vandino1

A funny takeoff of 'Misery' with the star of the movie himself (Caan)flat on his back again. Sandra Bernhard plays a less-crazed, but more abrasive sort-of substitute for the Kathy Bates character. This episode also features a bittersweet side to Vanessa Marcil's Sam and the actress handles it well. It's just a TV show, but realistically there is no way a man in a coma for 20 years would wake up and both mentally and physically be essentially back to normal. But playing it closer to reality would have veered the show off into ER-like dramatics that it's not prepared to handle. But that aside, on a pleasant visual note there is also a trio of pretty olive-skinned beauties on display in this episode -- the standout, in my mind, the strikingly pretty Morena Baccarin (formerly featured prominently in the short-lived 'Firefly' Sci-Fi series).

First try and find this film... a VIDEOTAPE TV movie from 1975. That's right: it wasn't even shot on film. But if you do find it (good luck), view this sorry thing with below-the-floor expectations and maybe, just maaaaaaybe you'll squeeze some entertainment out of it. Honestly, there's no need to bother trying. This is godawful nonsense that only rates a viewing for completists of the scintillating screen careers of Andrew Stevens. Michael Parks, and Tige Andrews. Andrews is listed as "Special Guest Star" which seems odd, until you realize by the end of the film that ol' Tige is barely on screen after the first few minutes. Dick Clark produced this sad spectacle and probably doesn't even recall it now (or would be willing to admit to it).

Let's see, what have we got: an embarrassing $1.99 werewolf mask... an embarrassing $1.99 wool-knit beanie hat worn by Michael Parks... a $2.99 replica of the Woodstock Festival stage, and a quick shot of some garbage strewn about in a clearing beyond the stage that is so small that this must have been where the Hamster Woodstock was held, not the full-size festival... a dune buggy chase with a werewolf at the wheel ... and flower child Beckie (Belinda Belaski) who is so tuned into the frequency of her dead pooch named Virgo that she can "feel his pain is not over." But your own pain can end with a quick skip to the finish, or a tossing of this garbage in the nearest receptacle.

Actually I make this sound better, in a supremely cheesy sense, than it truly is. Mostly it's tedious. Be warned. Woof!