A businessman and his friends are captured by a sadistic judge and his equally odd family in a bizarre mansion in the backwoods.A businessman and his friends are captured by a sadistic judge and his equally odd family in a bizarre mansion in the backwoods.A businessman and his friends are captured by a sadistic judge and his equally odd family in a bizarre mansion in the backwoods.
- Awards
- 2 wins & 6 nominations total
James Staszkiel
- Dealer #2
- (as James Staskel)
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Featured reviews
Chevy Chase, Dan Akroyd, John Candy, and the Humpty Hump.
Enough said.
Enough said.
This flick has just the right mixture of stupid, funny, gross, disturbing, and completely off the wall. And most importantly, it was reviled by the critics, big qualifier there. If this was a midnight movie, I'd go see it. It would be great to occupy the after hours.
DAN AYKROYD is a comedy genius & legend & here he has directed his one & only movie & it's just so much fun!!! It got so much hate & yet it's just pure fun from a comedy genius!!! A crazy old man who Aykroyd plays, we have the other comedy king CHEVY CHASE who is always fun to watch & dan Aykroyds close buddy in real life is great here & we have the BRILLIANT JOHN CANDY who also is fantastic & a comic genius & an all round good cast & good characters. Aykroyd done a great job directing & his movie is a good fun & very inventive Comedy Thriller!!! Never follow critics just like & enjoy what you like, i do.
Now with that being said i do get that this is a bizarre & weird film as it sits between silly comedy & dark horror Thriller & it tried to get that "Beetlejuice" vibe going & in a way it did but obviously won't ever be a Classic like Tim Burtons Masterpiece.
Dan Aykroyd is a childhood hero of mine, i grew up watching him in the Classic "Ghostbusters films" & "Trading Places" & "Spies Like Us" & "Coneheads" & "Celtic Pride" & "My Stepmother Is an Alien" & "Dragnet" & "My Girl" & "The Great Outdoors" & others, it's safe to say Aykroyd is a guy that has always been there making me laugh through my childhood & teens & still today as a family man, i love Aykroyd!!!!
Aykroyd is a Genius as a writer, actor & of creative mind, i think he's the smartest of all the actors & his Classic work proves it.
For a first movie & a big studio production i think Aykroyd's Wacky & weird Horror-Comedy "Nothing But Trouble" is a misunderstood Cult Classic, it's supposed to be strange & freaky & bizarre, it came from the incredibly creative mind of a comic genius & it's alot of fun!!!
Aykroyd puts in a fantastic & manic performance here as the wacky old timer judge of his corrupted land, a monster of this nightmare like fantasy world that is dark but also ridiculously fun.
Chevy Chase is his sarcastic & silly self (Always loved Chase) & is in a good lead role & even Demi Moore is fine here & John Candy r.i.p is always a joy to see him being silly on screen, a great cast in fact.
The look is incredible with amazing cinematography by the best in the business DEAN CUNDY & the sets & production design is incredible, the detail of the set pieces is Amazing to look at, the mansion is beautiful & makes the film come off feeling like a big fun wild roller coaster ride.
Bizarre yes but still fun & very entertaining.
Now with that being said i do get that this is a bizarre & weird film as it sits between silly comedy & dark horror Thriller & it tried to get that "Beetlejuice" vibe going & in a way it did but obviously won't ever be a Classic like Tim Burtons Masterpiece.
Dan Aykroyd is a childhood hero of mine, i grew up watching him in the Classic "Ghostbusters films" & "Trading Places" & "Spies Like Us" & "Coneheads" & "Celtic Pride" & "My Stepmother Is an Alien" & "Dragnet" & "My Girl" & "The Great Outdoors" & others, it's safe to say Aykroyd is a guy that has always been there making me laugh through my childhood & teens & still today as a family man, i love Aykroyd!!!!
Aykroyd is a Genius as a writer, actor & of creative mind, i think he's the smartest of all the actors & his Classic work proves it.
For a first movie & a big studio production i think Aykroyd's Wacky & weird Horror-Comedy "Nothing But Trouble" is a misunderstood Cult Classic, it's supposed to be strange & freaky & bizarre, it came from the incredibly creative mind of a comic genius & it's alot of fun!!!
Aykroyd puts in a fantastic & manic performance here as the wacky old timer judge of his corrupted land, a monster of this nightmare like fantasy world that is dark but also ridiculously fun.
Chevy Chase is his sarcastic & silly self (Always loved Chase) & is in a good lead role & even Demi Moore is fine here & John Candy r.i.p is always a joy to see him being silly on screen, a great cast in fact.
The look is incredible with amazing cinematography by the best in the business DEAN CUNDY & the sets & production design is incredible, the detail of the set pieces is Amazing to look at, the mansion is beautiful & makes the film come off feeling like a big fun wild roller coaster ride.
Bizarre yes but still fun & very entertaining.
This is another underrated horror comedy from yesteryear. The movie is just weird and wonky. Dan Akroyd wrote, directed and stars along with Demi Moore ( G.I Jane), Chevy Chase (Fletch) and the late, great John Candy (Uncle Buck) in dual roles. The movie concerns a smarmy yuppie (Chase), the girl he's interested in (Moore) a couple of foreign rich kids and an I'll fated road trip where they are pulled over for running a stop sign and imprisoned by a strange judge and his ghoulish family. They spend the movie trying to escape wacky traps and death. The movie is weird, imaginative and bursting with creativity. Its definitely not for everyone it bombed with critics and audiences alike when it was initially released. But it's aged quite well and is definitely deserved of being a cult classic.
Budget: $40m Domestic Box Office: $8m Worldwide Box Office: $8m
3.75/5
Budget: $40m Domestic Box Office: $8m Worldwide Box Office: $8m
3.75/5
The only film directed by Dan Aykroyd to date is this very dark, strange and completely misunderstood and underrated comedy.
I think the reason for its poor reception is comparing this to all of the other movies the cast had done to that point.
Chevy Chase the films main star made many good films such as Caddyshack, the Vacation series, Fletch and Funny Farm.
Aykroyd of course was huge off the success of both Ghostbusters pictures, John Candy had done Planes, Trains and Automobiles, Uncle Buck and even had a cameo in Home Alone the highest grossing comedy of all time at that point.
And then of course Demi Moore had just finished Ghost which was a huge smash hit so it would only be fair to expect with this cast and Aykroyd directing that this would be a film of similar quality.
The thing is many dont understand that as a screenwriter Aykroyd has been known to have very far-fetched ideas to which many directors have to say they cannot be filmed.
He apparently directed this movie after his buddies John Hughes and John Landis turned it down even though he didnt want to he knew it was necessary to get the film made.
Aykroyd's direction I feel is the main reason people misunderstand this movie. Keep in mind he also wrote this movie and played two large roles requiring heavy amounts of makeup. He also took every suggestion to heart from the cast and crew which resulted in some strangeness to say the least.
At one point he had monitors for his actors to view their performances and allowed them to make changes they saw fit and that is where I think the performances look different from any of the main casts other films.
Chase looks bored out of his mind as if he thinks the movie sucks and just wants a paycheck. We know he can show range when he wants to (Funny Farm is a great example of this.)
Aykroyd gives the best performance in the movie as the Reeve and provides some laughs.
Candy looks like he just wants to do his best for his buddy Aykroyd but in his role as Dennis the police officer he seems depressed and is really the only voice of reason. He also is in drag as Aykroyd's granddaughter who has affection for Chase. This performance is actually pretty funny.
Moore comes across extremely ambitious. Like Chase it seems she is aware that this movie is not the best fit for her talent but nonetheless she does her very best to work with the material she has and does well with it.
In order for this movie to be enjoyed you have to forget that this talented cast made better movies before and in the case of Moore especially since and just enjoy it as a pretty crappy movie that's actually fun because it is so bad.
That's why I like this movie. It truly is the definition of a so bad it's fun movie. I think Aykroyd as director felt there would be an audience out there that would appreciate this movie as such.
This is not Vacation, Ghostbusters, Planes, Trains and Automobiles or Ghost.
It's a funny quirky movie that is a lot of fun just for being so weird.
Go into it with that expectation and you should have some fun.
It's the kind of movie I like to watch on a bad day and have some laughs from its sheer quirkiness.
I think the reason for its poor reception is comparing this to all of the other movies the cast had done to that point.
Chevy Chase the films main star made many good films such as Caddyshack, the Vacation series, Fletch and Funny Farm.
Aykroyd of course was huge off the success of both Ghostbusters pictures, John Candy had done Planes, Trains and Automobiles, Uncle Buck and even had a cameo in Home Alone the highest grossing comedy of all time at that point.
And then of course Demi Moore had just finished Ghost which was a huge smash hit so it would only be fair to expect with this cast and Aykroyd directing that this would be a film of similar quality.
The thing is many dont understand that as a screenwriter Aykroyd has been known to have very far-fetched ideas to which many directors have to say they cannot be filmed.
He apparently directed this movie after his buddies John Hughes and John Landis turned it down even though he didnt want to he knew it was necessary to get the film made.
Aykroyd's direction I feel is the main reason people misunderstand this movie. Keep in mind he also wrote this movie and played two large roles requiring heavy amounts of makeup. He also took every suggestion to heart from the cast and crew which resulted in some strangeness to say the least.
At one point he had monitors for his actors to view their performances and allowed them to make changes they saw fit and that is where I think the performances look different from any of the main casts other films.
Chase looks bored out of his mind as if he thinks the movie sucks and just wants a paycheck. We know he can show range when he wants to (Funny Farm is a great example of this.)
Aykroyd gives the best performance in the movie as the Reeve and provides some laughs.
Candy looks like he just wants to do his best for his buddy Aykroyd but in his role as Dennis the police officer he seems depressed and is really the only voice of reason. He also is in drag as Aykroyd's granddaughter who has affection for Chase. This performance is actually pretty funny.
Moore comes across extremely ambitious. Like Chase it seems she is aware that this movie is not the best fit for her talent but nonetheless she does her very best to work with the material she has and does well with it.
In order for this movie to be enjoyed you have to forget that this talented cast made better movies before and in the case of Moore especially since and just enjoy it as a pretty crappy movie that's actually fun because it is so bad.
That's why I like this movie. It truly is the definition of a so bad it's fun movie. I think Aykroyd as director felt there would be an audience out there that would appreciate this movie as such.
This is not Vacation, Ghostbusters, Planes, Trains and Automobiles or Ghost.
It's a funny quirky movie that is a lot of fun just for being so weird.
Go into it with that expectation and you should have some fun.
It's the kind of movie I like to watch on a bad day and have some laughs from its sheer quirkiness.
Did you know
- TriviaBased on Dan Aykroyd's personal experiences. In 1978 he claims he was pulled over for speeding in a rural town in the Northeastern United States. The police officer took him to the local Justice of the Peace in the middle of the night for a trial.
- GoofsFausto and Renalda claim to be from Brazil, but their passports state that they are from Argentina.
- Quotes
Miss Purdah: [Chris is chained and Eldona is trying on outfits before him] Eldona, you know he's not supposed to see you this special day?
Chris Thorne: Special day? What is it--Halloween?
- Alternate versionsIn a deleted scene Demi Moore can be seeing smoking the cigar of the Judge, the same one that Chevy Chase smoke in front of him at their first approach in the court.
- SoundtracksThe Good Life
(La Belle Vie)
Music by Sacha Distel
French lyrics by Jean Broussolle
English lyrics by Jack Reardon
Performed by Ray Charles
Courtesy of Warner Bros. Records Inc.
- How long is Nothing But Trouble?Powered by Alexa
Details
- Release date
- Country of origin
- Language
- Also known as
- Desviación: Valkenvania
- Filming locations
- Greystone Park & Mansion - 905 Loma Vista Drive, Beverly Hills, California, USA(Interior scenes of Chris Thorne's New York apartment)
- Production companies
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
Box office
- Budget
- $40,000,000 (estimated)
- Gross US & Canada
- $8,479,793
- Opening weekend US & Canada
- $3,966,240
- Feb 18, 1991
- Gross worldwide
- $8,479,793
- Runtime1 hour 34 minutes
- Color
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 1.85 : 1
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