Apocalisse a Frogtown - La città delle rane

The only thing I got to complain about Hell Comes to Frogtown is the fact that it did not exploit its potential to full extent. This is solid 80s cheese with lots of stupid but fun ideas, a cheesy show on a B-movie budget. On the other side of the coin the action and sleaziness factor is not that high - I know a lot of movies of the genre that provide here a higher level. Anyway, watchable for the connoisseur of cheesy post-apocalyptic B-movies. Starring Roddy Piper (They Live!), Sandahl Bergman (Conan The Barbarian, Red Sonja, She).

Just saw this one last night. Very goofy. After nuclear war, most people are either dead or sterile. Roddy Piper (Sam Hell) is Shanghai'd by the new govt to go around impregnating those women who are still fertile. They slap a male chastity belt on him and tell him "it's government equipment now." There's also some psycho army guy who's really cheesed that women are in charge of so many things now. (This was made in 1987. I checked, because this guy seemed to belong in 1887.) The army women drive around in cars painted Mary Kay pink.

Then they have to go rescue a bunch of fertile women who are being held prisoner in Frogtown. By frogs. Seriously. A bunch of people in frog masks/gloves run the place. Apparently, frogmen arose instantly as a result of radiation. (May I remind you... 1987. Hello???!?!) Anyway, the head frog is called Toady. Really.

There's bad acting and cheesy sets galore. I have no idea why this is rated R. (Oh, 1987.) They talk about impregnating women/sex a lot, but we see a total of 2 breasts for about 2 seconds. There are also a few scantily-clad, but completely-covered bimbo scenes. I get the feeling that they originally intended this to be a late-night-cine max kind of thing, then just went for campy comedy instead. As a female, this decision is not disappointing to me, but male viewers may feel cheated. :)

According to Netflix, this film "spawned two sequels." Why?? Did this actually make money???? Well, it looks like it was shot in Agua Dulce for about $10,000 so maybe it did. Was this a straight to video, or did it have a theatrical run? Anyone know?

Hell Comes to Frogtown is a hilarious cult classic. The plot alone makes this one a must see. It's the stuff of legends. No kidding, the greatest plot of all time. Get this: Rowdy Roddy Piper is one of the last fertile men on the planet. He has some kind of super sperm and humanity is a dying race because of a lack of fertile men and women. So, he is forced by a largely female government called MedTech to go to Frogtown (ruled by mutated Frog people known as Greeners) to rescue fertile women from the evil Toady so he can impregnate them. It's all in the name of freedom of course. Great huh? The supporting cast features Sandahl Bergman, Big Will Smith, Nicholas Worth, and Rory Calhoun. Rent only if you're looking for laughs, and laughs you'll get. A thousand thanks go to Anchor Bay for re-releasing this hard to find classic.

'Hell' is the name of the hero of the story. He's a prisoner of the women who now run the USA after a nuclear/biological war. Results of the war are that mutants have evolved, and the human race is in danger of extinction due to infertility. Hell is given the task of helping in the rescue of a group of people from the harem of the mutant leader (resembling a frog). Hell cannot escape since he has a bomb attached to his private parts which will detonate if he strays more than a few hundred yards from his guard. Some cool special effects (the frog creatures look really good), bad acting, cheesy plot....Leave your brain at the front door, there's some entertainment to be found here.

"Hell Comes to Frogtown" seems to have many of the necessary ingredients to become a genuine cult classic, but the execution is uninspired and the film is not NEARLY as much schlocky fun as it could have been. The main problem is the pacing, which is, in a word, deadening: there are long stretches of nothing happening. In a movie like this, the No 1 thing you want to see is "Rowdy" Roddy Piper and Sandahl Bergman kick a lot of mutant frog butt. They do, but to a much lesser degree than you might expect (even after Piper enters a room holding two shotguns and yells "Eat lead, froggies!"). It doesn't help that large portions of the film seem to have been filmed in a small, dusty warehouse. But Piper is likable enough, Sandahl Bergman and Cec Verrell are 2 strong & sexy women, and the "frog effects" are acceptable, so I'm giving this a higher rating than it probably deserves: ** out of 4 stars.