Bloodtype Online
For the best of the Horror/Cult/Exploitation film experience
The Sexy Box (2009)
Stuck on You (1983)
Who doesn’t remember the 1980's? Well probably people who were born after them that’s who. But seriously if you weren’t expecting a lame joke at the beginning of an 80s sex comedy review you my friend need to lighten up Anyway, the 1980s were certainly one of a kind as a decade and for it’s films. The sex comedy was doing big business with films like “Porky’s” making big bank at the box office. So with that being said it would only be natural that independent players would get into the act. Troma Entertainment might be most well known for films like “The Toxic Avenger” and “Class of Nuke Em High” but their first projects were generally sex comedies.
“Stuck on You ” is a rather unique sex comedy in which Bill and Carol a young couple seemingly have problems that are beyond repair. After going to court they meet with the judge to discuss their problems which take them to not only the beginning of their relationship but to evaluate couple issues from Adam & Eve, King Arthur, Christopher Columbus and more Of course all of this is done with the usual Troma spin to make it funny, but at the end of the day it’s a hilarious look at relationships.
Although that synopsis might not have sounded too funny, trust me when I tell you that this one had me laughing out loud several times while watching it. Sure, it’s no “Porky’s” but it’s still a pretty funny flick. Mark Mikulski plays Bill in the film and does a really good job getting into some zany situations. Virginia Penta plays Carol and plays Bill’s foil and companion in the film very well. I found it rather surprising that neither of them ever really had a career after being in this. Mikulski only appeared again the 1984 cult horror film “C.H.U.D” and Penta never worked again. Both showed that they had comedic timing and acting ability here and personally I find it a shame that we never really heard from either of them ever again.
Something I thought worth mentioning is the fact that the movie although funny, can be extremely over the top and corny at times, but I actually get into humor like that. I never found it to get to the stage where it’s more annoying than funny and I guess that’s all in the balance of the movie. It’s not going to be anything like you’ve never seen before but if you find yourself as being a fan of the 80s sex comedies I think you’d like this one too.
Overall “Stuck on You ” is a pretty interesting and funny piece of Troma Entertainment’s history and it’s pretty funny. I enjoyed the movie and though that it was a “good time” movie that is something that’s hard to be in a bad mood when you’re watching it. “Stuck on You ” is being re-released in The Sexy Box on the new Troma Retro label with all new features including the original theatrical trailer and a commentary track by director Lloyd Kaufman (aka Samuel Weil the name in which he directed his sex comedies) RECOMMENED
Rating - ***
The First Turn-On (1983)
Another sex comedy that is available in “The Sexy Box” is the Samuel Weil (aka Lloyd Kaufman) flick “The First Turn-On ”. It’s the story of a group of summer camp attendees that go on a nature hike and in an attempt to smoke a joint end up caught in a cave after an avalanche. Then to pass the time they all tell the story of how they got laid for the first time one by one, which is showed in the form of flashbacks.
Of course this one is filled with over the top hijinx but personally I found it to be pretty damn funny. Each person is dramatically different as you get the story of the fat kid, the guy who thinks he’s god’s gift to women, the jock-type, the girl who is secretly a whore, and the nature teacher herself All of the stories are different and generally hilarious and I actually had a blast watching this one. Although the comedy is pretty cheese heavy stuff, I actually thought it worked and even managed to have a charm all it’s own.
The acting in the film is a lot better than I expected going into it and the actors all handle their characters rather well. Each character seemed to be skilled enough to pull of the comedic side of things which was a relief too. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve watched comedies like this and they’re awful as not one actor has any sense of comedic timing. This wasn’t a problem in this one as each actor seemed willing to go to any bounds to come off as funny here.
Something else that Troma can claim from time to time is that they have had stars in their movies, well...basically before they were stars. This one is a perfect example of that as you will notice a very young Vincent D’Onofrio from “Full Metal Jacket” and “Law & Order: Criminal Intent” playing a character named Lobotomy.
Overall I would highly recommend “The First Turn-On” as it’s a film reminiscent of a time that is passed and gone. The 80s certainly had a strange and unique mixture of films that were popular during the decade and the 80s sex comedy is one that was destined to be a stop in my film watching journey over my life.
Rating - ***
Squeeze Play (1980)
Another part of Troma’s “The Sexy Box” is the film “Squeeze Play” which is one of the first films to put the company on the map. It’s another sex comedy that Lloyd Kaufman directed under the name Samuel Weil and was a fixture in the video stores in the early 80s. It also marks the very first of all of Troma’s in house productions which would go on to be the backbone of the company for years to come.
“Squeeze Play” is the story about a heralded softball team in a small town in New Jersey. They play and everyone in the town loves them because they are winners, only they’ve all seemingly made their wives/girlfriends upset by taking so much time to play softball. Eventually they get the idea of starting their own softball team to compete with their men. Before you know it they setup the biggest softball challenge in the town at the men get all set to play the women, of course with the usual amount of hijinx involved.
In my opinion it’s pretty easy to separate the good from the bad as far as a sex comedy goes. See either the film ends up being pretty bad because it’s just the same joke over and over again, or it ends up being pretty good because it understands that it needs to build different types of jokes with the subject matter that’s been given. Strangely enough I think that this one is closer to the first example of the sex comedy spouting the same joke over and over but it’s still not that bad. Sure, it’s not the best written comedy I’ve ever seen but it has its moments. The jokes are pretty funny, although there’s definitely an issue with some of these actors not being good with comedic timing whatsoever.
The movie is pretty basic and low rent itself but that doesn’t mean that it’s without its charm. There are some over the top characters that manage to be pretty humorous throughout and one of them has to be the local detective. The way he speaks alone made me chuckle just about every time he appears on camera.
Another positive that “Squeeze Play” has going for it is the super catchy and rather cheesy early 80s soundtrack. Of course very little of the music is actually good but it’s damn catchy and you’ll find yourself singing them days after you’ve seen the movie for the first time.
The main issue to me is the overall pacing and the running time of the movie itself. Considering it clocks in at about 96 minutes it’s something I would consider too long. Not by much however as I’m only thinking it wouldn’t need more than 10 minutes cut out at the most.
Overall “Squeeze Play” is an interesting film (as it’s the first ever true Troma film) but as far as it just being a comedy, it’s just nothing special. Sure it’s a nice time capsule of 1980 in New Jersey but outside of that there are much better sex comedies for your money. However with this one being included in Troma’s new “Sexy Box” set then it’s not really that big of a deal. The disc also comes with a theatrical trailer for the film and commentary from director Lloyd Kaufman.
Rating - **½
Waitress! (1982)
By the time 1982 rolled around Troma films were certainly starting to be recognized because of all of the screwball comedy’s that they were releasing in house. Lloyd Kaufman was getting some of these types of films under his belt and in 1982 it was time for another with the release of “Waitress!”.
“Waitress!” is the typical story of ladies waiting tables in restaurants with the dreams of becoming an actress. Or at least that’s the dream one of the ladies have here at the restaurant in the film. Not only that but there’s a war brewing in this kitchen as the crazy cook gets “Dangerous when he’s drinking”! With the owners daughter being punished by her father he forces her to work in the place just like a normal person. But it’s up to her to keep everything up and running when it seems that the place is going to go up in flames!
I know that synopsis above may have been quite chaotic but that’s exactly how this movie is. It’s less about plot and more about dumb jokes and well basically really goofy characters as well. There’s not really a beginning, middle and end here as it’s not much more than 88 minutes of random jokes and the like.
The acting in the film isn’t anything to write home about but it’s pretty much right on par with what you’d expect in a low budget screwball comedy. They manage to do the things they need to do to make this one work, as I actually found a lot of it to be funny.
There really isn’t that much more to say about this one really as it’s probably my least favorite in the set but it does have it’s moments. It’s going to be hit or miss with people and it really depends on how much you like 80s screwball comedies to determine how much you’ll like this one yourself. Personally I do enjoy these types of movies and I just ate this one up (pun intended!) Also the DVD release includes extras like a theatrical trailer for the film as well as audio commentary by director Lloyd Kaufman.
Rating - **1/2
-Ed Demko
