Flicks (1987)

Directors:

Peter Winograd
Kirk Henderson

Writers:

Larry Arnstein (writer)
David Hurwitz (writer)

Release Date:

January 1987 (USA)

Genre:

Animation | Comedy

Plot:

A parody of Saturday afternoon matinee's, including coming attractions and a cartoon.

Plot Keywords:

Alien | Flash Gordon | Detective | Spoof | Part Animated

Cast

Joan Hackett	...	Capt. Grace
Pamela Sue Martin	...	Liz Stone
Martin Mull	...	Tang / Arthur Lyle
Betty Kennedy	...	Beth Lyle
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Ian Abercrombie	...	Dr. Osborne
Luke Andreas	...	Emery
Michelle Avonne	...	Girl
Richard Belzer	...	Stoner
Michael Billington	...	Deputy Inspector
H. Gordon Boos	...	Electrode Head
Alexandria Brouwer	...	Wife
David S. Cass Sr.	...	Lou
William Cort	...	Middle Man (as Bill Cort)
Ravah Daley	...	Crewman #1
Danny Dayton	...	Ogden Flood
Sam Diego	...	Philip Alien
Jay Donahue	...	Tiger
Scott Dunlop	...	Shark Man
Joan Edwards	...	Secretary
Susie Elene	...	Mistress (as Suesie Elena)
Mitchel Evans	...	Philip Alien (as Mitchel Young Evans)
George 'Buck' Flower	...	Eagle Man
William Friedman	...	Willy
Colin Hamilton	...	Butler
Cathryn Hartt	...	Janette
Sandra Kerns	...	(voice)
Lincoln Kilpatrick	...	Walt
Genie Lawrence	...	Jodie
Mae Eckrem LeBlanc	...	Gina
David A. Lewis	...	Tech #2
Shane McCamey	...	Son
Barry Pearl	...	Red
Rose Marie Perfect	...	Louise
Joy Rinaldi	...	Joyce
Caprice Rothe	...	Laura Bilk
Peter Schrum	...	Narrator / Reginald Harcroft IV
Harry Shearer	...	Narrator (voice)
Alan Shearman	...	Narrator
Rex Steven Sikes	...	Thug #1
Terry Troutt	...	Ian Cudahy
Paula Victor	...	Mrs. Skulnik
Rick Waln	...	Bob, The Exterminator
John William Young	...	Tech #1

Also Known As:

Hollyweird
Loose Joints

Runtime:

79 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

USA:R

Trivia:

Filmed in 1981 but never released theatrically.

Movie Connections:

Spoofs Flash Gordon (1936/I)

A Good Piece of Work, except for the final sequence

My former roommate, Peter Kelly, worked on this film circa 1981 (the "1987" date listed above is not correct, although this went straight to video without being released). I remember he brought home the shovel that was used to stick out of the guy's head. I also visited the work area once and saw the makeup for the final "Philip Alien" sequence. If you've seen the film, you wouldn't believe how intricately those false arms were worked on with all sorts of tiny pumps and gadgets.

He had some great stories to tell about Susan Blakely originally being cast for the "Liz Stone" character, but being replaced by Pamela Sue Martin after the first week of shooting.

Years later, I sat down and watched the video, which then was called "Loose Joints." I have to be honest (and I'm pretty picky, mind you): the film is not all that bad, up until the final "Philip Alien" sequence. The animation sequence took a lot of work for a film of this nature, and I'm surprised more fans haven't picked up on the general cult appeal that some of these sequences have.

Something tells me they didn't have the heart to cut out the "Philip Alien" sequence since that has one of the biggest stars in it and they worked so hard on the mechanical arms. That sequence is confusing and humorless and some of the gags they thought would work so well, such as a woman obsessed with bugs falling for a multi-armed extraterrestrial, simply did not work (in this reviewer's opinion).

Still, there's some good stuff here worth checking out. My roommate went on to make another crumby horror flick called "Nightmare On Elm Street." That's show biz.