Hysterical

There are enough good things about this little-known comedy that the viewer really wants it to work. The Hudson brothers are charismatic and often funny, but the overall ineptness of the production seems to smother them. Despite some very funny gags and lines, Hysterical is hopelessly bogged down by redundancy and a myriad of technical problems. The fact that the director of this film has no other directorial credits may be one indication of why things went badly.

The story centers around a disillusioned yet successful writer who decides to spend a month in a quaint coastal Oregon town to write "the great American novel". Most of his books have been trashy sex stories, and one of the running gags of the film shows people reading his latest book wherever he goes. Even inside a loony bin. Anyway, no sooner does the writer arrive in his new town, than things start going haywire. The body of a deceased sea captain surfaces in the harbor, for example. And the spirit of his old mistress haunts the writer after he moves into the captain's old lighthouse. The town folk are baffled as to the strange goings on, and two crazed adventure seekers are called in to help solve the trouble.

The film is a vehicle for the three Hudson brothers who play the writer and the two adventurers. This film was apparently supposed to make them the Marx Bros of the 1980s. Needless to say, that didn't happen. The three of them are likable, but the material is just too cheesy in many aspects of the film. There are some very funny lines and a few of the running gags are quite funny, too. One involving a crazy guy on a bike warning people "they're doomed" has some clever angles. Of course this is a spoof of the guy from Friday the 13th 1 & 2, and this film spoofs countless other films along the way. One hilarious scene spoofs The Exorcist. The film also hits some good notes with a scene in a library where apparently the only black resident of the town works.

There are all kinds of things wrong with Hysterical, though. First of all, this film was about as technically inept as any film I've ever seen not called R.O.T.O.R.. The lighting is so minimal that you can hardly see which characters are even in some scenes. The editing is choppy, and the special F/X are putrid. Some gags are revisited way too often. There are a total of three musical numbers; one of them seems to last forever. Then there are times when the ancient technique of speeding up the film is used to emphasize the fact that we the audience should be laughing now. And the film has a cheap look to it in general. Even if a film has a tiny budget, there are ways make it look less obvious.

Overall, this film was a nice try, but just not good enough to launch anyone's career. The Hudson brothers are like that crazy uncle everyone has who can be funny for a while, but he just doesn't realize when to turn it on or off. Honestly, there just wasn't enough funny material here to stretch it out into a full length movie. In the end we get a marginally funny film that looks cheap, and probably resulted in more than a few wet and bored actors. Many of them appearing in much better films before and after this one.

4 of 10 stars.

The Hound.

While horribly dated, this film still can make you bray out loud with laughter. In the vein of the Airplane movies, it is simply silly. Some creative editing, while pleasing to the eye, will make natives of Depoe Bay and Newport, Oregon (where most of it was filmed) do a double take and say "what the....?" In summary, a great film if you don't take yourself too seriously.

I saw this movie when I was about 12 years old and taped it off of cable. I know that it was a cable edit because it contained the word "a**hole." But I caught it on cable the other night and noticed a scene that wasn't in the edit I have on tape. The big song and dance number at the fun park near the end. I was floored! So... can anyone else out there support my claim? I know that there is an edit floating around without the dance number. Either way... this movie isn't exactly brilliant. It was extremely fulfilling for me at 12, and now that I'm still emotionally 12 it's still pretty good. But your Leonard Maltin types aren't going to dig it.

Those panning this film are taking the jokes at pure face value. And that's good, because the film doesn't try to be too clever, but some of the humor requires you to sit back, burn a thought or two, and then sit back with a chuckle or grin. Thus I think some of those people giving the film a thumbs down are expecting a bit much.

It's the kind of film that's worth being a cult classic, but was striving for more.

So, does anyone remember the Hudson Brothers? Me neither ... OK, that's not entirely true, when I was younger I vaguely remember seeing a small portion of their short lived (and thankfully defunct) TV show.

The Hudson brothers can (and I emphasize; CAN) be funny, but more often than not spend so much time trying to be clever that they themselves forget that they too need to create a joke or two, and not just pull a semi-clever gag or act funny while relying on some clever visual references.

Well, the thing's out on DVD, but no letterbox nor commentary on this disk (go figure). And I'm glad for that, for if the Hudson Brothers had decided to make a collector's edition of their film, then it would've shown that they still hadn't learned their lesson from years back.

Even so, like a lot of the other aficionados, it's primitive (and I mean that in a good way) sense of humor is worth a few smiles, and an occasional laugh. It's a good hearted film that means well, and does no harm.

Something that might've helped this movie during production would've been a better film stock grade, and a more professional shooting schedule because it looks as if it were shot as a made for TV movie, even though it saw theatrical release. This tells me that someone above the Hudson Brothers knew not only the film's ultimate fate, but also that of the Hudson Brothers' comedy career.

I usually couldn't stomach the Hudson Bros' brand of humor before this movie. I thought they were mindless morons, even as they related to fellow talk show guests. But I sat down in 1985 or so when this came out on cable and was pleasantly surprised at how funny this movie really is.

If you appreciated John Larroquette as D.A. Dan Fielding on TV's Nightcourt, you'll love him as Bob X. Cursion, the impudent but oblivious, pot-smoking boating tour guide in Hysterical.

And who couldn't be amused by Robert Donner as the "prophet" who, riding his rickety bicycle through the lanes of the lighthouse town warns, "You're doomed!"

Yeah, it's ridiculous and far-fetched, similar to some of the antics in Princess Bride, or The Burbs. My son, now 31, and I have talked about this movie for years, (not so with The Burbs). It's not in my top 20, but definitely worth renting if you want to see a funny "horror" movie.