Au revoir papa

Beth (Nell Regan) and Michael Nicholas (Patrick Regan III) are two country kids blessed with "the power", which would seem to be an extremely advanced form of telekinesis. Their father Guy (Will Rand) home-schools them, with periodic check-ins from a Board of Education employee, Nora Dennis ("Texas Chain Saw Massacre" Final Girl Marilyn Burns), because he doesn't want them taken away and subjected to experiments. But one day, a degenerate biker gang come onto the family property and soon kill Daddy. Left largely unchecked, there's nothing to stop the kids from resurrecting Guy and turning him into Zombie-Daddy, and using Zombie-Daddy to get revenge on anybody who rubs them the wrong way. Former singing star Fabian Forte ("Get Crazy") is on hand as the new local Deputy faced with the resulting baffling deaths.

This is not a "good" film in the slightest; badly written, badly directed (by the kids' father, Patrick Regan), and obviously done on the cheap, it's awkward as all-get-out. Still, it's enough of a curiosity to keep it watchable. There's absolutely no gore, but there is nudity (from co-star Gay French as the female biker), and there are some amusing moments of utter silliness. The hilarious ooga-booga electronic music score by David Spear is priceless accompaniment.

Fabian is utterly bland as the hero, but Burns offers some charm as the gal turned on by him, prompting her to utter come-ons like "I've got some evidence for you to examine". The kids are flat and charisma-free, unfortunately, although Patrick III comes off somewhat better than Nell. The supporting cast includes familiar faces such as Jon Cedar ("Day of the Animals"), Marvin Miller (voice of Robby the Robot), Jed Mills ("New Year's Evil"), and Robert Dryer (the villain in "Savage Streets").

Had this been made with more of a budget, and more talent behind the camera, this might have been something to savour. As it is, it's basically an offbeat, obscure little piece of work that may intrigue some devoted cult movie aficionados. The strangest thing about it is realizing that some of the people involved (James Ursini, Alain Silver, Elizabeth Ward) are better known as film noir experts!

Five out of 10.

I can't really explain why...it IS boring and dull, but there was something about it that makes me want to see it again. I guess it's just one of those weird movies that I have an unexplainable soft spot for. Oh well.

This inferior quality film has a few decent ideas at work...a young girl and boy are siblings with telekinetic powers, and are kept hidden from the world by their protective father, who fears that they will be taken for scientific study should their secret become revealed. Their incommunicado home is invaded by some nasty bikers whose punkish antics result in the Father's death, obviously leaving the kids in quite a pickle. Unsure of what to do, they use their paranormal abilities to resurrect their father...thus begins a bloody rampage of zombie vengeance.

A poorly shot flummox with flavorless performances, KISS DADDY GOODBYE somehow manages to retain a level of watchability in a quirky sort of way...I suspect it could have been great had it been made under better conditions.

Take it or leave it. 4/10

I rented this only because Marilyn Burns was in it, and I am a huge fan of hers and of "Texas Chainsaw Massacre," where she played her most famous role of Sally, the terror-stricken heroine. I had seen her in "Eaten Alive," Tobe Hooper's follow-up to TCM, and she was great in that. And I wondered if she would keep that same style of acting in this. (If you've seen her in those two movies, you'll know exactly what I'm talking about.)

What a surprise, she played an extremely timid role, and it was interesting to see her acting in such a contemporary manner. She plays Nora Dennis, a social worker of some sorts who checks on these two children every month. The children are these two little psychic kids whose father was killed by roadhogs. They bring him back through "the Power" to exact revenge, and thus he does, in a very boring manner.

The other part of the movie is Nora meeting and becoming involved with this cop who is investigating some on what's going on in the movie. Burns plays the role well, but I've seen her do better, and she never actually gets to pull off that Sally-like performance that made her first two roles so memorable. In fact, this film in a whole is quite timid, and pretty boring. There is no blood whatsoever (not that I'm a gorehound, but some would be okay.) It's a weak movie, and I can't recommend it much. But fans of Burns might be interested in seeing her in this film.

I saw this years and years ago on Elvira. It was amusing because of the strange, stilted quality of the child actors. Years later I met the producer at a cook out in Santa Monica. She was very self effacing and sweet. Once in awhile I would see her on the street and wave.

In the early nighties they opened a "Hogie" sandwich place at a maul at Pico and La Cienega in L.A. The put up a sign advertising the Fabian would be there making a special appearance. I thought it was kinda funny. I didn't go to see if he was there for the opening. I think I had a sandwich there once. I don't know if it's there anymore.

I remember you used to see the big sized box for this film at the video store.