{"id":1483,"date":"2024-08-01T03:00:32","date_gmt":"2024-08-01T03:00:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/?p=1483"},"modified":"2024-10-14T12:46:02","modified_gmt":"2024-10-14T16:46:02","slug":"hysterical","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/2024\/08\/01\/hysterical\/","title":{"rendered":"Hysterical"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"Hysterical<\/strong> (1983)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Embassy Pictures\/Comedy-Horror\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 RT: 90 minutes\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Rated PG (language, brief nudity, sexual humor, drug use\/references, comic horror violence)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Director: Chris Bearde\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Screenplay: The Hudson Brothers (Bill, Brett and Mark) and Trace Johnston\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Music: Bob Alcivar and Robert O. Ragland\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Cinematography: Thomas Del Ruth\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Release date: May 1983 (US)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Cast: The Hudson Brothers (Bill, Brett and Mark), Franklin Ajaye, Charlie Callas, Bud Cort, John Diehl, Robert Donner, Murray Hamilton, Richard Kiel, John Larroquette, Julie Newmar, Gary Owens, Cindy Pickett, Clint Walker, Keenan Wynn.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Box Office: N\/A<\/p>\n

Rating<\/strong>: ***<\/p>\n

\u00a0As a title, Hysterical<\/strong> is decidedly hyperbolic. You won\u2019t be laughing hysterically, but you might giggle at the silly, juvenile antics of the characters in this silly, juvenile spoof of horror flicks. I know I did.<\/p>\n

\u00a0It came out in late spring \u201983 on the heels of a couple of other PG-rated horror spoofs, Saturday the 14th<\/sup> and Pandemonium (both 1982). You have to love the contradictory nature of the PG ratings awarded to spoofs of R-rated movies. How likely is it that the mostly under-13 youngsters in attendance have even seen the movies (e.g. Friday the 13th<\/sup>) targeted by the send-ups? Keep in mind that they came out BEFORE there was a VCR in every home.<\/p>\n

\u00a0In any event, I didn\u2019t get to see Hysterical<\/strong> until it came to cable TV in summer \u201984. It didn\u2019t open in any theaters that I could easily get to. I thought it was pretty funny at the time. On a recent trip to a used DVD store, I found a copy just collecting dust in the comedy section. I didn\u2019t even know it was available in that format, but apparently it has been since \u201901. I watched it for the first time in more than 25 years and still find it funny with its corny gags and goofball slapstick shtick.<\/p>\n

\u00a0Hysterical<\/strong> boasts an all-star cast headed by the Hudson Brothers. Who, you may ask, are they? It\u2019s a fair question. They were a music group in the 70s whose biggest hit was \u201cSo You Are a Star\u201d in \u201974. They also had three comedy-variety shows at various points in the decade- \u201cThe Hudson Brothers Show\u201d, a very short-lived midsummer replacement series (CBS, Wednesday nights); \u201cThe Hudson Brothers Razzle Dazzle Show\u201d, a Saturday morning show aimed at kids and \u201cBonkers\u201d, a half-hour syndicated show that they co-hosted with comedian Bob Monkhouse. I recall watching and loving these shows as a child. I mention all this as both a point of reference for my readers born after 1979 and a trip down memory lane for those closer to my age. Thanks for indulging me.<\/p>\n

\u00a0A flashback to 1882 shows us the origin of the supernatural goings-on in Hellview, OR. Feeling slighted by her lover, lighthouse keeper Captain Howdy (Kiel, Jaws from the James Bond movies), Venetia (Newmar, Catwoman from the Batman TV series) causes him to fall into the sea and the ship carrying his wife to crash. Since then, her spirit haunts the lighthouse and scares the hell out of the folks living in the coastal town.<\/p>\n

\u00a0Frederic Lansing (Bill Hudson, the one that was married to actress Goldie Hawn), a writer of trashy sex novels looking for inspiration, moves into the lighthouse much to the delight of Venetia who\u2019s looking for a way to resurrect her deceased lover. When people start dying and becoming zombies, two bumbling paranormal experts- Paul (Mark Hudson) and Fritz Batton (Brett Hudson)- are called in to investigate and rid the town of the spirits once and for all. They more than have their work cut out for them when Frederic slowly becomes possessed by the spirit of Captain Howdy.<\/p>\n

\u00a0The movies spoofed in Hysterical<\/strong> are as follows: Friday the 13th<\/sup>, The Fog, Taxi Driver, Jaws, Raiders of the Lost Ark, Dracula, The Shining, Poltergeist, The Exorcist, The Music Man and Chariots of Fire. The eclectic cast includes the following: Cindy Pickett (Ferris Bueller\u2019s Day Off) as Frederic\u2019s romantic interest, Bud Cort (Harold and Maude) as the town coroner, comedian Charlie Callas as Dracula, Robert Donner (Exidor from Mork & Mindy) as town loony \u201cCrazy Ralph\u201d, western star Clint Walker as the sheriff, John Larroquette (Night Court) as a tour guide, comedian Franklin Ajaye (The Jazz Singer) as the librarian and Murray Hamilton as \u201cThe Mayor\u201d, goofing on his role in Jaws.<\/p>\n

\u00a0It\u2019s corny as hell, its IQ doesn\u2019t exceed double digits and it doesn\u2019t even come close to capturing the zany energy of Airplane, but I like Hysterical<\/strong>. For one thing, it has far more laughs than many of today\u2019s spoofs- e.g. anything AND everything cooked up- or should that be half-cooked- by Jason Friedberg and Aaron Seltzer. Even when it misses (which it sometimes does), Hysterical<\/strong> is still pretty good. It even gives us a rousing musical number, \u201cThe Zomboogie\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u00a0I like the Hudson Brothers (if you couldn\u2019t already tell). They make a fine comedy team in the tradition of the Marx Brothers. The whole cast looks like they\u2019re enjoying themselves. The cheap special effects are pretty decent.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/strong>Ultimately, Hysterical<\/strong> works for the simplest of reasons- it is what it is and never tries to be anything more. It\u2019s pure mindless silliness. You might find yourself giggling at it as long as you go in not expecting too much. When you do that, some movies exceed expectations and become enjoyable. This is one of those times.\"\"<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Hysterical (1983)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Embassy Pictures\/Comedy-Horror\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 RT: 90 minutes\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Rated PG (language, brief nudity, sexual humor, drug use\/references, comic horror violence)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Director: Chris Bearde\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Screenplay: The Hudson Brothers (Bill, Brett and Mark) and Trace Johnston\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Music: Bob Alcivar and Robert O. Ragland\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Cinematography: Thomas Del Ruth\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Release date: May 1983 (US)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Cast: The Hudson Brothers (Bill, Brett […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1651,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[18,9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1483","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-comedies","category-guilty-pleasures"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/Hysterical-PIC.jpg?fit=620%2C348&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1483","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1483"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1483\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2733,"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1483\/revisions\/2733"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1651"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1483"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1483"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1483"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}