Slok

This is an early film from John Landis made when he was just 21 years old and funded by family and friends but not released until 1973. He shows a deft touch for writing and directing goofball comedy and this was far more entertaining than I had anticipated.

Landis also wears the monkey suit as Schlock, courtesy of make-up artist Rick Baker, who is the missing link between ape and man. Both Landis and Baker would go on to create the groundbreaking transformation make-up effects for An American Werewolf in London (1981) with Baker receiving an Academy award. Here though the Schlock suit is not quite as sophisticated but Landis delivers some good physical slapstick comedy dressed as the prehistoric creature in a nod to The Three Stooges. This also marks the beginning of the long running professional relationship Landis had with producer and editor George Folsey Jr.

There's not much plot involved about locals discovering an ape like creature in a well which then goes on the rampage but a noteworthy highlight is a lampoon of Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) and quotes from other movies such as Love Story (1970) and the original King Kong (1933). Essentially this is a 1950's B movie parody with a string of gags and quickfire lunacy that sweeps you along with it's silly but good natured humour in much the same vein as the early Woody Allen films.

Schlock also features the phrase 'See You Next Wednesday', a quote lifted from the aforementioned 2001 and is a running gag featured in every John Landis movie. Some of the on screen lunacy would be later refined by Landis for his more accomplished comedies like The Kentucky Fried Movie (1977) and The Blues Brothers (1980).

Don't let this minor cult classic be the missing link in your John Landis collection.

I actually saw this in the theatre where they filmed the movie theatre sequence just a few months before. I think the movie was only out for about a week, but my buddies and I caught it twice! Even dragged our drama teacher to see it (he loved it).

This is the kind of high-school humor that was a carry over from the Three Stooges and is still going strong, but Landis was one of the first to bring it up to date.

I think they shot this in 16mm (it looks it) and the photography has all the depth of a Wilderness Family entry, but the laughs are very much there. And this had one of the most memorable ad campaign tag lines in history: "Due to the horrifying nature of this film, no one will be admitted."

It was also the only film I know of which had ads featuring a rave by Johnny Carson. It's low budget, but high yuks. I still remember it fondly (Hey, Landis, please return to your comic roots of the 70s and 80s; we don't need another Woody Allen).

You won't see big stars or great acting performances in this production. It's not a masterpiece but it's cool because it parodies some famous movies. And, although silly, there are many funny scenes. The scene with the two twin girls and the puppy eating the cake, the scene when Schlock coming out of the cinema disgusted by the big crap with Steve McQueen called "The Blob", the scene when Schlock dismembers the red car, the scene with the boy who asks Schlock to take him to pee and, very funny, the scene when Schlock plays the piano with the blind man. Unfortunately, the ending is sad, beauty kills Schlock.

This is a truly bad film in almost every conceivable way: Poorly scripted, amateurishly acted, badly directed, and incompetently edited, but is saved by director Landis himself: His largely improvised performance in Rick Baker's excellent "monkey suit" for most of the second half of the film is laugh-out-loud funny in places, truly saving an otherwise forgettable film.

Sadly, despite Mr. Landis's encyclopedic knowledge of early cinema, many opportunities to parody or pay homage to other monster movies are missed. For example, the sequence where Schlock is feeding the ducks at the pond is just asking for a reference to the "flower" scene from James Whale's "Frankenstein". (Or is this reference enough? Hmm.) Other similar opportunities are missed throughout.

The reviews for this movie here are mainly positive. And it's no surprise. This is a very, Very strong first movie. In fact, it looks almost exactly like the more famous Landis movies down to the lighting and editing. It does have some silly stuff in it, and there are scenes to make the picture longer. But the movie never feels constricted by its low budget, it successfully pokes fun at it. Landis is great as the titular ape and Rick Baker's done a great job on the mask - it even allowed Landis to emote. Eric Roberts' wife plays a blind girl who befriends Schlock thinking he's a dog, but soon she regains her sight and then!... Schlock's really funny, it looks like it's someone's first movie only for the first 15 minutes, and then it becomes big and quite enjoyable.