Zapped!

Hey, it's a 1980s video-type movie. It's a one-gag picture with some amusing moments, some dumb moments, and a titillating finale. Don't pay more than a buck to rent it. Scott Baio is... well, Scott Baio. Enough said.

Though this is watchable, it does get a little played after awhile. For some reason, this movie isn't as good as one thinks it could be, when you first hear what its about. I think zapped could have been a little more creatvie in how the powers were actually put to use, to many girls being disrobed etc etc, it's fun at first-but there's nothing done thats spectacular or strongly memorable. It is just a nice little movie about a boy who develops special powers. The movie could have had more of a field day with creative innovative ways to use those powers! But nothing special happens at all.

This movie isn't especially terrible but cannot come close to some of the more well done 80's movies, not enough creativity went into developing an entertaining idea. The movie becomes a bit to formulatic and "been there,done that". I'd give this just a 5 out of 10. Not bad, but not particularly good either.

And I ain't joshin'.

Why Scott Baio gets the proverbial shaft when great actors are discussed is beyond me. Here's a cat who has dated all the hottest tail and was the driving force behind what is arguably the edgiest, most acerbic teen flick ever in "Zapped!" ... yet he is often mentioned in the same breath with the two-headed Corey Monster (Haim and Feldman) and his frequent, far less dramatically astute compatriot, Mr. Willie Aames. Such degradation is tantamount to a travesty.

This movie is a cutting comedic triumph. Baio's character makes incisive observations about the empty rhetoric of adolescence, and challenges authority not only with his telekinetic powers, but alcohol, tobacco and sex. And let's examine the telekinesis closer -- is it just another one of those blessing-and-a-curse afflictions that finds the right guy or girl? Absolutely not. We're talking about a uniquely Zen ideal, a manifestation of a young man's private internal nirvana in the laboratory of the local high school. Beakers move, brooms sweep up debris, roulette wheels spin out of control, dad tosses liquid laxative all over himself uncontrollably ... this is a celluloid incarnation of unrivaled genius.

Alas, who am I kidding? This movie is stupid bad. And yet I still love it, dammit. So sue me.

It's your basic 80's teen comedy. How can you identify this unique sub-genre? Look for a movie with a good brunette and an evil/bad girl blonde.

Scatman Crothers was probably embarrassed to list this on his resume, but Christopher Aames is actually kinda funny in a few spots: he does a decent Groucho impersonation near the end.

Baio and Schacter have some decent chemistry, and for some odd reason I really like the music. Other then that, it's pretty much a guilty pleasure.

I just bought a copy of Zapped for $5 and watched it for the first time in several years the other day. All the reviews you will read for the movie here sum it up. It's a bad story, with bad actors, with bad acting, with bad special effects and I enjoy it every time I watch it. I don't know why because I've never liked Scott Baio or Willie Aames in anything else they did, but they click here. I also think Felice Schacter was a cutie in the picture. I always make the comparison to WKRP in Cincinnati when I watch this picture. Felice is Bailey Quarters and Heather Thomas is Loni Anderson's Jennifer (and I preferred Bailey by far). I always got a kick out of Scatman Crothers and he has some great lines in this movie as does LaWanda Page (from Sanford and Son fame). And don't forget the movie industry's biggest geek, Eddie Deezen, who makes an appearance.

As another reviewer put it, watching Zapped is a guilty pleasure. if that's the case, I probably belong on Death Row! If you want to clear your mind of all thoughts and don't want to do it with chemicals, pop in Zapped and enjoy!