SuperVan

Well, maybe not. I don't know because I haven't seen "Smokey..." since I was, I think, ten..? Anyway, this film is a curious document of the '70s, a real time capsule. The best parts (to me) are the semi-verite portions when the camera wanders around the fairgrounds where they're holding the big van 'freak-out' and just records the goings-on of this peculiar gathering. These segments, for me, capture something very essential about the '70s, moreso than just about any other film I've seen in a long time.

Have you ever read a trade journal? One of those magazines meant expressly for plumbers or welders and never intended for the general public? Full of weird lingo and with content so intensely fixed that it becomes almost comedic? This movie is a little like that. Made in the 1970's with a modest budget, this stinker is entirely about CUSTOM VAN CULTURE. Airbrushed unicorns, feathered hair, racing stripes, CB radios. And don't think for a moment that this is some kind of quirky, ironic documentary. It's a really bad narrative piece of fiction. There's sort of a plot. I think somebody has to win a van contest or something similarly morbid. There's a wacky professor that designs a van that shoots lasers for some reason. The soundtrack is all 70's soft rock about Vans. The ridiculousness of the whole thing shoots through the roof when Charles Bukowski wanders drunkenly through a party scene wearing a shirt that says "Water boy for the wet T-shirt contest" (maybe they lured extras by advertising free beer). Whoah man, this movie is so bad it feels like getting clubbed repeatedly with a dead howler monkey just trying to watch it. Of course, if you can stand it, and if you are a connoisseur of bad films, this one is pretty funny in its patheticness.

For someone outside the realm of vanning I could see how this movie could be confusing or even irritating, however, being a vanner I feel that this movie is a great portrayal of the vanning movement and all that it entails. Vandora, the Supervan, is excessive and borderline ridiculous, but that is what custom vans are all about. The documentation and on-location filming alone make this movie a classic. 2% Vanners Forever!!

This isn't a movie. It's ten minutes of story and 80 minutes of filler. Lots of great footage of vans slowly parking in rows and the zany partying antics of 70s van aficionados. All of this backed by an obnoxiously loud sound track consisting of terrible rock and folk songs. And if you hated the songs the first time you heard them, don't fret, you'll get to hear them again and again! I sincerely wish physical harm to those responsible for this auditory torture. Not even the sight of Katie Saylor in a tight sweater makes this movie worth suffering through. Torture from start to finish.

The movie Supervan was filmed in St Joseph, Missouri where I was living at the time. It started filming in October during the FREAK OUT truck In held at Old MacDonald's farm just North of St Joseph.

Many of our Pony Express Van Club members were in the Freak Out scenes and later furnished vans owned by the members in many follow up scenes such as the Van and Car chase on the streets of St Joseph.

My van was in several scenes and I also had several 'walk on' roles in the movie. It was great fun to be treated as a member of the cast and enjoying plenty of free beer and great food at the lunch breaks.

The Premier of the movie was held at a theater in St Joseph with George Barris, designer of the Super Van present for the festivities.

Later I made a web page of my photos and several clips from the movie.. You can check that out searching for the name Super Van the Movie online.