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Joe Dante got his start as a director in collaboration with director Allan Arkush on this zany send-up of low-budget film-making, lampooning their own mentor/boss Roger Corman with "Miracle Pictures - if it's a good movie, it's a Miracle!" It's also an homage to an obscure Bela Lugosi flick, The Death Kiss, about a death on a horror movie set. This story takes that premise a little further by making it about a series of deaths, seemingly (at first) unrelated, but soon enough showing a pattern of the female stars being targeted. Who is the culprit isn't really as important, or as entertaining until the last few minutes anyway, as seeing the whole fun/rotten atmosphere of down-and-dirty B-movie-making.

It's not that every joke (intended or not) always works, and some of the acting, even if intentionally, is quite pitiful. But Dante and Arkush are putting so much there on the screen via Patrick Hobby's screenplay that enough of it really does stick. Some of it attributable to the plucky can-do attitude of the character Candy Hope (and equally fun to watch, Candice Rialson) and how she observes and becomes apart of the insanity and snobish-ness of the film crew. Lines also stick out as being the kind you want to quote for weeks ("Your motivation is to kill hundreds of Philippine soldiers!"), and acting from the likes of Dick Miller as the well-meaning agent and Paul Bartel as the pretentious director Erich von Leppe.

The jokes and gags keep coming, and often at a quick enough pace - there's a big shootout between the girls and (stock footage of) Philippene soldiers that is a lot of fun, and a car that's brakes are cut off which allows for a tremendously goofy car chase scene (the car itself possibly on loan from Death Race 2000). And there's a hysterical sequence at a drive-in movie theater for the premiere of Candy's big-screen debut that turns out horribly. It's a sometimes sloppy comedy but that's part of the charm, and a lot of ingenuity goes a long way (one sequence at the movie set after hours where a killer lurks after one of the girls is actually very well directed and moody, a sign of things to come from Dante especially).

To be entirely honest, I came close to abandoning "Hollywood Boulevard" after a few minutes already, due to the exaggeratedly goofy sequence of a stunt woman crashing from a plane and leaving a person-shaped crater in the ground upon impact. That sort of stuff belongs in a "Tom and Jerry" or "Roadrunner" cartoon, but not here. But because Roger Corman and Joe Dante are involved, and mainly because the gorgeous Tara Strohmeier was standing around topless for no reason, there was a little voice inside my head encouraging me to continue. It might get better...

Overall, I'm glad I persevered. There are many more silly and downright idiotic moments like these in "Hollywood Boulevard", but also the showcasing of brilliant tongue-in-cheek satire and in-house parody. Roger Corman gave two of his canniest acolytes (Joe "Piranha" Dante and Allan "Rock & Roll High School" Arkush) 10 days, $60.000, and free access to the outtakes of his previous film-hits (notably "Death Race 2000). What they delivered in return is a bonkers but imaginative - and, yes, occasionally dreary - cocktail of comedy, sleaze, horror, and parody.

"Hollywood Boulevard" begins as a tale about a naïve young actress struggling to make it in the movie industry, continues as a portrait on how difficult it is to remain successful in that same industry, and ends (quite fantastically) as a slasher in which the sexy B-movie actresses are the targets of a maniacal killer. What makes "Hollywood Boulevard" so enjoyable is the marvelous cast of Corman-regulars and the shameless exploitation of beautiful female nudity. Paul Bartel is splendid as the unworldly director who loves himself and Dick Miller is genius as the sly talent agent. Actresses Tara Strohmeier, Candice Rialson, and Rita George also give more than admirable performances, but - who are we kidding - are most memorable for their topless appearances. The long and 200% gratuitous sequence where the three of them are sunbathing half-naked on a beach in The Philippines probably still is the highlight of Joe Dante's and Alan Arkush's careers!

Oh, and you simple have to love the fictional "Miracle Films" production company's slogan: If it's a good picture, it's a Miracle.

Ultra-cheap even by New World Pictures standards, naive go-getter with stars in her eyes Candice Rialson ("my friends call me Candy") finds herself the reluctant débutante in a z-grade Phillipino actioner when her shonky agent (Miller) signs her up for stunt work in the latest film of the "Miracle Pictures" assembly line. The last stunt girl died as a result of the paltry set conditions but Candy is willing to give almost anything a go if it means an opportunity to make it big. Initially duped into robbing a bank that she thinks is a hidden camera role, "Hollywood Boulevard" chronicles Candy's coming of age as she matures in the sordid, tempestuous industry of exploitation film.

Really just a self parody, directors Dante and Arkush have spared much expense cobbling together this endless parade of in-jokes and raunch, with dialogue to die for ("now get it up, or I'll cut if off") and enough skin to make a porn star blush. Bartel is amusing as the ultra efficient director, desperate to placate his high maintenance leading lady (Woronov) and come in under budget, while Jeffrey Kramer (fresh from "Jaws") trundles out the banal scripts like confetti at a wedding, while wooing Candy on the side.

Lots of bare flesh, flying limbs, simulated sex and corny double entendres to offend almost everybody, and, a bizarre blue grass musical number of zero relevance thrown in for good measure. If you're not a devotee of the New World Pictures experience, then doubtful "Hollywood Boulevard" will be your cup of tea; for everyone else, it's a trademark romp down to the usual standards.

In the autumn of 1975, Roger Corman set out to make the fastest, cheapest drive-in movie in the history of New World Pictures. This wild, uproarious cult classic is the result. Candice Rialson is Candy Hope, a starry-eyed Midwestern beauty hoping to make it big on that street of dreams, only to find that the glitter is just glass from broken liquor bottles. Instead, she ends up as a contract starlet with Miracle Pictures, a prolific B-movie factory grinding out sleaze epics for the passion pits of America (sound familiar?). Dick Miller is her agent. The always-fantastic Mary Woronov is Mary McQueen, the studio's Amazonian leading lady who has no patience with the new crop of upstarts ("You get your boobs in front of a camera and you're ready to jump into the cement!"). Everyone is shipped to the Philipines to shoot Machete Maidens of Moratau, with Paul Bartel as the director ("Your motivation is to massacre 3,000 Asiatic soldiers."). The film is pieced together with stock footage from other New World masterpieces, particularly Death Race 2000, with Candy donning David Carradine's famous leather mask. A kid at a drive-in cries out for more sex, while his parents deride the movie as "sick" and "worse than television." A drive down Hollyweird shows the famous Pussycat Theatre and various adult bookstores and massage parlors. A romantic interlude is serenaded by Commander Cody and His Lost Planet Airmen, belting out a raucous, dirty country tune. Mary's name is superimposed onto the poster for Untamed Mistress. Robbie the Robot refuses to do nudity. B-movie in-jokes come thick and fast, including a girl stabbed to death on a bed frame a la Snuff. The whole thing looks great, especially for $60,000, and is consistently hilarious--especially Mary, complete with cigarette holder and the vocabulary of a sailor. A bona fide drive-in classic. And remember..."If it's a good picture, it's a Miracle!"

Anyone who knows Joe Dante's movies knows that he likes to portray weirdness and/or the underside of everything. "Hollywood Boulevard" is no exception. Candy Hope (Candace Rialson) is a young woman who comes out to Tinseltown looking for a job. Talent scout Walter Paisley (Dick Miller, who has appeared in every one of Dante's movies) gets her a role in an obscure B-movie, where some strange things start happening.

Maybe there's not much to this movie, but it's still quite interesting. Hollywood comes across as a sleazy, but not evil, domain. Among the co-stars are Paul Bartel and Mary Woronov (as the director and one of the other starlets), who are best known as the stars of "Eating Raoul" (they also appeared in the horror flick "Chopping Mall"...which starred Dick Miller as a janitor named Walter Paisley).

I don't really know what else to say about "Hollywood Boulevard", but I do recommend it, if only to cult fans.

The movie is appallingly bad, but the DVD commentary track is very interesting. I would give just the movie a 1, but I gave it a 7 because of the commentary track (I probably will never watch the movie without that). The movie was made by a lot of kids working for Roger Corman (who started an amazing number of talented movie people), and it was shot in 10 days for $50,000 -- any stunt that was complex or expensive (in fact, almost any stunt at all) was taken from another Corman movie. There are various nonsensical actions that characters take to preserve continuity with the borrowed clips, but there are plenty of problems with lighting and saturation that make it clear where this other footage starts and ends.

If you are interested in how movies are made, this one is rudimentary enough to have a lot of works still visible, and the commentary by Dante, Arkush, and Davison removes even more of the mystery...

A beautiful blonde from Indiana (Candice Rialson) moves to Hollywood to become an actress and find fame. She hooks-up with a dubious team of moviemakers who run Miracle Pictures. Their slogan is: "If it's a good picture, it's a miracle." Statuesque Mary Woronov is on hand as an increasingly bitter actress who works for the company.

"Hollywood Boulevard" (1976) is an amusing send-up of Grade Z filmmaking with comedy, action, slasher, you-name-it. It's amusing for the first 40 minutes or so, but starts to lose its charm by the second half. Sure, it's entertaining to a point if you want to turn-off your brain for a fun time, but that doesn't change the fact that it's a shallow, throwaway flick.

Nevertheless, there's a surprising sequence that obviously influenced Coppola and his outstanding air raid on the village sequence in "Apocalypse Now."

Blonde Candice Rialson was a memorable B-film starlet in the 70s, along the lines of redhead Claudia Jennings; and, less so, thin Tara Strohmeier, who plays Jill here. Meanwhile brunette Rita George is notable as Bobbi. There's quite a bit of top nudity, so stay away if you find that objectionable.

Eleven years later, "Howling III: The Marsupials" would feature a satirical filmmaking crew, similar to the one in this one.

It runs 1 hour, 23 minutes, and was shot in Los Angeles, including Hollywood, except for sequences done at Paramount Ranch in Agoura Hills, which is west of there, just north of Malibu in the high country (the Western town set and open landscape shots).

GRADE: C.

Well made conglomeration of B movie scenes strung together with some very funny material that pokes fun at the Hollywood scene. Mary Woronov has never looked better, and she and "Eating Raoul" costar, Paul Bartel play off each other wonderfully. Mary, angling for a bigger part in Bartel's latest exploitation stinker asks for her role to have more meaning. Bartel replies, "This is not a film about the human condition, it's a film about tits and ass." Everything is fast paced, with lots of in jokes. "Shall we have a three way career conference?" Dick Miller is a standout as Walter Paisley, the agent representing some highly unusual acts. Definitely recommended, especially for film buffs. - MERK

This film moves along at a brisk pace and has some funny moments. Candice Rialson is great as the star Candy. Mary Woronov and Paul Bartel are both in this, which can't hurt any movie. This movie jumps all over and covers every part of B movie making. Still the film lacks acting and a real plot. 4/10 Fair

I spent the best years of the 1970s at the drive-in, and this film is a most enjoyable look at drive-in movies and the people who made them. If you don't count the Ingmar Bergmans, it may be the best picture ever released by New World Studios. I saw this on big screen, before the print had gotten very many scratches, and more recently on video where it held up as any other classic does.

New World editors Joe Dante and Allan Arkush were allowed by boss Roger Corman to direct a picture, within very strict budgetary limitations, and they produced this classic look at drive-in films and the people who make them, just a few years before the whole genre was kicked into limbo by the VCR. Through clever use of action footage from older New World films, Arkush and Dante brought their film in on budget and earned their first professional directorial credits.

Aspiring actress Candice Rialson (wow!) hits town, fresh from Indiana, and secures the services of scruffy talent agent Walter Paisley (okay!), who gets her work in lowbudget pix from Miracle Studios ("It it's a good picture, it's a Miracle!") -- where they make movies like BAD GIRL IN BOYS TOWN and ATOMIC WAR BRIDES, where director Paul Bartel reminds Godzilla, "Your motivation in this scene is to step on as many people as possible," and where Mary Woronov is the queen of the lot. Skinny snarling starlets blast away with machine guns. Extras from THE HOT BOX fall out of trees in the Philippines. Model-Ts crash in BIG BAD MAMA. Candy jumps to dodge rolling car debris. Wait a minute, somebody is killing the starlets here at Miracle! Rita George dies! Tara Strohmeier dies (NOOO!!!!). Who's doing it? Is Candy next on the list? Who will survive and what will be left of them?

We also visit a glam movie premiere at a Valley drive-in, watch a boy-girl scene scored to a somewhat revised version of "Everybody's Truckin'," with the band serenading the gropers live, and we see Paisley audition Robby the Robot ("Let me hear you say 'Frankly, Scarlett, I don't give a damn'"). Candice Rialson is perfect (in her best role) as the naive Candy, Mary Woronov goes gleefully over the top as movie legend Mary McQueen, and Dick Miller should be in EVERY motion picture that comes out of Hollywood. The treatment of the wacky world of drive-in moviemaking is affectionate, there are a lot of cameos, and anyone who likes Dante's or Arkush's other work will find this well worth the 80-odd minutes it takes to watch. However, I have never been able to spot Belinda Balaski anywhere in this, and she's not named in the IMDB credits. Is this the only Dante film she's not in?

Corman remade the film in 1989 as HOLLYWOOD BOULEVARD 2, with Ginger Lynn Allen in the lead, but it is just a remake, not a sequel, and even though the budget is considerably larger it is not as fresh or as funny (though it's not as bad as the remakes of BIG BAD MAMA or ROCK 'N' ROLL HIGH SCHOOL).

This film belongs on a drive-in screen, not on your tv set, but since that is the only place you're ever going to see it now, crank up your living room Rolls Canardly and have some fun. I used to give this a rating of 9 on the IMDB scale, but having finally seen THE PASSION OF JEANNE D'ARC in the meantime, I have lowered BOULEVARD to a more realistic 8.

Hollywood Boulevard is Joe Dante's first feature film and it's a send-up of the way that B-movies are made. The film was clearly shot on a budget and much of the runtime is actually spent on showing parts from other movies! (The work of Roger Corman in particular, who has a producer's credit). In spite of this, the film actually does work really well and that is in no small part thanks to the excellent cult cast and a well written script that features plenty of very well done jokes. The plot follows budding actress Candy Hope who goes off to Hollywood in the hope of making a name for herself. She ends up meeting agent Walter Paisley (that name should be familiar to many cult fans!) who soon manages to get her a part in a film - albeit a part as a stunt girl on a Miracle Pictures film. She soon learns why the studio has the catchphrase "if it's a good film, it's a miracle" as the production is difficult and it's not long before various members of the cast begin being picked off by an unknown assailant!

The cast is one of the strongest things about this film, not least because of the inclusion of Dick Miller in a role much bigger than his usual cameo appearance. We also benefit from the Eating Raoul stars Paul Bartel and Mary Woronov who both stand out in their roles. The film is very short, running at just over eighty minutes, but plenty is packed into that runtime and the film is never boring for a second. I have no idea if making an actual B-movie is like it is portrayed in this film but if the actual B-movies I have seen are anything to go by, it might well be an accurate representation given how unprofessional the characters of the film are. The film is not exactly story heavy and the premise basically just makes up the plot of the film, but the characters help to ensure that the film has some sort of structure. The plot line involving people being murdered does feel a little bit out of place, but the movie is clearly meant just to a fun time so it's really not all that important. Overall, this film is good entertainment and provides some laughs and is well worth a look for any B-movie fan.

I rented this flick because it said is was "shamelessly loaded with sex and violence." This seems to have been a theme for Corman productions in the 70 as were stable actors Mary Woronov and Paul Bartel. OK, so this flick has Mary and Paul in it (as expected), but it also has scenes shamelessly ripped off of other Corman flicks. I realize that they're on a shoestring budget, but really. At one time Corman stole plot lines, ideas for movies, and even cover art from the big boys. In this flop, they stole from themselves. There's scenes from Deathrace 2000, Big Bad Mama, and The Big Doll House to name a few. They also stole the Godzilla suit as a "joke" about low budget production companies stealing effects and costumes from large studios.

I think the film was supposed to be a parody on budget film making, but it fell well short of the mark. The plot is amazingly simple (as could be expected), it involves a young, naive, country girl who comes to LA to make it in Hollywood. Instead she becomes a B movie actress and finds out about the seedy under-belly of the sleazy movie industry.

There were some silver-linings to this charcoal colored cloud. Mary Woronov and Paul Bartel appear to be having a good time making this schlock, and their performances are predictably stable. Dick Miller's performance as the ambitious but inept agent is surprisingly good. But on a whole, these few bright spots can't turn the thing around.

For seasoned bad movie watchers only.

The flick doesn't so much satirize or parody drive-in cheapos as it mocks them. And what movie series is easier to mock than the rubber monsters, cheezy sets, and sloppy directing from the 50's. In fact those earlier flicks pretty much made fun of themselves, and I can imagine what went on behind those set-ups. Here, those behind-the-scenes come to imagined life and add up to the flick's goofy core. But no teen of that era cared what critics thought, including myself. Then too, I really liked the drive-in crowd scene here, where anything goes including make-out teens on car fenders and wholesome 50's type families who actually watch the screen.

Anyhow, the action never stops after the first part. It's all explosions, gunfire, and production crew misfires, and shouldn't overlook the many topless actresses who are anything but misfires. Speaking of actresses, Rialson and Woronov's characters Candy and Mary are not mocked, being more abused by the quickie industry than lampooned. In fact the opening scenes of the stage-struck Candy getting taken-in by fast-talking operators like Walter (Miller) strike a more somber and realistic note than the movie's goofy remainder. In fact, despite the overlying lunacy, there's a somber subtext: namely, that Hollywood exploits the heck out of young women, making them readily dispensable like Jill and Mary. Perhaps that's not a surprising reality to most of us, but a worthwhile under-current to the tom-foolery, nevertheless.

On a lighter note, good to see real veterans of Roger Corman's drive-in empire getting lead roles here - I'll bet they had fun mocking their past. Anyway, brace yourself for an hour-plus of nonstop action and lots of laughs from a nutzoid look at good-times past at the beloved drive-in.

For die hard Roger Corman, Paul Bartel, and Mary Woronov fans (and let us not forget Dick Miller too!), this movie may fill the bill. But it's really a send up of Peter Bogdanavich's 'Targets' made years earlier. For those unfamiliar with Pete's movie - he was given the task by Roger Corman to get owed work from Boris Karloff. Utilizing clips from 'The Terror', and having Karloff return as the actor from the movie appearing at a tribute screening. Bogdanovich weaves in this character of a young man who becomes a serial killer with his gun collection, and winds up at the drive in as well killing spectators from behind the screen. Great movie, and more and more relevant today. So, Joe Dante and Alan Arkush along with Jon Davison seemed to have struck up the same deal with Roger Corman to do Hollywood Boulevard. Use clips from previous New World pictures like Death Race 2000, and weave them into a new story somehow. So thus Candy arrives in Hollywood with a strong desire to act. She lands stunt work, fusing segments of Big Bad Mama cutting back to Candy rolling in a old car. Candy then is paired with two other gals, and sent to the Philippines to take out a rebel army. Again, cutting between footage of previous Corman films, and the gals maniacally shooting at them. During all these productions though, some actor always seems to get accidentally killed. Candy falls for the scriptwriter, who seems like a nice guy at first. But he starts acting strange when he wants to write a 50's movie, but the producer sets it in 2050 (nudge, nudge, wink, wink) Another actress dies, and Candy strongly believes her boyfriend has snapped. Or did he? So all in all, it's one corny and badly done movie to the passer by. But for fans of the Corman Crew, this is filled with lots of inside jokes, dark humor, and commentary on exploitation pictures, and the rigors of getting a leg up in Hollywood. A rejuvenated relevance today amid the multitude of internet porn, cel phone Scorcese's, and the #MeToo movement garbage looking for sympathy. This movie is pretty blatant and unapologetic for it's downright cheapness and sexual promiscuity. Then again, it's not to far from the truth that many expect and/or have endured from Hollywood over the years.

I mean, all over the place, with footage from other Corman movies wedged in wherever they can get it. Entertaining enough, I suppose. Definitely the kitchen sink approach.

WOW was Mary Woronov a stone cold Amazonian fox back in her day. Has the best interview on the entire Blu-ray, to boot.

Wait, they could've had The Tubes as the band in this?! And I wouldn't have had to listen to the crappy song they used?

Wildly uneven hit-or-miss spoof of the low budget film industry finds most of its humor by having been produced in the same way the films it makes fun of were made.

If you're a budding actor, especially if you're an Aussie, Aussie, Aussie, you might find this quite engaging, as one girl with promises of fame and stardom, gets off to a bumpy ride, among the streets of L.A. Suffering rejection after rejection, while being used a patsy in a quite inventive and nifty scene, but could she be so stupid one might ask, she secures an agent (Dick Miller, one of few things good about this unimpressive Corman type flick). She suffers the bitchiness, and jealousy that goes with the territory and works with the most uncaring director you'll ever meet. This is is satire, but raises about two laughs, where there's a bit of nastiness to the film. Yes there's some nice babes getting their shirts wet, where being eye candy, where as in reality too, gives you advantage. We have a little bit of violence, tame of course, when matched up against today's standard, where the film does carry an R certificate. On the whole, I found it disappointing, where Candice 'Chatterbox' Rialson, is great scenery, and doesn't do a bad job here. And where there's Paul Bartel, there's Mary Woronov, the actresses around her, threatening competition, who are being knocked off one by one. Have a guess who the killer is? Duh. You don't even have to add up the dots, but the way Woronov bought it was original, and definitely the high point of this insipid and forgettable film.

Essentially a film school experiment with Roger Corman money, Joe Dante and Allan Arkush created a large bulk of Hollywood Boulevard from clips cut from the existing Roger Corman library while using sets and props that Corman already owned and had available. Made for roughly $60,000, it was a huge, relative success, paving the way for both filmmakers, particularly Dante, to start their careers as directors within the Corman machine. That it's somewhat entertaining is almost a miracle.

Miracle Pictures has lost their stunt girl in an accident that kills her (great way to start a comedy, huh?), leaving a Looney Tunes-like hole in the ground when her parachute fails (footage pulled from another movie) to open during a sky-diving scene. Into this situation will walk Candy (Candice Rialson), fresh off the bus from Indiana and ready to make herself a movie star. Sent by the agent Walter Paisley (Dick Miller, easily the movie's best asset), she's soon introduced to the world of independent trash filmmaking through the writer Patrick (Jeffrey Kramer), prima donna Mary (Mary Woronov), producer P. G. (Richard Doran), and director Eric Von Leppe (Paul Bartel). She gets roped into doing a stunt (footage pulled from another movie), and she becomes part of the troupe.

Of course, what makes the film interesting at all beyond being the first entry in Joe Dante's directorial filmography is that interesting production technique of filming the bare minimum to stitch together footage that Corman already had rights to, and it's kind of amazing how cohesive the film ends up being. I mean, it's pretty obvious where the new footage is and where the old footage gets plugged in (the early scene where Candy gets roped into a heist that suddenly turns into a police chase where the expensive bits, the crashes, are obviously from another film). That being said, though, the decision to make this something of a view of the life of a woman trying to enter the lower end of the film industry allows for these kinds of natural extensions of random footage from Depression era chases to a Southeast Asia jungle gun fight to a futuristic car chase to feel natural.

I think if the film had kept with this largely plotless approach to one woman's look at the lower end of the film industry, it would have been able to become actually interesting. There are even moments where Candy reflects on the meat-like status of her nascent career, especially when she has to film a rape scene, hates it, and then watches it at the premiere (at a drive-in). That it ends up being played for laughs is the film at its most uncomfortable and demonstrates that sort of late-70s anarchism of the lower end of the Hollywood machine that even someone like Robert Zemeckis reveled in at the time.

However, the film wants to have its cake and eat it too, filling itself with gratuitous nudity at the same time. It's an uncomfortable mix that feels like the result of a creative team not really realizing what they're doing or simply not really caring that they're trying to have it both ways because they're too young, working too fast, and too eager to scare the squares to resolve its own internal contradictions.

That being said, it is pretty consistently funny. It has a light heart that leans into the loose nature of its narrative and likeability of its stars to get moving and keep moving, never relying on one gag or series of clips for too long. In fact, I was so caught up in its overall spirit and sense of fun that I thought a bit better of it at a certain point than I did when it was over and the film reminded me that people had been dying in the film and it suddenly became some kind of serial killer/slasher whodunit that comes kind of out of nowhere, veers from left to right without settling on anything, and then just quickly resolves. Eh.

As I said, it was more of an experiment than an actual effort at a narrative film, but that being said, it's surprisingly held together decently while having ideas pop up from time to time and a winning personality along the way. I mean, it's not good, but it's far better than it had any right to be. Plus, Dick Miller is kind of hilarious.

but probably nobody else.

A young, beautiful woman (Candice Rialson) comes to Hollywood to become a star. She starts working with Miracle Pictures ("If it's a good picture, it's a miracle") as a stunt girl. Miracle makes nothing but ultra cheap t&a movies. There's the star director (Parl Bartel) who supposedly thinks he's making art and an arrogant diva (Mary Woronov) who wants all the film to herself. Then woman are being killed on the set. Who's doing it...and why?

Film was actually shot in 10 days with directors Joe Dante and Allan Arkush using tons of footage from previous Roger Corman movies. The movie never takes itself too seriously and does have some VERY funny lines. But the plot is way too feeble even at 83 minutes (there's LOTS of padding); the acting is pretty bad (except for Bartel, Woronov and Dick Miller--all having a GREAT time); there is an unnecessary (and stupid) wet T-shirt sequence; there's a very sick rape scene played for laughs (and repeated twice); a very brutal knife slashing and plot holes galore (why DOES that guy at the end have all that stuff about victims in his little shed?).

What kept me watching is the tons of funny little injokes for movie fans. They're way too numerous to mention but they are there. Also it was just released in a 25th anniversary edition and looks just great. Most casual viewers will probably find this dull, stupid and sick--they're right, but it is fun for film fans.

Don't miss the jokes during the closing credits and one right after them.

I recently watched Hollywood Boulevard (1976) on Tubi. The storyline follows a young woman who arrives in Hollywood with nothing but her looks and her car. Shortly after arriving, she's scouted as the perfect fit for low-budget grindhouse films filled with sex, violence, and very little plot. At first, she's thrilled by the attention and the steady stream of roles-but is her career really going anywhere?

The film is co-directed by Allan Arkush (Rock 'n' Roll High School) and Joe Dante (Piranha), and stars Mary Woronov (Death Race 2000), Tara Strohmeier (Truck Turner), Paul Bartel (Piranha), Dick Miller (The Terminator), and Candice Rialson (Stunts).

This is a self-aware parody of the grindhouse genre, made right in the middle of its heyday. The comedy is hit or miss-more misses than hits-but the film leans heavily into the exploitation formula. The cast of women is undeniably attractive, and the movie includes plenty of topless scenes, a wild wet T-shirt contest, and a surprisingly fun roller derby sequence. Things take an even stranger turn when the movie abruptly shifts into Death Race 2000 territory. I did enjoy the random character interviews and the final scenes set at the Hollywood sign.

In conclusion, Hollywood Boulevard is a goofy, uneven grindhouse parody. It's not particularly good, but if you're in the mood for something trashy and self-referential, it's worth a watch. I'd give it a 5/10.

Hollywood Boulevard (1976)

** 1/2 (out of 4)

Fun homage to the trash pictures of the 70s from directors Joe Dante and Allan Arkush. Candy (Candice Rialson) arrives in Hollywood and before long she realizes that becoming a star isn't going to be so easy. After several doors are slammed in her face, she eventually picks up an agent (Dick Miller) who gets her working at Miracle Pictures but soon a maniac is knocking off their stars. Hollywood BOULEVARD's history is actually much more entertaining than the film itself so those interested in the movie should certainly hear how this picture came to be and what type of budget the directors were working with. Overall I think fans of 70's drive-in pictures should get a kick out of this but at the same time there's no question that the majority of the film is just the same note over and over. I say this because when you're spoofing the entire drive-in genre, after a while it's clear that you're just spoofing the same type of stuff only with a different setting. We get a spoof of Philapeano movies, action movies, slashers and just about every other popular thing at the drive-in. These spoofs are actually somewhat clever but I think the film works best early on when the woman first arrives in Hollywood. The scene dealing with a bank robbery is just priceless. Also priceless is the work from Dick Miller who hands down steals the picture in his role as the agent. Rialson is also extremely charming (and beautiful) in her role and she really makes you believe that she's just some young girl who gets in over her head. The supporting players all do justice to their parts. At just 82-minutes the film flies by rather quick and even with its flaws the thing is still worth watching.

I suppose if one was a Roger Corman fan and had watched a lot of his movies, one would really get the humor of this one particular one. For the most part, I couldn't since I've only watched just a few of his movies. But since I do know of his reputation of making cheap movies, I was intrigued by how the whole narrative was going and while I didn't think much of it was funny, it did become humorous to me near the end during a scene involving the Hollywood sign. So maybe someday, if I become more familiar with the Roger Corman filmography, I may watch this again and find it more entertaining...