful to watch, by the end I was contemplating suicide. What was Sandler thinking? I hope he returns to the form of films such as Happy Gilmore, but after this stinker it's highly unlikely.

It reminded me a lot of the love guru, I can't decide which film was worse. They both had lame characters with awful accents and unintelligible story lines.

This could have been a funny film if they had dropped the PG rating and given it the crudeness that it only hinted at. If you want to have a laugh you'd be better off watching Harold and Kumar Escape Guantanamo Bay, or Semi-Pro. Which are both stupid and cheesy, but deliver on laughs where this film totally misses.


Adam Sandler plays Zohan Dvir, an Israeli counter-terrorism army commando who, after growing tired of the Israel/Palestine conflict, fakes his own death in order to pursue his dream. He wants to become a hairstylist in America.

Like Spielberg's "Munich", the underlying point in "Zohan" is simple. Why can't Middle Easterners, their admitted religious and political differences notwithstanding, just make love, make money, and eat hummus in peace? It's a trite message, but what's complex is the way Sandler and his writers have abstracted the conflict.

Zohan is a Jewish superhero. He's Israel's national perception of itself. He's invincible, strong, and effortlessly kicks Palestinian butt. But Zohan has another side which his country won't let him nurture. He's loving and kind and simply wants to be a hairdresser. "I want to make things silky smooth," he says. He wants to cast off his hyper-masculine national identity and become something else.

The film is filled with sex and hummus (love and sperm), as Zohan moves about, bringing love and joy to others. Zohan wants to escape his superhero counter-terrorist Israeli persona. He wants to go to America and make hair "silky smooth." Of course the other Jews all mock him for this. They call him "feigele" or "homo", mocking his perceived weakness. Only at the end, with his financial and personal success, do his parents accept Zohan. You can be what you want, they say, so long as you're rich and successful at it.

The film gets more complex when Zohan reaches America. Sandler takes the Jewish inferiority complex and plays it against American superiority. Thus, your Jewish superhero is only ever good enough to be a lowly American hairdresser. America, a melting pot of all cultures, assimilates all creeds and races, removes their historical and tribal baggage, and transforms their faith into a belief in consumer culture.

As such, the second half of the film takes place on a New York street in which one half is owned by Jewish shops and the other half is owned by Palestinian shops. Both sides live in harmony, selling to their customers and raking in the cash. There are no conflicts here, no wars, only peaceful trading. The plot of the film buys into the "we're all the same" philosophy so clearly that Zohan's arch nemesis, a Palestinian superhero called The Phantom (John Turturro), has the same dream as Zohan. He wants to open a shoe store. Both superheroes, one Palestinian, one Jewish, have dreams of simply opening a shop and tending to their own business. It's the ultimate capitalist dream: to make money in peace.

In Spielberg's "Munich", we watch Avner revoke his country and turn away from violence. In "Zohan", Sandler's maturation is far more complex. He replaces the childish craziness of the Middle East with the sanity of the United States (USA=diverse mother land of capitalism) and then replaces his adolescent promiscuity with monogamous marriage. Zohan ceases to be a pro-nationalist superman, and becomes the bourgeois, monogamous, hetero businessman. The bland hero of every American dream. He has a house, a car, a wife, and he's happy. America placates needs, removes ethnic tension, and keeps you sufficiently happy until you die of old age.

By the end of the film, it turns out that the real enemy is a business man called Walbridge (Wall Street), who wants to take the land from the Jews and the Palestinians in order to construct a huge shopping mall. Wallbridge gathers a group of uneducated redneck, appeals to their patriotism, bigotry and racism, and gets them to start a war between the Arabs. The film goes further than "Munich", in that it says that racial tension is really a manifestation of class tension, and that Middle Eastern conflicts are really the product of the whiteman's greed.

And so the conflict in New York is not between Arabs and Israelis but between the rich white Walbridge (who wants to pit the racial minorities against one another and claim the real estate as his own) and the working class coalition of hummus-eaters. The Jews and the Palestinians thus form an alliance, defeat Walbridge and his bigot army, and unite to build a mall of their own.

So what we have here are Jews and Palestinians holding hands and creating their own American dream, their own Eden, without America. They build their own mall, in which each can live out their own flavour of the bland American dream. Malls are good, capitalism works when it's personal, religious and racial differences are illusory or superficial, blanket bigotry is the province of greedy white men, and heterosexuality and monogamous marriage is a natural part of growing up.

"Don't Mess with the Zohan" isn't as funny as Sandler's best movies ("Wedding Singer", "Happy Gilmore", "50 First Dates" etc), but it's an honest film which at least tries to delve into its issues. By placing the Palestinian conflict in socio-economic context, "Zohan" is actually far more complex than Spielberg's "Munich", which was far too frightened to say anything.

6/10 - This is your typical Adam Sandler comedy, albeit with clever subtext. Zohan's dream is to reverse the Zionist transformation of the effeminate European scholar into the macho soldier of God. The film would have worked better as a satire than a straight up comedy, but Adam Sandler is too lowbrow to do such things. The other problem with all these Middle East movies, are that they're all made by rich white Jews. Aside from John Turturro, all the major Palestinians are played by Jewish actors.


Look, I'm not one of those snobby cinema elitists who scoffs and upturns their nose at every Adam Sandler film that comes out. "Happy Gilmore" is one of my all-time favourite "guilty pleasures" and he's done a lot of entertaining films that aren't by any means thought-provoking or life-altering but, for all practical purposes, are fun to watch. Paul Thomas Anderson was quoted as having said the only reason he cast Sandler in "Punch-Drunk Love" was due to the fact that he was a huge fan of Sandler's comedies, which he enjoyed viewing because they always put him in a good mood. I think this is about the best description of his work that you'll find, and pinpoints my own feelings.

But once in a while Sandler will make a real turkey, and "You Don't Mess with the Zohan" is one of the worst. Ranking alongside "Anger Management" and "Little Nicky," Zohan -- the character -- offers little to like or enjoy, and "Zohan" -- the movie -- is even worse. Sandler's character in "The Waterboy" was annoying but the film was still funny if you're in the right mood. "Zohan's" problem is that it has an unlikeable character put in very unfunny predicaments, and relies on truly lame social/cultural jokes. Sometimes these type of stereotypical jabs can be passable in the same way the crudeness of "Happy Gilmore" is somewhat endearing, but "Zohan" offers them in such a direct and unpleasant manner that you're really just left straining to *try* to laugh at most of this stuff. Jewish people are hairy and talk funny? Americans don't know the difference between Saudi Arabia and Iraq? People in the Middle East dress like it's still 1989? This is essentially the whole film's joke, rehashed over...and over...and over again.

Zohan is not a strong character for Sandler. He's gimmicky, just like Little Nicky, but rather than feeling strongly one way or another about him -- I just felt indifferent. He's not funny, which is a crucial hindrance to a film proclaiming itself as a comedy.

The movie is just very inept. I was surprised to find Dennis Dugan had directed it, because he's usually one of Sandler's better collaborators; yet this film is totally amateurish and incomprehensible. There's no real plot, and John Turturro is thanklessly wasted as a scenery-chomping villain. Emmanuelle Chriqui is beautiful but ultimately she's another in Sandler's long line of underwritten romantic interests. These characters are more excusable in his better comedies like "Gilmore" because we know the romance is unrealistic to begin with and is only there to fit a mold, but Chriqui is so earnest in her performance and displays so much promise that you are left *wanting* her to have a better script to work with. Sandler should embrace the concept of stronger romantic leads in his films, because I think it would vastly improve the storyline. Since "Zohan" is so lazy in its story and its romantic subplot is tacked-on and pointless, the other flaws of the film -- primarily the lack of funny material -- become far clearer.

Speaking of weak material: Adam Sandler and Mike Myers seem to have recently both arrived at the conclusion that penis and sex jokes can sustain an entire comedy. They can't. The first time we see Sandler naked, it's a forced chuckle. When he has sex with a friend's mother to thank her for dinner and hospitality, it's a lame attempt at Borat-style cultural comedy. When Zohan begins cutting elderly women's hair in blatantly sexual manners and takes them all into the back office of a hair salon one-by-one for a sex montage of sorts, you just want to throw up a bit. I'm shocked that Sandler actually thought this material was funny. If he was going for "gross-out" laughter, then he fails on all levels. It's not funny, it's not gross, it's just *stupid* and off-putting.

This movie is ultimately just disappointing because of how dull it is and how hard it tries -- or perhaps doesn't try -- in its effort to make teenagers laugh. The only thing I ever really look for in a typical Adam Sandler comedy is a fair amount of silly throw-away gags, raunchy or not. But "Zohan" can't even deliver on this -- its only real purpose. Hopefully Sandler and Myers will both grow out of this awkward sex-jokes-only phase of their careers. The underperforming box office results of both "Zohan" and "The Love Guru" may help them realize this sooner rather than later.


An indestructible seemingly-super human Israili agent (Adam Sandler) fakes his own death at the hands of an equally indestructible seemingly-super human Palestinian agent (John Turturro) in order to go to America to become a hairdresser and make everyone 'silky smooth'. The only job he can find is in a Palestinian hair salon which is being threatened by evil American businessman, Walbridge (Michael Buffer) who wants it (along with the rest of the neighborhood) out of the way to make room for a mega-shopping center.

Firstly, congratulations MUST go to Dennis Dugan who has made not only one of the worst films of 2008 with this lame, unfunny and tedious bit of cheesy fluff, but has been making one of the worst movies of the years 2006 (The Benchwarmers) & 2007 (I Now Pronounce You Chuck & Larry). Back to the movie at hand, I found the 'film' to be overly long, tedious to watch and jaw-droppingly unfunny and like most films of this ilk way too infatuated in cramming as many nonsense cameos into the flick as possible. The story is embarrassingly bad and moronic. You don't watch the Zohan.

My Grade: D-


I never thought the time would come when Adam Sandler would no longer be funny. Unfortunately, this happened in this movie. I was very eager to see this film when I saw the trailer, but damn I was wrong about it. The beginning of the movie was filled with stereotypical lame jokes about Jews that were really offensive and already narrow minded American people will think that every one in Israel is like that. I know it's a comedy, but still, you have to draw the line somewhere. The so called martial arts and special effects done in "Shaolin Soccer" style were very poor and not funny. The plot is the same like in 1000 of others action comedies, but this one is told with in a hairdresser style. The accents were awful, the acting...Oh the acting...Oh my god, what the hell happened to Adam Sandler? What happened to the rage filled cool actor? It all went to hell with this movie. Thank you Dugan for ruining a comedy idol...


I have to wonder what goes through people's minds when they put up money to have drivel like this made. Adam Sandler has made some funny films - Anger Management to name one. But this... this appalling excuse for humour beggars belief. I can only imagine they thought they'd cash in on Borat's success but missed the plot completely. What's even more surprising is some of the people who are in it..! Did they read the script?? In short, I think you need to be on something (and something strong) to find this garbage even remotely funny. About as bad as it gets. I'll certainly be thinking twice before approaching another Sandler film. Avoid.


If this is not the least funny film ever made, then that honour must go to a title I haven't seen. This film really does plumb new depths. It's about as funny as watching an unpleasant eight year old child impersonate a spastic. So, what's it about? Zohan is a rock hard Isreali soldier who is sick of it all and just wants to cut hair. So, after chasing the imaginatively named 'Phantom' out to sea by hilariously out-pacing a jet ski whilst swimming butterfly, Zohan fakes his own death in the most excruciatingly unfunny comedy fight ever conceived. "A-ha watch me put this fish on my face, I am harder than you!", "A-ha, no you aren't, I can put a fish down my trunks to nibble at my huge bulging Zohan-penis". Freed of the pressure to single-handedly save Israel, Zohan sets off to America to pursue his dream, falls in love with a hairdresser from the "Palestinian side" of the street and brings peace to the middle-east, or something. If you haven't seen this film then for goodness sake don't - however bad you've heard this film is cannot possibly prepare you for the awfulness which has to be seen to be believed, but is much better left unseen.


...lord have mercy!!! This could just be the worst movie I have ever seen. 80 minutes of my life down the drain. Yes, 80 minutes, I left before the damn thing ended, I had to. Worn out sex jokes, crappy plot (an Israeli secret service agent goes to USA to become a hairdresser ?!?), to put it in one word - S*!T! I love Adam Sandler, but this is too much, I can't understand how he agreed to do this garbage in the first place. I didn't expect much from this movie, but on the other hand I didn't expect this little either. Yes, this IS the worst movie I have ever seen. EVER. And I have a feeling it will remain the worst. Mr. Dugan, Uwe Boll is an amateur compared to you...


Name everything that's bad about recent comedies: the pointless gross-out humour, the gratuitous celebrity cameos, the wafer-thin plot, the fat/ugly jokes, the punchline-less jokes that consist of nothing but a reference to ephemeral American popular culture. Pretty good, but there's something missing - that one missing ingredient in this boiling pot of cinematic calamity.

And in Zohan, Adam Sandler appears to have found that one component required for this perfect storm of bad movie-making to occur - racist jokes. The vast majority of "jokes" in Zohan consist of little more than "Jews are penny-pinching cheats" or "Arabs are poor, stupid goat herders". What little characterisation anyone who is not Adam Sandler gets is either "hummus-eating weirdo" (Israeli) or "angry cab-driving terrorist" (Palestinian).

The plot is abandoned relatively fast in favour of Zohan having sex with lots of old ladies, and a nonsensical climax involving Mariah Carey shamelessly plugging her album. Don't say you weren't warned.


Rockstar Games along with Rockstar North and Rockstar Leeds present Grand Theft Auto Liberty City Stories. Yes, this was the setting for the classic GTA3. Now, there has been a lot of confusion that this is just like GTA3. Well, whoever says that, they're wrong. This game has a completely new storyline and characters. And new side missions, like going to Capital Autos in Harwood to sell cars or taking pictures of people at famous Liberty sites before their flights. A new addition is Muitiplayer! Yes, several multi-player games are now ready for those eager PSP owners, like The Wedding List and Liberty City Surviver. Overall, this game is a 10 out of 10. Everybody loves Liberty City. Congrats to Rockstar for such a great game.

EDIT: Grand Theft Auto Liberty City Stories is now out for the Playstation 2.


In my heart i feel that this game did not get the press it deserved. It was just as brilliant as all of the other "Grand Theft Auto" Games. So if you're looking for a little fun on the run, pick of a copy of this Game for the Sony PSP. There's nothing more satisfying then having "Grand Theft Auto" at you're side. A true Fan of the "Grand Theft Auto" series will know that this is the real deal. Nothing is left out. What you get with the "Grand Theft Auto" Games on the PlayStation 2 Console , is what you get with the PSP. The action delivers, and this Game is nothing short of spectacular. It is a wonderful masterpiece on a hand-held. A world within a world. And i am truly impressed with RockStar Games, for pulling this off. And if you own a PSP, i would strongly recommend that you buy this title. And even if you don't own a PSP, this is the most single reason without a doubt that you should go out and pick one up. This Game alone is wroth it, i guarantee it. Enjoy.


This is the basic western of man meets girl, looses girl.

The cast is second to none. Mini Series on TV Sam Elliott plays Hugh Cardiff an ex-Buffalo hunter. With his shooting skills he starts the following the shooting competitions.

At the shooting competitions he meets Ben Johnson and Timothy Scott, the 3 become good friends.

The threesome get into trouble and help each other out.

For a historical flare, the threesome even meet Wild Bill Hickok and go into business together.

While long for a movie, if you like to just sit down and watch one for a couple/three nights this one is a great one.


Originally a 1980 TV Mini Series, this movie is the series turned into a 3 hour video. At least that is what this VHS tape appears to be that I picked up at a local church rummage sale. I somehow missed this show when it was on TV, but I was happy I found it as many of the themes are reminiscent of Louis L'Amour stories. I don't write many commentaries but you will find mine tend to go more into the stories of the actors in the movies than the movie itself (although some of that too). Therefore please excuse the history nut in me. This movie has so many top stars it is truly amazing. So who else for the lead but Sam Elliott, star of a number of Louis L'Amour stories turned to movies like The Sacketts and Conagher (in which he starred with wife Katharine Ross. They met on the set of Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, where Elliott had a bit part but Katharine took a shine to him and they are still married. That speaks well of them as real people in plastic Hollywood). Sam Elliott almost always plays the tough, wiry part and does it well. He was great in Gettysburg as Cavalry General John Buford. I like the fact that the Wild West Show that becomes part of this story first takes place in the changing West, to keep it a western and not have them running around in the East playing at being westerners. Penny Peyser is his love interest and I remembered that cute face from somewhere else, she was in a number of movies, but I remembered her from The Blue & The Gray where she played a daughter in the central family. For some reason she apparently didn't get much more movie work, but she deserved more as she plays her parts well. Bruce Boxleitner was the bad guy in this and he played it excellently but I like him better as a good guy. Just shows his good acting ability to play either well. He is married to Little House on the Prairie Laura star, Melissa Gilbert (another favorite actress of mine and I was happy to see the two get together). You may remember Boxleitner in some of the Gambler movies with Kenny Rogers, General Longstreet in Gods and Generals and in Babylon 5. Ah and now to one of my favorites from way back, Ben Johnson. I remember him in the old John Wayne movies where he and Harry Carey Jr. (in this movie too) would ride like real cowboys - that's because they were the real thing. Ben Johnson first arrived at Hollywood by bringing in some horses for Howard Hughes and decided to stay and watch. He was a real cow hand and would one day win the World Champion Steer Roper later. He played stand-in for John Wayne, Gary Cooper and James Stewart. John Ford gave him his start but then they had a falling out and Johnson didn't work for him for years. As a testament to Ben Johnson, in The Last Picture Show, producers wanted him so badly that they agreed to let him take out the curse words from his part as they offended him. Well he showed them what is right and won an Academy Award for that part, so Hollywood take note of the garbage you often put out as entertainment today. Dennis Hopper played Doc Holliday in this and I don't know why they bothered as it was just a couple minute cameo part where he went up against Elliott. An old timer who was a great actor was Cameron Mitchell who was on the TV show High Chaparral. He was a head hand on the Tyree ranch. I mentioned Harry Carey, Jr. who was in this and as always, a great actor and real person. Did you know that during WWII he was assigned to the O.S.S. and worked under John Ford, that he spoke Navaho and grew up on a cattle ranch? Do you remember him in Disney's Spin and Marty show? Then there is the fellow who played the foreman for Boxleitner, Buck Taylor. What a family history with this man. A good actor who played the blacksmith and sometimes deputy on Gunsmoke as Newly O'Brien. He is the son of Dub Taylor. Don't remember the name? Well you would know the face as he was in so many supporting roles. He played many parts including the father of Michael Pollard in Bonnie & Clyde. Buck is the father-in-law of actress Anne Lockhart from Battlestar Gallatica and her mother is June Lockhart from Lassie and Lost In Space and Anne's grandfather is the famous actor Gene Lockhart. The history in this family boggles the mind. By the way, I met Anne Lockhart and shook hands one time back in the early 90's and she is still just as lovely and ladylike as ever. There are so many good actors in the movie that I have to stop but first, let me mention Pat Hingle, another great actor. Did you know he was the Commissioner in two of the Batman movies? He stars in an Amish movie from about the 1970s too. Follow Sam Elliott and company through cow punching, sharp shooting, tall tale telling, Indian fighting, Indian friendships, bad guy fighting, fist fights and shooting, love interests, friendship, buffalo hunting, and Wild West Show. If you like westerns, especially ones that have parts that remind you of Louis L'Amour tales, and if you like top level acting, then this is a show you want to see.


Sorry all, but even though I overall LOVED the movie the author MISSED on the history. The "Famous Face on the Barroom Floor" was not painted on the floor of the Teller House of Central City Colorado until 1936. Movie stated that competing at the shooting contest was Billy Dixon who died in 1913. How could Billy have possibly been at the contest after he was dead?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Face_on_the_Barroom_Floor_(painting)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Billy_Dixon

8 out of 10 for the overall feel of the movie, 2 out of 10 for the history inaccuracy.

A simple average of the above scores would lead to a 50% or 5 of a possible 10. A simple average, though does not explain the high level of overall enjoyment from the work of fiction. The wife properly explained it as a historical romance novel which misses on some accounts.

Watch it and enjoy it, but first turn off a portion of your mind.


It would make more sense to view this story as a TV mini-series the way it was originally produced than to do as I did, and catch it all in one sitting on Encore Westerns. For one, the picture is ponderously long at three and a half plus hours, and you have to be patient with the abrupt scene changes that were designed around commercial breaks and new chapters. Particularly frustrating was a seven year time lapse that reunites Hugh Cardiff (Sam Elliott) and Libby Tyree (Penny Peyser); Libby had gotten married to the adopted Tyree son (Bruce Boxleitner) off screen, and it just springs up on you with no advance warning. Cardiff had promised to return in a year's time, but didn't, and one's only indication that time was passing by was the sudden aging of Sam Elliott's character.

The interesting part about the story has to do with the way Cardiff manufactures a persona for himself and friend Caleb Rice (Timothy Scott) based on frontier exploits that are entirely made up. They capture the imagination of pulp fiction writer Bob Halburton (Pat Hingle), and based on the success of his newspaper's accounts, the boys find themselves headlining Wild Bill Hickok's Wild West show. Besides Hickok, portrayed by L.Q. Jones, the other historical figure to make an appearance was Doc Holliday, courtesy of Dennis Hopper. Neither character had much to do with the story, particularly Holliday, who was on camera just about long enough to be out-gunned by Cardiff in a not very satisfying showdown.

The finale itself also turned out to be fairy anti-climactic. You know the love triangle had to be resolved, but there didn't seem to be the tension one expects of an inevitable showdown. With Cardiff's gun skills at the center of the story, it didn't take too much to figure out who would come out on top, and once again, it's all over in pretty much a flash.

With only a few comments posted on this forum regarding the picture, I can see I'm in the minority, but I just didn't find this Western to be that rewarding. It's not terrible, but not exciting enough to score a recommendation. Maybe in the original format it might have made a stronger statement, but if you're on the fence about catching it, it wouldn't hurt to let it pass.