clavallie

Not spectacular, but an amusing half hour or thereabouts... the comments on natural childbirth and the lassie scenes alone make it worth watching. The premise is that a young, married couple, she hugely pregnant, move into a neighborhood full of dog owners, many of whom are quite irresponsible about their dogs. Sleep deprivation ensues and that sets the stage for this dark comedy. Judge Reinhold is the central character and he does well as the nice, affable guy pushed past reason by noisy or aggressive dogs and that beast most feared by all sensible men: A hormonal, pregnant wife. This flick will be especially appreciated, not by dog lovers, but by those who must tolerate them.

This is an absolutely horrible movie (though still better than both Queerwolf and On Deadly Ground (best use of Michael Caine's hair to sop up oil spills)). However, it is almost worth owning if you choose to just fast forward to the credits for the theme song. Any vampire movie with the line "Vampire hookers... they'll suck more than your blood" in it is worth putting next to your copy of A Polish Vampire In Burbank on your schlock shelf. There isn't much more to say about this movie except that it is very difficult to fill out ten lines of commentary about it that aren't merely "Ow... that hurt my brain" repeated over and over and over. Ow... that hurt my brain.

I only get to see this when its on TV and have never yet had the pleasure of seeing the film in its entirety. Definitely one of Tyrone Powers' best performances, and a superb supporting cast. Surprising for Hollywood of the time (and for Hollywood of all time, actually), the flavor of the film and its characters are accurate to the time and place of the film's setting.

This film and Leslie Howard's "Pimpernel Smith" are two of the films I most regret lacking from my film library.

Why is this not on DVD? Why is Myra Breckinridge, On Deadly Ground, and Gigli? Proof positive that movie industry executive have their heads firmly inserted in warm, dark, and smelly place.