Evil Roy Slade

This movies was a masterpiece and a delight. Dick Shawn was stupendously funny, and the rest of the cast, perfectly cast. The movie was well directed ALWAYS kept you laughing and never let up. In this viewers opinion it is one of the 10 funniest and cleverest comedies of all times. I gave it a 10 and so did 297 people out of a possible 419 voters here on the data base. Will someone explain to me how you can have over half the votes a 10, have the Arithmetic mean = 9.1. The Median of 10.0 and still our beloved IMDb gives this movie a weighted average vote of 6.3? Come on I've heard of "weighted" but is the butchers hand on the scale here? Is it that those folks intellectual capacity just couldn't bare to see this film in the top ten of the top 100 movies? Hmmmmmm? Well guess what? The Direction, The Acting, The Script, and just the general "clevertude" (is there such a word?) Should put this film just about in the top 10 percent of films....Come on Fellas....be fair. At least level this out to 8.5 I can buy that a whole lot "weightedly" than 6.3 Just one viewers opinion.

Like a previous fan of this movie, I scored the movie a big 10. With so many other people also scoring it a ten, I am glad to see there are a lot of other people out there with a warped sense of humor. I also cannot understand why this movie only has a score of 5.7. I would like to know who owns the movie so that I could possibly convince them to put it out on DVD (in Australia - PAL system). With a score like this the movie will never be put out on DVD so that I can watch it at my leisure. Could I ask the person or persons who weighted the score down so heavily to please reconsider and let the movie get the recognition it deserves.

I have, unfortunately, seen this movie only one time, and all I can say is that it ranks as one of the funnest piece of work I have ever seen. I consider myself a worthy and discriminating critic when it comes to good films and acting performances -- and this one had every ingredient possible to make it an all-time comedy classic. Because it's been so long since I have seen this movie, I can't remember much about the details, except that John Astin plays an inept evil-doer, the antics of which kept me in stitches from the moment he appeared until his character left the screen. Much to my disappointment and despite my efforts,I have never found nor seen the movie again.

Plot--An abandoned tyke grows up embracing everything silly and evil, eventually heading up an outlaw gang whose many shootouts never hit anything. The question is can he ever stop laughing at little old ladies and be accepted into polite society.

Hilarious spoof of all that was bright, shiny, and good in westerns of old. The tongue-in-cheek is done so well, it's impossible for former front-row-kids like myself to take offense. Astin's toothy, leering face is perfect as Slade. Every time he does something mean, like bump an old lady off the walkway, he flashes an evil leer.

But just as good as Astin is, the snappy one-liners keep coming. I love it when he does something mean and says that he's worked hard to reach rock bottom. Or his idea of complementing a girl when he says she's prettier than the sun glinting off a rifle barrel! And get a load of Shawn, duded out like a Vegas showgirl. But whatever you do, stay away from his guitar. Thanks to him, I expect the great Autry and Rogers are turning over in their fancy wardrobes. Anyway, the laughs keep coming as long as Slade's on screen.

My only gripe is that the comedic streak loses some momentum near the end as things serious up a bit. Then too, run-time was extended to give Berle some star exposure, even though his brand of verbal comedy appears miscast. Too bad that some kind of award is not given for farcical gems, because this wacko certainly deserves one, TV movie or no. And while we're at it, an award to Astin for the best comedic leer in town. All in all, a real little sleeper gem.

I saw this movie late at night on television while visiting a friend in Los Angeles in the mid 1970's. My friend was actually rolling around on the floor because he was laughing so hard. Although I haven't seen it since, I still remember it as the funniest movie I have ever seen. Maybe it was partly because it was late at night, but we were both sober. I think it was much funnier than Blazing Saddles and much less offensive. After thirty years, some of the scenes are still clear in my mind, such as Slade taking off all his weapons or persuading his horse to make the jump over a wide ditch. It's almost like an American Western version of a Marx Brothers movie. I don't remember anything dirty in it, so even young children would enjoy watching it. I'd really like to see it again myself.