Transylvania 6-5000

Transylvania 6-5000
Nov. 8, 1985
New World
Comedy, Horror
DVD
C-

Rudy De Luca is the main party responsible for this near monstrosity.  It's one of his few directing credits (the infamous Pink Lady...And Jeff  TV variety show is another), but he also penned Caveman and Million Dollar Mystery.  (He also plays Lawrence Malbot, the Wolfman's father I think.)  So sometimes the dumb humor works, but mostly it doesn't.  The movie doesn't work as Horror either, or Horror-Comedy, particularly with most of the scenes set in daylight.  So why did I get it on DVD?  (With De Luca's commentary no less!)  Well, it was cheap and I had blocked out things like the jokes that are as unfunny the tenth time as they are the first.

Here's what you can do to amuse yourself if you do end up watching this movie:

1. Count the performers who are over 6 feet tall:  Jeff Goldblum (6' 4 1/2"), Jeffrey Jones (6' 4 1/2"), Ed Begley, Jr. (6' 4"), Donald Gibb (6' 4", the Wolfman here and Mad Dog in Meatballs Part II), Michael Richards (6' 3"), Joseph Bologna (6' 1"), and Geena Davis (6').
2. Ogle Goldblum and/or Davis, both of whom show off their chests.  (They met on the set, so something good came out of this.)
3. Savor the irony of Norman Fell's (not over 6') celebration of "crap."
4. Enjoy every single rendition of the title song, from the rockin' version over the opening credits to the castle phone's ring tone to the folk tune towards the end to the closing not-exactly-Glenn-Miller big band take.
5. Wonder if Carol Kane (5' 2") is more embarrassed by her role as half of a hunchback couple with John Byner, or by her briefer role in the bigger bomb Ishtar.

This Is Spinal Tap

This Is Spinal Tap
March 2, 1984
Embassy Pictures
Comedy, Musical
DVD
B+

This mockumentary/rockumentary is primarily the work of four men: director Rob Reiner, and bandmates Michael McKean, Christopher Guest, and Harry Shearer.  That's not to say that others didn't contribute (the guest cast, not all of whom I mention later, are all solid), but that is the team who is mostly responsible for the humor and poignancy.  The movie holds up very well after thirty years; in fact, it's probably a bit funnier now because Heavy Metal, and the '80s in general, are funnier at a distance.  The movie is full of quotes you've heard (e.g. "It goes up to eleven"), but it still feels fresh.  The music, especially the '60s tunes, is actually quite good, even with silly lyrics.

What struck me most this time was the strained but never fully broken friendship between the McKean and Guest characters.  Shearer comes close to stealing his scenes, but he's mostly there as a balance, the "lukewarm" between their "fire and ice."  And Reiner does well as both directors, real and film-within-film.  If TIST is not quite in the upper tier of my movies, it may be that it shares a fault with another mockumentary, Zelig, in keeping the viewer at a distance.  Also, the "girlfriend ruining the group" motif is a little too much like Yoko-hate, even if she's blonde and British rather than Asian.  Still, definitely worth repeat viewings, and the in-character DVD commentary is brilliant.

Perhaps not coincidentally, some folks who were in Americathon appear here: Zane Buzby as Rolling Stone Reporter, Howard Hesseman as Terry Ladd, and Fred Willard as Colonel on Military Base.

Charles Levin, the Disc 'n' Dat Manager, was Alvy's stage counterpart in Annie Hall.  Robin Menken, who was Maddy in Thank God It's Friday, is Angelo's assistant here.  Blackie Lawless, who's Commercial Headbanger here, stood out more as Metal Guy with Leash at Audition in Can't Stop the Music.  Archie Hahn, who plays the queeny Room Service Guy, would shortly have a dual role in Meatballs Part II.  

Billy Crystal, who worked with Guest on Saturday Night Live, has a small role as Morty the Mime.  Another SNLer (although then future), 28-year-old Dana Carvey, is a mime waiter.  And, yes, that's a 34-year-old Ed Begley, Jr. as the first of many Tap drummers.

Despite themselves, they are actually sexy as well as sexist.