Nightmares is a strange bird of a horror anthology. First of all, it was made in the wrong decade. Not many of these came out when Nightmares did. Then, it decided not to have a horror host or framing story. You barely even get a title card. It was released by Universal; many anthologies came from smaller studios like Amicus. But then, it suffers from some of the curses the horror anthologies always have. Extreme shifts in quality from story to story and some of the segments feel like they were rushed. Others…go on forever and you are way ahead of them.
This one has a double whammy: the movie was put together off the cutting room floor. Remember when I reviewed the short lived horror anthology TV SeriesDarkroom? Well, when it went down in flame, they had some scripts that were deemed “too intense” for television. (Frankly, I think this movie would be rated PG these days.)
All I wanted was a smoke! Instead, I’m smokin’ hot.
The first segment, Terror in Topenga, is an urban legend come to life. Greatly enhanced by a subplot regarding the evils of cigarette smoking and an appearance by William Sanderson, of Newhart’s Larry of Larry, Daryl and Daryl. You have everything here: a vice that needs fixing, an escaped mental patient complete with hyper radio newscasts, and a gas station at night. It is an efficient little piece and probably my favorite of the batch.
Greetings, Earthling. I am the Bishop of Battle, master of all I survey. I have 13 progressively harder levels. Try me if you dare.
The second segment is the Bishop of Battle starring a very young Emilio Estevez. Emilio was probably figuring out his character for Repo Man which would be released the very next year, and he plays his part to perfection. Fun fact: James Tolkan (the principal in Back to the Future) does the voice of video game Bishop of Battle. You will see the end coming from a mile away, but the nostalgic look at a mid-80’s mall and its arcade makes it even more fun. Worth seeking out this segment.
He’s hooked. He’s hooked. His brain is cooked.
Two winners in a row, but then we get The Benediction. Despite having the always wonderful Lance Henriksen in the lead of the segment, this is the stinker of the bunch. They try to build a backstory, but it is not much fun, and the plot is a warmed over version of Duel that just is so lame in comparison to the Stephen Spielberg classic. It’s not bad, per se, but a step down from the first two segments.
Well, I think I’m going to throw out that bedspread.
Batting clean up is Night of the Rat with Alien’s Veronika Cartwright and The Thing’s Richard Masur in the dual lead. Pretty pedestrian man vs. rat battle for the house story shows one control freak that sometimes you need to just let go. It is also a disappointment despite strong lead performances.
I’d recommend to give this one a try with one of your friends that likes their horror a little lighter and not too worried if they are ahead of the plot twists by a good lap or two.
Dan Aykroyd was on the rise. He had left SNL four years earlier. John Belushi and he started the Blues Brothers band that also fronted one of the most expensive comedy films ever made. In his future, Ghostbusters was about to be a huge, international hit that spawned a franchise and dominated pop culture in the mid Eighties.
This was before the big turn that Nothing but Trouble would represent in his career. When he would lose the faith of his fans and slowly drift off into the distance.
Doctor Detroit was one of those movies that developed independently of some similarly themed films of the time. I call them the unofficial trilogy of “the wrong pimp” films. Risky Business and Night Shift were the other two. Risky Business launched Tom Cruise to superstardom. Night Shift launched Michael Keaton as a comic actor that would headline some of the 80’s biggest hits (Gung Ho, Mr. Mom) prior to his dramatic turn playing a particular superhero.
Of the trilogy, Doctor Detroit is definitely the least of the films despite the lead of Dan Aykroyd. All three feature the “prostitute with the heart of gold” stock character. All three feature a bigger, badder crime boss threatening the “wrong pimp.”
But of the three, Doctor Detroit is the one that had an actual comedy superstar in the lead. It had tried and true screenwriters, one of which was Carl Gottlieb, the fabled comedy writer that helped script doctor Jawsinto one of the greatest blockbusters of all time.
The film’s titular character just wasn’t funny enough. The character Aykroyd created here was more of a cartoony Saturday morning villain variety in the middle of a tits and ass raunchy comedy featuring prostitutes. They just didn’t add up.
Outside of the character itself, all the other performances were good or even great with T. K. Carter, Howard Hessman, and Donna Dixon (who met Aykroyd on this film and later married) turning in some of their best work. Fran Drescher hadn’t found “that voice” yet, but she came off well in here to. Even a cameo by James Brown, that should have felt shoehorned in or as calling in a favor, came off natural in the development of the story.
So, this isn’t a terrible film and there is come comedy to be found here…it just isn’t where I think they had hoped it was.
The movie is free with commercials on Peacock right now.
In 1977, every other film was not a remake. Certainly a gender swap remake was really out-of-the-box thinking at the time. It may have been a progressive approach, but the movie suffers from a rushed approach to the story. It feels like you are watching It’s a Wonderful Life on the 2x speed on your DVD player. Trying to get the detailed story completed in 2 hours with commercial breaks is a challenge.
Adding to the challenge is that the original is so very, very well known that watching it is really an exercise in comparison. How can you compare, though, to what are probably the career defining performances of every performer in the film.
This was a promo shot for TV Guide in the 70’s. You didn’t need this caption to know that.
Marlo Thomasis no Jimmy Stewart, and Wayne Rogers is no Donna Reed. Now, if you didn’t already know that, I’d be surprised, but it is the truth. It’s just hard to explain how weird watching the film is. Adding to the oddness is the breathy readings of the awkwardly reconstructed script by Marlo Thomas. Every moment they attempt to shorten, to take away a moment to push, shove the story forward in a quicker, lazier way.
Strangely, some parts of the George Bailey story needs to be done by a male at the time periods they depict, so parts of his story is split between Mary and George…back and forth, basically giving Marlo Thomas the best parts of both roles. Again, whenever they are building toward telling the story and letting the moment breathe, the limited run time makes them forge forward with higher velocity…losing any chances at letting the film stand on its own. It’s almost as if the filmmakers, knowing they didn’t have enough time to put together a standalone film, relied on the audience’s knowledge of the original film to skip over sections at a time.
I admit, often, that my favorite film of all time is Jaws, but my favorite character of all time is George Bailey. This is an empty shell of that character. This is a character built on moments and a wonderful throughline of charm. We don’t get that here.
Now, Orson Welles as Potter sounds like a match made in heaven. Potter is one of the great screen villains ever put to screen. Potter, as originally played by Lionel Barrymore (yes, Drew Barrymore’s great uncle) was the embodiment of greed and cantankerous curmudgeon crankiness. His sing-song delivery helped make him one of the more creepy Hays Code era criminals on celluloid. (He got away with stealing the $8,000 in the original.) Welles has the chops, obviously, but it feels like an impersonation. Welles knew Barrymore as a young man with Barrymore playing Scrooge on his radio program’s annual “Christmas Carol” productions. In the original film, his evil, generally, was shown as taking advantage of bad situations. In this movie, he’s more like the Godfather…pulling all the strings and making things happen. (Spoiler here: In the original, Potter is handed the key funds in Uncle Billy’s excitement. In this one, Potter actually grabs the money as he absent-mindedly places the money on the table. Potter didn’t know the cash was in there at the moment…but still, he grabbed it.
Orson Welles always commands a presence. And presents. And by that, I mean a big pay check.
While this speedy rendition of the tale is remarkably true to the original with the exception of the aforementioned pacing, gender switch and pitiful television budget that makes the entirety of Bedford Falls feel more claustrophobic than in the original. With all that staying true to the original, all the dialogue appears original, removing even some of the most beloved dialogue. In doing so, again, more of the charm of the original is spilled out on the ground never to be captured.
An odd choice was to get an extremely British-accented woman in the “Clarence” (we’ll just say “Clara”) role. This is one of the most American of films. Oddly, the owner of that accent is American actress Cloris Leachman. Leachman is one of the best comedy actresses of the period and she is wasted in the role. While many of the performers in the film either had their best work ahead of them or in the rearview mirror, Leachman was at the peak of her powers at the time and somehow landed in this film after making Young Frankenstein only three years previously.
In the late 70’s, television extravaganzas were fairly commonplace resulting in cast stuffing with every role by a “name actor”…typically an actor no longer in favor in Hollywood. This tendency led to phenomena such as The Love Boat and Fantasy Island and ushered in the golden age of miniseries. In fact, Orson Welles was the narrator of the ultimate miniseries, Shogun, during this very period. Fans of the Bill Murray Christmas film, Scrooged, would recognize the format from their amped up Christmas Carol television production within the film. This film seems to have been caught in that trend of the time, and I’m not at all sure that benefits the film.
Oddly, one of the things that works against the film the most is the drabby set design and poor color in the production. The original black and white film is more colorful in your mind than this was in the actual film stock. The entire production looks shabby and gritty, much like the filming of the TV show The Waltons from the same period.
I remember seeing this ad in the TV Guide!
Another ill advised decision was to split the story exactly in two. Our angel arrives at precisely the halfway point of the film, giving it a lot less joy and a lot more of dark, unhappy parts of the story without Bailey. When you have too much Good Friday and not enough Easter Sunday on a story like this, you wonder why the entire town was praying for her in the opening frames of the movie. It just doesn’t make sense. It gets remarkably dark and I just don’t think that serves the movie well here.
Ultimately, the film is squarely on the shoulders of Thomas and while she is game and asked to do the impossible here. I think she does best in the scenes when Bailey is most frustrated and losing her composure. I can’t help but wonder if that wasn’t how she felt during the production of the film. It had to be insurmountable to compare to Frank Capra’s signature film with a cast of has-beens of the small and big screen on a miniscule budget with a script that smelled of a Xerox machine (with the exception of the dialogue) and a sped up stopwatch.
Film fans will see this as a fascinating experiment. To the rest of us or people unfamiliar with the original, it will only be seen as an average Christmas film that is devoid of the saccharin and sugar piled on in deep helpings by the Hallmarks of the world.
When lazy Bing Crosby decides to leave show business for the easy life of running a Connecticut farm, things take a left turn when he decides that’s even more work. His solution is to open a special supper nightclub open only 15 days a year: on holidays.
Some of you might question if this is truly an Universal film. Well, sort of. Paramount original produced the film, but they sold it to MCA/Universal for television distribution…so it counts. So there.
This musical benefits from one of the best selections of musical tunes ever assembled for a movie musical. Irving Berlin was on fire when he put together these films. While today it seems like tame stuff, it really popped at the time and the catchy melodies and rhythms are sure to intoxicate even the most sober viewer.
In short, I think this movie is pure magic.
Cheesecake Bing caught disrobing
Now, let’s dispense with the unpleasantness. The song “Abraham” does include performers in blackface and the character of “Mamie” is a stereotype commonly presented at the time. Minstrel shows were slowly dying out at this time, but still greatly influenced entertainment in Irving Berlin’s era. “Mamie” characters with all their politically incorrect costumes ala Aunt Jemima certainly can trigger feelings today, but let’s face it. Hollywood musicals didn’t have many realistic characters to begin with. These scenes are unfortunate, but if one can look past them, a wondrous musical entertainment shall unfold before you.
What people always remember about the film is the fantastic rendition of White Christmas at the fireplace in the open act of the film. What people tend to forget is the wonderfully comic performance Fred Astaire, possibly the best performance of his career.
This is the White Christmas you only dream of
This is a lighter performance from Bing Crosby than his other great Christmas film, Going My Way. (I’ll get to that other film in a minute.) Though Bing barely sings in Going My Way, it has a much stronger emotional punch than his other two Christmas films. If you haven’t had the opportunity to see his less seen film, I urge you to give it a look.
As for White Christmas, many prefer that film due to…well, frankly it is in color and not black and white. I always point to this, Danny Kaye is not Fred Astaire and was actually the third pick for the role (Fred Astaire and Donald O’Connor were looked at first. Astaire passed and O’Connor was injured.) Many state that White Christmas avoids the racism of Holiday Inn, but I rebutt this notion. While “Abraham” is done in black face, the song itself solemnly celebrates Abraham Lincoln’s presidency. In White Christmas, they have a sequence that is NOT in black face, but outwardly embraces minstrel musical tradition. So now, they are celebrating this racist art form but they didn’t dress up exactly, so they get a pass? I don’t know. I think you have to take each as an entertainment reflecting the Hollywood standards during its production.
A love triangle is in the center of Holiday Inn
Songs like “Easter Parade” and “White Christmas” have certainly entered the great American songbook. Each tune is readily heard on the holiday they were meant to represent. Oddly, the makers of the film thought the more forgettable “Be Careful, It’s My Heart” was going to be the hit. What were they thinking?
Sing it or Bing it!
Many of the tunes had memorable themes beyond the holiday…the staging themselves had “hooks.” We all remember the fireplace for “White Christmas,” but viewers of the film will also remember moments like Fred Astaire and Marjorie Reynolds jumping through a paper heart on Valentine’s Day, the aforementioned blackface sketch for Lincoln’s Birthday, the minuet played for Washington’s Birthday breaks into a jazz number every time Fred tries to plant a smooch on Marjorie, a drunken New Years tap number (that was apparently the seventh take with Fred doing shots between each take…he lit up the screen and was lit all in one), and my personal favorite: the Fourth of July fireworks dance. Originally, Labor Day was to get a tune, which was cut, when they added a patriotic number….much in the public’s thoughts after the attack on Pearl Harbor that preceded the release of the film and happened during production.
So settle into your comfy PJs. Stoke up the fireplace. Put your feet up. Enjoy one of the great entertainments produced in the 20th century.
Emelia Clark is probably best known by audiences as the Dragon Queen on Game of Thrones. It might seem odd to place her in the lead of a romantic comedy set at Christmas to some, but Last Christmas isn’t your average Christmas movie and Emelia Clark isn’t your average young actress. Anyone seeing her personal appearances know she is NOTHING like her GOT character, yet this character she plays here is far bleaker than one would expect in a holiday based romp.
If this wasn’t a studio set, this would be chilly.
Last Christmas was helmed by Bridesmaidsand Ghostbusters (2016) director, Paul Feig, who really didn’t want to take the position based on a past Christmas based failure on his resume (Unaccompanied Minors). He was directing from a script by Emma Thompson, who cowrote with her husband over the course of many years, and is a literal translation of the famous Wham! song. Wham! songs pepper the soundtrack throughout, so don’t worry about them just playing the one song over and over…like every mall in the country is playing this time of year.
Emilia Clarke as Kate in “Last Christmas,” directed by Paul Feig.
In front of the lens, Henry Golding from Crazy, Rich Asians feels much more at home in a rom-com. Also playing parts was movie scribe Emma Thompson and Michelle Yeoh in a role as a “crazy” boss. Crazy, because she doesn’t fire Emelia’s character within the first five minutes of the movie.
Watching the last season of Game of Thrones is a sobering experience.
Emelia’s character had a disease (I won’t spoil any of this, since I heard the trailer does and I’m glad I didn’t see it) and she has been a mess since beating it. She’s drinking too much. She’s always late. And her legs just won’t stay together.
If that dragon comes down here, I got you.
This is what I mean about steering clear of Christmas conventions. Her character is a mess…more on the street with Nightmare Alley than Miracle on 34th Street. Frankly, if it was shot in black and white, it resembles a film noir more than any Christmas movie ever should. It is also light on the mirth. It’s just a little cold and aloof…much like the characters Emma Thompson typically plays.This all leads to either a shocking reveal or a ridiculous plot twist in the final 30 minutes of the film that either makes or breaks the movie for many. I liked it and it brought out a sweetness in the performance that had been missing during the early going of the film. It’s worth catching Last Christmas this Christmas but expect, at least a little, heartbreak. It could have been something special.
What on EARTH took me so long to see this movie? A lot of the movies I review here are revisits of old friends or titles I have wanted to see and this was an excuse. Uncle Buck, the beginning of a three picture deal with Universal for John Hughes, isn’t either. Uncle Buck was one of those films that always popped up on TBS about halfway through. I knew I would like the film. I loved John Candy since I first encountered him on SCTV and I think John Hughes wrote some of my favorite movie screenplays from the mighty, mighty 80’s.
So why hadn’t I sought this out earlier? BECAUSE it was always on, but I never caught it when it started. I just never circled back.
Until now.
This movie is an interesting mix. Nestled between John Candy’s greatest ever performance in Planes, Trains and Automobiles and Macaulay Culkin’s best movie Home Alone, it does in fact feel a little like a bridge. It really wasn’t in either destination, but satisfyingly between both.
Where are you looking, Buck? She’s a teenager!
The set up is a riff on the “Mr. Mom” motif that has been mined for comedy gold forever. Some guy that has no experience or skill taking care of some unruly and difficult children. In this one, though, they dispose of the usual macho “I can take care of this, no problem” schtick and really shows a guy that is having a problem putting together his own life getting thrown into the middle of this type of experience.
Particularly wonderful in the film is the first film appearance of Jean Louisa Kelly. I always marvel at how well Hughes could write young female characters. I think everyone knew a girl like her in high school, just looking to lash out and didn’t mind whoever was crushed in her wake. Her relationship with Buck was both heartbreaking and heartwarming…depending on where you are in the film.
Scariest job interview ever.
As a confirmed bachelor, John Candy got this character down well as well. While I like to think Buck is a tad more broken than I am, I know some of the loneliness and inner turmoil that Candy seems oddly suited to portraying. While this performance doesn’t stack up quite as well to Del Griffith in Planes, Trains and Automobiles, it is truly wonderful.
Of particular note is how Buck uses his secret weapon to keep his young flock in check: paralyzing them with embarrassment. Always more effective than a beating or screaming, it was funny to see his mastery of the technique with such ease.
Some of the quick moments, like the scene of Culkin’s questions of Buck and a scene with Buck sitting next to an elementary student outside the principal’s office were some of the best. A surprise appearance by the answering machine our family had in the 80’s made for a great nostalgic rush as well.
As great as this movie is, it is fairly dark for a “family” film with a possible off screen date rape and kicking it off with a 2 am phone call about a father having suffered a heart attack, but it does shine through with good old human connections that make you choke up with joy.
Comedy and horror can be tricky. Comedy has to hit you as a surprise. Horror is often the result of surprise. Typically comedies and horror films have difficulty “holding up” over the years. Taste in comedy and horror is typically a contemporary affair and adapts to the times that surround it.
So how, oh, how has Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein held up after all these years?
The real Monster Squad assembles!
Was it the cast? This is one of the few appearances of Bela Lugosi as Dracula for Universal (he was often passed over for various reasons) despite being the iconic figure for the character. The incredible Lon Chaney Jr. is here as the classic Larry Talbot Wolf Man. Even Glenn Strange does an admirable job in the boots that Boris Karloff first made famous as Frankenstein.
Yes, Bela really is holding his cape up like that. And here you thought that was just a trope.
It is the comedy? Bud Abbott and Lou Costello typically recreated old vaudeville routines on the screen, but this movie is lighter than air. No set routines, but plenty of the wheezy fear takes of Costello shouting for “Chick!” to point at something that inevitably went away by the time Abbott returns.
Lon Chaney juggles his roles as Talbot and the Wolf Man with his usual expertise.
Is it the horror elements? I remember as a child being mesmerized by the classic transformation of the Wolf Man with Jack Pierce’s iconic makeup design. I was also impressed with the transformation of Dracula into a bat animated by Woody Woodpecker creator Walter Lantz. The hypnotic scenes of Dracula with his victims are chilling and the destructive feats of strength by Frankenstein are thrilling.
Sleepwalking monsters are always a favorite
Is it nostalgia? Perhaps. Certainly references to the Lucky Strike ad campaign (So round. So firm. So fully packed.) are not landing as jokes in 2020 as they did in mid-century America. But there is something disarming with the mix of wordplay, slapstick bumbling and a straight on classic Universal horror film. While Abbott and Costello play for laughs, the rest of the cast were playing things absolutely straight; sometimes ignoring things no human could ever truly ignore in service of the film.
It’s just crate film!
I think this combination is what brings us one of the greatest Halloween movies of all time. It was actually banned in some territories upon original release and still could scare an uninitiated child and illicit laughs even after you’ve seen every sequence and know every line of dialogue.
Halloween is a time for surprises and this one caught me by surprise. The seventh film in the Tremors series (and one shortlived TV show) was released and it is in fact real. Tremors: Shrieker Island is out and in the wild!
Here’s my thing. I actually think the first Tremors may be the best monster movie besides John Carpenter’s The Thing. The mix of comedy and great effects was a treat.
And frankly, when I saw it, I didn’t expect much and it was great.
Then, the second one came out and that went direct to video. Kevin Bacon was gone, but we still got Fred Ward, who I liked from the Remo Williams movie, so I wasn’t complaining. That flick was pretty darn good. Not as good as the first, but still fun.
He’s going for the wrong damn rec room!
…and they kept coming out. Michael Gross’s one joke character of Burt Gummer slowly becoming the star of the series. While I would have preferred Fred Ward taking the lead, I understood and each movie worked exactly the same way for me.
I would underestimate it. Oh, now we only have the dad from Family Ties…but it was still kind of fun. When they added Jamie Kennedy to the mix, I predicted ruin…but it was still kind of fun.
The effects have come a long way, and yet, not as menacing…
So when I saw the Tremors pack with a new flick with NAPOLEON DYNAMITE, no less, being the support for Burt Gummer, I set my expectations low. This is going to be a SyFy channel creature feature, I mumbled, but picked it up just the same.
I guess I won’t need my moon boots.
Well, this movie was full of surprises for me. While the effects have become less and less practical, they continued to be decent in this latest episode. Burt’s character, though initially grating in this go round, returns to his loveable, if cantankerous, old self relatively quickly in the proceedings. John Heder, somehow, pulls off his role. In fact, quite a bit more likeable than Jamie Kennedy’s part in the series. They spent a lot of time explaining Jamie’s disappearance from the movie, but I suspect no one cared. We get it. Jon Heder is cheaper. He’s also better, so move on!
Looks like it might be time to learn how to use my gun…
This time, after runs in Africa and Antartica, the Graboids take up residence on an uncharted island run as a wildlife preserve. The preserve is owned by Bill (played by Richard Brake, of 3 From Hell and 31 fame) who creepily makes it difficult for anyone to leave. His involvement raises the stakes and makes for some actual scares and suspense in a series more known for the comedy relief than chills and scares.
It is another satisfying addition to the series. I’m sure this will be added to Peacock by next Halloween, and I suspect if this is successful the series will continue. Afterall, the Graboids haven’t attacked the New York Subway system (which would be a natural fit for them) yet. Tremors 8: Grabbing a Bite in the Big Apple coming to Peacock soon. I predicted it here first!
When the past comes calling, sometimes it is very disappointing. I was bracing myself for that experience when diving back into 1981’s Darkroom. I had fond memories of the show, but nothing concrete. I couldn’t remember a single story.
Or so I thought.
Darkroom was one of a wave of anthology shows to hit television in the early half of the Eighties. I suspect it was due to the success of “Twilight Zone” in syndication and, frankly, without recurring characters, you could pay your actors dirt cheap.
Helen Hunt while her career was still developing
Now that I think about it, probably more to do with the latter of those than the former.
Good selection for reading material, James.
Darkroom was produced by Universal TV, but actually aired on ABC. I’m not sure if that is why it is currently streaming on NBC.com instead of Peacock, but who the heck understands all that stuff anyway? James Coburn, with his shock of silver hair, gravely voice, and decked out in all black turtleneck and slacks, was the host from the titular darkroom supposedly discussing some photos he is developing. Honestly, he only introduces about half of these things, so his involvement was probably filmed in a day or two.
Let’s do that voodoo you do so well.
The stories are what shines. A few of them were written by Robert “Psycho” Bloch and we get early peeks at Helen Hunt and Billy Crystal on the program. Also in the festivities is Claude Akins, David Carradine, Brian Dennehy, Rue McClanahan, June Lockhart, Jack Carter and Ron Cox.
Not too shabby?
As I watched, I smiled in glee as I figured out the “twist” endings that came shambling back from their graves in my ten year old boy’s mind. There is something very satisfying with this type of storytelling.
This story left a lasting film in my memory.
My favorite part of the show is each 60 minute show could have two or three stories/segments. They let each story take as long or short as it needed. Too often, horror overstays it’s welcome, but these get to the point, trying to beat you to the punch of figuring out the twist, and move on.
Mah-velous performance.
If you do nothing else, watch the episode/segment featuring Billy Crystal and Brian Dennehy called “Make Up.” It’s a great look at Billy Crystal doing a dramatic turn and has that classic Twilight Zone vibe you are looking for in a series like this.
Here’s the concept: What if two technology addicted Millenial hipsters were met with an alien invasion when they haven’t been able to handle “adulting” yet without a top 10 list from the internet? Here’s your answer: The audience becomes bored.
Is that fair?
Yeah, it kind of is.
Let’s watch a movie about people sitting in a crappy apartment looking at their phones!
A couple with relationship issues goes into a cabin in the woods to unplug from the world. Heck, they get so distracted by their phones at one point they can’t even make love. That’s some real issues with attention span there.
While they are unplugged they try to find themselves…and this is where the movie starts to grate on you. The problem is you HATE THESE CHARACTERS. They aren’t comically over the top…they are kind of like some of the hipsters I have known over the year. They are too real to laugh at like Tucker and Dale; they are just kind of depressing.
Killer Furballs from Outer Space
Once the alien invasion starts, which they miss because they were “unplugged” (disturbing implication there: never disconnect or the end of the world may come to an end!) Now, these hopelessly ill-equipped characters need to survive. They literally have the worst instincts ever and yet they survive somehow.
The title of “Save Yourselves!” takes on a double meaning: save your time and don’t watch this movie.
