March 15, 1989
Beyond Infinity/ Gaucamolle [sic] Pictures/ Phantom Productions
Comedy, Action
VHS
B-
This deliberately bad movie is somewhat in the tradition of Attack of the Killer Tomatoes, with an even longer, more ridiculous title. (I believe it's the longest title in my movie collection since 1968's Did You Hear the One About the Traveling Saleslady?) Not only does it offer Adrienne Barbeau and Shannon Tweed as rival feminists, battling for the fate of the title characters, but it has men named Ford Maddox, Dean Stockwell (head of the university), and Col. Mattel. And the main comic relief/ love interest is played by Bill Maher, yes, that Bill Maher (then 33). And speaking of political incorrectness, much of the humor derives from mocking academia and feminism, but also their opposites. And for a native Southern Californian like myself, there are extra chuckles, as when the heroine Dr. Margo Hunt (Tweed) and her sidekick Bunny venture into San Bernardino. (Much of the film was shot on the UC Riverside campus.)
Still, I don't think this reaches the heights of AotKT, which had a wider range of targets, including of course pop music. And when Maher's character gets a tribe of wimpy Donnahews [sic] drunk in order to bring out their machismo, this leads to a (not at all explicit) gang rape attempt of Bunny. Hunt comes to the rescue immediately, but it's still one of the more offensive moments, although admittedly the cannibalism jokes are more tasteless. (Yes, pun definitely intended.)
Watching the movie this time round, two things most struck me as being, if not dated per se, at least different from a roughly quarter-century's hindsight: that Bunny's worry that her fantasy (of being tied up with Red Vine licorice and spanked) may be non-feminist seems quaint in an era where "kinky feminism" is recognized; and that among the hats that the Donnahews wear is at least one fedora, the supposed favorite chapeau of men's rights activists.
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| A thrilling adventure! |
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