Hysterical (1983)

User Rating:

5.1/10   

Director:

Chris Bearde

Writers:

Chris Bearde (writer)
Bill Hudson (writer)

Release Date:

July 1983 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Horror

Tagline:

Are you insane enough to watch this?

Plot:

A burned out writer retreats to a northwest town called Hellview to write the great American novel. Unfortunately for him...

Plot Keywords:

Lighthouse | Library | Possession | Spoof | Cannabis

Cast

Bill Hudson	...	Frederic Lansing / Casper
Mark Hudson	...	Dr. Paul Batton
Brett Hudson	...	Fritz
Cindy Pickett	...	Kate
Richard Kiel	...	Captain Howdy
Julie Newmar	...	Venetia
Robert Donner	...	Ralph
Murray Hamilton	...	Mayor
Clint Walker	...	Sheriff
Franklyn Ajaye	...	Leroy
Charlie Callas	...	Dracula
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Amanda H. Bearde	...	Teenage Girl
Pamela Bowman	...	New York Model #2
Robert Alan Browne	...	New York Press Man
Sue Casey	...	Bookstore Society Lady #2
Gene Castle	...	Lead Zombie Dancer
Kathy Cherry	...	Sexy Girl
Dick Chudnow	...	Looney
Pat Colbert	...	Hooker #1
Natalie Core	...	Bookstore Society Lady #1
Bud Cort	...	Dr. John
John Diehl	...	Taxi Driver
Mary Ellen Flaherty	...	Bookstore Society Lady #4
John Larroquette	...	Bob X. Cursion
Helena Mäkelä	...	Nurse
Gary Owens	...	TV Announcer (voice)
Indy Shriner	...	Hooker #2
Maurice Sneed	...	Looney
JoAnn Willette	...	Bookstore Society Lady #3
Keenan Wynn	...	Fisherman

Runtime:

87 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Iceland:12 | Australia:PG | Finland:K-12 | Norway:15 | USA:PG

Filming Locations:

Cannon Beach, Oregon, USA

Quotes:

[In a lifeboat]
Dr. Paul Batton: Now what do we do?
Fritz: We can always dive for the Andrea Doria. I know it's around here somewhere.

Movie Connections:

Spoofs Chariots of Fire (1981)

Surprisingly good production values and some funny moments

I just saw this movie on cable (not, I assure you, by design). The plot is pretty much as described here in the IMDb. "Hysterical" IS pretty hysterically awful, but it does not quite fit in the category of Movies So Bad They're Good. Yes, the plot is clichéd and predictable. Yes, it stars the Hudson Brothers, those inoffensive pop products from the Seventies who were quickly forgotten in the Eighties. I, for one, certainly hadn't thought about them since then and had no idea they'd made a movie. It also features a gaggle of supporting actors whose faces will be recognizable to anyone who watched movies and TV in the Sixties and Seventies or who watches TVLand today. The female lead is Cindy Pickett, who looks and acts so wholesome here that it's hard to believe she appeared in an earlier film, Roger Vadim's "Night Games," that was very erotic. She radiates essentially no sexual luster in "Hysterical." Still, the production values are surprisingly good for a bad movie. It looks and feels like a real movie; this is not Edward D. Wood stuff. The Hudson Brothers actually manage to work up a respectable comic energy. There are a few breakout scenes that are extremely funny, especially the big production number with dancing zombies in an amusement park, and a too-brief scene in which the brothers try to confuse some pursuing zombies with an impromptu doo-wop session. The movie also works in sendups of a lot of other films ("Vertigo," "Marnie," "The Rocky Horror Show," "Chariots of Fire," and "Night of the Living Dead," to name just a few). All in all, this is a movie that is fun to see once just for laughs.