The Wedding Singer, on cable the other night, brought some unexpected lessons with it. Arguably Adam Sandler’s sweetest work, the film is about a singing schmoe who gets left at the altar and eventually wins the heart of a waitress played by Drew Barrymore. Funny stuff, and entirely harmless. Except, of course, for what now plays as a “shock” scene in the middle. You’ll remember it. Barrymore's Julia Sullivan asks a homely bar mitzvah boy to dance. He clamps his young…...
- 11/12/2017
- Deadline
Review by Roger Carpenter
In his heyday, director/producer Ovidio Assonitis was affectionately known as “The Rip-Off King” due to his blatant copying of popular, more expensive hit films. Thus, we have Beyond the Door (1974), an Exorcist-style film; Tentacles (1977), a killer octopus film in the vein of Jaws; and even the sequel Piranha II: The Spawning (1981), which he famously directed after firing James Cameron shortly after filming commenced. Always on the lookout for the next big idea in exploitation, it isn’t surprising that he would also jump on the slasher bandwagon as well. Madhouse is Assonitis’ entry into that particular subgenre of film.
Though produced in late 1980 or early 1981 in Savannah, Georgia, Madhouse wasn’t released stateside until 1983. So while the film bears more than a passing resemblance to the classic slasher Happy Birthday to Me (also made in 1981), it is unclear how much of a direct rip-off one film is of the other.
In his heyday, director/producer Ovidio Assonitis was affectionately known as “The Rip-Off King” due to his blatant copying of popular, more expensive hit films. Thus, we have Beyond the Door (1974), an Exorcist-style film; Tentacles (1977), a killer octopus film in the vein of Jaws; and even the sequel Piranha II: The Spawning (1981), which he famously directed after firing James Cameron shortly after filming commenced. Always on the lookout for the next big idea in exploitation, it isn’t surprising that he would also jump on the slasher bandwagon as well. Madhouse is Assonitis’ entry into that particular subgenre of film.
Though produced in late 1980 or early 1981 in Savannah, Georgia, Madhouse wasn’t released stateside until 1983. So while the film bears more than a passing resemblance to the classic slasher Happy Birthday to Me (also made in 1981), it is unclear how much of a direct rip-off one film is of the other.
- 6/19/2017
- by Movie Geeks
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
Happy Birthday Laura Benanti Benanti recently starred as Candela in 2010's Women On The Verge Of A Nervous Breakdown and in the title role of the Patti LuPone revival of Gypsy in 2008, for which she was honored with the Tony, Drama Desk and Outer Critics Circle Award, and a Drama League nomination. She previously starred in the Encores production. Broadway The Sound of Music Maria, opposite Richard Chamberlain, Swing Tony nomination Best Featured Actress, Into The Woods Cinderella Outer Critics Circle, Drama Desk, La Ovation and Tony nominations, Nine Claudia, opposite Antonio Banderas Outer Critics Circle, Drama Leauge nominations, The Wedding Singer Julia Sullivan and much more.
- 7/15/2016
- by Stage Tube
- BroadwayWorld.com
Happy Birthday Laura Benanti Benanti recently starred as Candela in 2010's Women On The Verge Of A Nervous Breakdown and in the title role of the Patti LuPone revival of Gypsy in 2008, for which she was honored with the Tony, Drama Desk and Outer Critics Circle Award, and a Drama League nomination. She previously starred in the Encores production. Broadway The Sound of Music Maria, opposite Richard Chamberlain, Swing Tony nomination Best Featured Actress, Into The Woods Cinderella Outer Critics Circle, Drama Desk, La Ovation and Tony nominations, Nine Claudia, opposite Antonio Banderas Outer Critics Circle, Drama Leauge nominations, The Wedding Singer Julia Sullivan and much more.
- 7/15/2014
- by Stage Tube
- BroadwayWorld.com
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