imps*

 (2009? 1982?)

by Johnny Web (Uncle Scoopy; Greg Wroblewski)

What the ...?

This is one of the odder and, I must admit, more intriguing films I've watched lately. It is dated 2009, but stars Keenan Wynn and John Carradine.

"Huh?"

Yeah, that was my reaction, too.

I wasn't able to find out much of the story behind this film, so I have to guess that it was lensed in the early 80s but never released until now for one reason or another. It consists of short sketches which are often raunchy and tasteless, ranging from commercial parodies and fake trailers to short genre spoofs. You older guys may remember that this type of film was fairly popular 20-35 years ago. Between 1974 and 1989 there was The Groove Tube, UHF, Kentucky Fried Movie, Amazon Women on the Moon, and probably some other popular ones which I have forgotten. When the 80s disappeared, the genre seemed to follow suit.

The cast includes many of the popular sitcom and sketch players of that time: Julia Duffy, Linda Blair, Rich Hall, Fred Willard, Deborah Harmon, William Sanderson, JJ Walker, and both Lenny and Squiggy, as well as many, many more.

One skit stars Keenan Wynn, Jimmie Walker, and Meadowlark Lemon of the Harlem Globetrotters. Meadowlark, who usually clowned around, is cast against type as the serious black man who is called in to translate the jive talk of the black astronaut. The sketch is not really funny at all, and in fact is pretty damned embarrassing to watch, so it gives us an idea of why the film was never released, but it also gives us a marvelous new look at a very different time, when our racial sensitivities may have been somewhat less refined.

OK, a LOT less.

I had a good time watching this movie, not because it is good, but because it is fascinating. It is quite interesting to see unreleased material from a quarter of a century ago, especially because a lot of the people in the film were favorites of mine, and all of the people are familiar, so it's fun to see them go back in time to their youth to do new material, even if it is not very funny. It evokes the same feeling you might get if old friends dropped by with some high school films you had never seen before.

Our Grade:

If you are not familiar with our grading system, you need to read the explanation, because the grading is not linear. For example, by our definition, a C is solid and a C+ is a VERY good movie. There are very few Bs and As. Based on our descriptive system, this film is a:

C-

Poor comedy. Good nostalgia.

THE CRITICS AND ACADEMIES

THE BOX OFFICE

Never released

NUDITY REPORT

The film includes three nude scenes I had never seen, starring three women who were all at least semi-famous in the era. Marilyn Chambers was more than semi-, although perhaps more infamous than famous. Like the humor, the cinematic sexual mores of the time were different from today's, once again reminding me why I often miss the 80s.

Marilyn Chambers appears in a see-through top, surrounded by other men and women who are naked, in a parody of a familiar American Express commercial, "Do you know me?" Marilyn did quite a good job with her lines!

Linda Weismeier was a curvy blonde who became Playmate of the Month in 1982, then enjoyed a very brief film career in the 80s. She showed her breasts in imps*

Lori Wagner is a former Penthouse babe who had two film careers. With her natural body in the late seventies and early 80s, she appeared in a few minor projects and the infamous Caligula with Malcolm McDowell. Quite a bit later on, having added a preposterously inflated artificial chest, she worked in porn films. The most famous one was Frankenpenis, which was directed by porn legend Ron Jeremy and starred Bobbit, the guy whose wife chopped off his schwantz. (He got surgically repaired.) Lori still had her natural body in imps*, and looked terrific showing her breasts.