It Came from Hollywood

It's just sad how little this movie is recognized and how it has been recalled for DVD. You have some of the biggest stars of the time taking about bad B movies of the 50's 60's and 70's like A.p.e the giant claw Earth vs the flying saucers the Colossal man. I can only imagine a movie like this today stars like johnny Depp Leonardo Dicaprio Jake Gyllenhaal Taking about old B movies of the past including ones from the 80's like Hobgoblins the Abomination Deadly spawn Lobster man from mars and bad shot on video movies. This is a classic that more people should know about all the stars do a good job the clips are great it never takes it self seriously. I first saw this on HBO way back in 92 or 93 and i will never forget the first time seeing it this any fan of John Candy Gilda Radner Dan Aykroyd or b movies should see it.

This film still has me rolling whenever I see it. This film not only makes fun of the grade Z stinkers, but in it's on weird way, pays tribute to these films at the same time. The only problem I have with it is the fact that it includes two classic sci-fi films, "The Incredible Shrinking Man" and "War of the Worlds". Other than that this is one funny film, especially Cheech and Chong's look at the anti-drug films like "Reefer Madness" and "High School Confidential".

One of the reasons I liked this film so much was because it actually featured Guilala. Dan Aykroyd and John Candy make comments about the best and worst Sci-Fi movies like Plan 9 from Outer Space and other films by Ed Wood. It also features Attack of the Mushroom People and X from Outer Space. I loved it. Recommended to everybody.

...for several reasons. For one, a couple of these cast members - actually narrators - left us too soon. That would be John Candy and Gilda Radner. Also, it mixes the comedy styles of SCTV's John Candy, the original Saturday Night Live crew members of Gilda Radner and Dan Akroyd, and Cheech and Chong. This was right before the "Just Say No Era" and Zero Tolerance aged out the latter's style of humor. The 70s were just a more lay back era, even with the shag carpet and the high inflation.

Next, there are all of the B sci-fi and horror movies shown here. This film was made during a bridge era when the old B movies were not being shown that much anymore on TV, and long before youtube and Turner Classic Movies and even the dawn of VHS made them accessible again. And just to let you know, some of these films are not even of the sci-fi/horror genre. Several of them are early sound musicals from the early 1930s, probably even harder to find at the time than the 50s horror films.

And finally, and I think another reviewer even mentioned this in his title, this film was my introduction to Ed Wood Jr. At first I thought it was some kind of a joke. The production code was still in force in the 1950s. How are they going to let you make a film about cross dressing? That was just how B minus Ed Wood's films were. They never even got on the radar of the censors.

It could probably never have a DVD release because of all of the rights of all of the films involved, plus the music. But it is on youtube if you ever want a look back at a look back.

The film's genesis came from the Golden Turkey Awards books by the Medved Brothers, but got morphed into a sorta Cult Movie version of the THAT'S ENTERTAINMENT! Series. It features clips from dozens of B movies separated into segments like: Aliens, Gorillas, Monsters, The Brain, Giants and Tiny People, Technical Triumphs, Troubled Teenagers, Prevues/Coming Attractions and A Salute to Edward D. Wood, Jr.. The chapters were hosted by Comedians Dan Aykroyd, John Candy, Cheech and Chong and Gilda Radner.

IT moves pretty quickly and has some laughs along its 80 minute runtime. IT was where I first encounted the glories of THE GIANT CLAW on the big screen! Some of the dozens of movies excerpted include PLAN 9 FROM OUTER SPACE, ROBOT MONSTER, THE CRAWLING EYE, TEENAGERS FROM OUTER SPACE, REPTILICUS, THE INCREDIBLE MELTING MAN and ATTACK OF THE KILLER TOMATOES.

Unfortunately, Directors Malcolm & Andrew Solt included clips from some very good movies including THE INCREDIBLE SHRINKING MAN and THE DAY THE EARTH STILL (and over the objections of the oriiginal Director and the Medveds). It definitely takes away from the experience, and some of the comedy intros seem quickly tossed together.

Unfortunately, IT CAME FROM HOLLYWOOD hasn't been available legally since the days of VHS and Laserdisc because of rights issues over the myriad of clips. A DVD was announced 20 years ago, but never issued. You can easily find it on YouTube and through grey-marked DVD dealers. It's worth seeking out.