The Wonderful Land of Oz

OK, so this has its moments of "so bad, it's good", but they are much too few and far between. Try sitting through even the short version without fast-forwarding only if you are in need of sleep or seriously enjoy self-inflicted pain. Otherwise, fans of even the worst cinematic dreck should simply watch the 1st five or six minutes of this to capture the flavor of the fiasco, and then scan forward to scenes where new characters are introduced. Or better yet, look for the sampler reel currently available on youtube. "Highlights" of the film include the unbelievably horrible line readings of the lead child actor (the son of director Barry Mahon), the first poorly-timed "moo" of the paper-mache cow (actually just the head of a cow), the "why am I even here" lethargy of poorly-recorded "The Pumpkinhead", and - I suppose - the flying, talking reindeer and the "The Wogglebug". And, oh yes, the mini-skirted army of Gen. Jinjur, actresses that were likely borrowed from the cast of the two adult features Mahon was making (FANNY HILL MEETS THE RED BARON and FANNY HILL MEETS DR. EROTICO) around the very same time that this film was in production.

This film is dreadfully painful to try and sit through. I watched it with the Rifftrax guys and even that didn't help too much. Burn this film.

What can I say? This "movie" makes Robot Monster look like Citizen Kane. In Robot Monster, the acting was better, it had special effects (stock footage of dinosaurs and atomic explosions) and a memorable character, and more importantly, a coherent storyline. The Wonderful Land of Oz had NONE of these. Watch the Rifftrax version, frealin' hilarious.

Viewing this film left me utterly dumbfounded. I was truly shocked that anybody, at any strata of the movie business, could have produced it and managed to have it released. The plot is described hilariously in meticulous detail in the "External Reviews" section here, so I won't recount it all. Suffice it to say that I've never seen so brazen a display of non-talented "talent" as that on display in this alleged entertainment. It was a joy! Definitely bad in the good way, if you're inclined to watch cinematic dreck for its camp appeal.

The juvenile hero of the piece was Channy Mahon, the son of its producer/director, Barry Mahon. On hearing his first line delivery, my jaw dropped in disbelief. Imagine the sort of monotonous, comatose recitation any average schoolchild will deliver when forced to read aloud in class. Now administer half a bottle of Nyquil to that same child, wait an hour, demand another reading, and you'll get some idea of what young Channy Mahon's line delivery was like. Priceless. He did look cute in that Eddie Munster outfit, though.

The adult cast ranged from merely competent to embarrassingly awful. The sets were apparently made of painted cardboard and plywood. The costumes were, on the whole, surprisingly decent. The songs – oh the songs! You'll want to travel back in time, in "Back to the Future" fashion, just to prevent their conception – and Channy's as well (sorry Channy, I know it wasn't really your fault).

This is an epicurean treat for afficionados of bad cinema. To those looking for actual entertainment in the conventional sense, steer well clear!

The Wonderful Land of Oz (1969)

** (out of 4)

Tip (Chan Mahon) and Jack the Pumpkinhead (George Wadsworth) end up in the Emerald City where the poor Scarecrow has been overthrown by an evil woman. With the help from the Tin Man the group sets out to make the city great again.

THE WONDERFUL LAND OF OZ will never be confused with the 1939 classic but I must admit that I found it to be rather charming in its own low-budget, campy way. Director Barry Mahon made a number of sexploitation films in his career but towards the end of it he started making some kid movies. This version of the Oz tale is without question one of the silliest but it's fun, which is the most important thing.

Now, when I say the film is fun I'm not meaning it's some sort of classic because it's far from that. What makes this movie fun is the fact that it's a pretty nutty movie from start to finish. The costumes of the characters are certainly the highlight (or low-light) because they look rather silly but at the same time they're rather addictive simply because it adds a certain weird atmosphere to the picture. Jack the Pumpkinhead is a prime example and I really feel bad for the actor having to walk around with that large pumpkin on his head.

Chan Mahon, the director's son, takes the lead role and he certainly wasn't an actor. He messes up several lines and his line delivery is so slow that you can't help but be mildly charmed by the non- professional performance. The film obviously had a very low budget but this just adds to the rather bizarre atmosphere. The sets are certainly nothing special but this really just comes across as a bunch of friends getting together and filming a low-budget movie with what limited items they have available.