Reel Wild Cinema

WHEN WE WONDER what to do with that which is no longer useful, popular or salable, we only have to think of a use that is anything above that of complete waste. It has been said that "One Man's Junk Is Another Man's Treasure." There is a place for everything and everything in its place.

SO IT MUST have occurred one day that there was a wealth of Grade "Z" movies out there, just gathering dust and slowly decomposing.What could be done with them? There had always been a market for such inexpensively made (just plain "Cheap") fare. We had probably a couple of thousand or so Drive-Ins in the USA circa 1960. These outlets craved those previously mentioned productions from what could be called "Ultra-Poverty Row" studios.

BUT THE SITUATION morphed rather quickly as competition fro Cable TV proliferated and as of this writing, Drive-Ins are a definite "Endangered Species" with their number down to 357. Still, a lot of residue in he name of such companies as American-International, Sun International and Schlock Pictures*remind.

THEN IT HAPPENED! One day, some rather enterprising young men thought of doing a syndicated show which would at one time serve two widely disparate functions. One would serve to familiarize younger generations with such vanished tidbits of Americana. Secondly and the truer main purpose is that it was a chance to make some $$$$.

WE RECALL VIEWING this on some cable channel and we did enjoy it. We even looked for it, in spite of its Hostess being Sandra Barnhardt; whose mission in life seems to be as obnoxious and repulsive as she can be.

OH WELL, PERHAPS we're being too harsh on you, Sandra. Both Schultz and I enjoyed the show and the "films: that you showcased. Thanx for that anyway!

OH WAIT JUST a minute. Schultz says he likes you and wishes you'd do more episodes! Well, to each his own!

This was a good show while it lasted. I never saw the earlier episodes with Elvira, but the ones with Sandra Bernhard were very cool viewing late at night.

As basically a Mystery Science Theatre 3000 copy, parts of horrible old films would be shown, which would be followed by strange jokes and comments from the hostess. Many of the shows I saw had simply awful old 1950's and 60's soft porn films from Italy, Sweden and places like that. No nudity or sex or anything like that, but lots of large breasted girls running around in loincloths and such.

Probably not as great as MST3K, but I liked it nevertheless.

This is probably the best thing that Sandra Bernhard has done. I really enjoyed watching this show because of the fact that it pretty much played like a weekly version of the film "It Came From Hollywood". I can honestly say that I enjoy a show that pokes fun at some of the most outrageous films ever released. Also the voyeur in me enjoyed the exploitation/nudie flicks that had no redeeming value other than to get all us red blooded American men excited. Too bad this show isn't on anymore. I also enjoyed the interview segments with some of the stars of this film, especially one of the legendary Russ Meyer sexpots, Tura Satana. It probably would be an even bigger hit today.

Late Night on Sunday the USA Network would show Sandra B. hosting a series about B-movies, drive-in horror flicks and exploitation films from the 50's and 60's. VERY cool! I think it would last a lot longer if it were brought back today, since there is more of an appreciation for all things "offbeat" and weird. Way back in 1994 (chuckle) I guess there just wasn't a market. But you can still buy the movies from Something Weird Video, which rocks.

This show was really one of a kind, because it did something the other "cheap movie" shows didn't - it walked a line between making fun of the movies and being a genuine tribute to them. Even the guest stars, who were often people FROM those movies, weren't a guarantee of that, because it could've easily been full of the actors saying, "God, I can't believe I was IN THAT!" ad nauseum. But instead, it had them and Sandra Bernhardt really discussing the UP side of the things (with jokes mixed in, of course). I'm sure it was no coincidence that it came out right after the movie "Ed Wood," which had that same approach. As far as the show "analyzed" the movies, it told you one important thing, and that's that maybe, just maybe, instead of the makers of these movies fooling themselves by thinking that they were doing something very serious, they THEMSELVES had an easy-going attitude toward them. In fact, one (partial) slogan for the show went, "What's the difference between these movies and the big ones today? - millions of dollars and a sense of humor." In other words, it's the CHEAP ones that HAD a sense of humor about themselves (regardless of what people might think), and weren't ALWAYS "unintentionally funny". As hugely attached as I am to MST3K, this show was a real "antidote" to that whole OVERWORKED "insult" approach to the same subject. Anyway, this "theme" of the show, and the show in general, and Bernhardt's part in it (which always seemed full of enthusiasm) made the whole thing work.