Schlock (1973)

User Rating:

5.8/10   

Director:

John Landis

Writer:

John Landis (writer)

Release Date:

17 September 1982 (West Germany)

Genre:

Comedy | Horror | Sci-Fi

Tagline:

Due to the horrifying nature of this film, no one will be admitted to the theatre.

Plot:

A monkey-type monster falls in love with a blind girl, which thinks that he's a giant dog. After kidnapping...

Plot Keywords:

Kidnapping | Tunnel | Television Reporter | Dead Children | Police

Awards:

1 win & 1 nomination

Cast

John Landis	...	Schlock
Saul Kahan	...	Detective Sgt. Wino
Joseph Piantadosi	...	Ivan
Eliza Roberts	...	Mindy Binerman (as Eliza Garrett)
Tom Alvich	...	Torn Cop
Walter Levine	...	Police Thief
Harriet Medin	...	Mrs. Blinerman (as Enrica Blankey)
Eric Allison	...	Joe Putzman
Charles Villiers	...	Cal
Ralph Baker	...	Dying Man
John Chambers	...	National Guard Captain
Gene Fox	...	Billy
Richard Gillis	...	Officer Gillis
Forrest J Ackerman	...	Man in cinema
Susan Weiser	...	Betty

Also Known As:

The Banana Monster

Runtime:

80 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

USA:PG

Filming Locations:

Agoura, California, USA

Company:

Gazotskie Productions

Trivia:

Director Trademark: ['John Landis' ] [SYNW]Four times the newsman plugs the "movie at 6 on 6", and each time the name of the film is "See You Next Wednesday", though it has different stars and a different description each time. It also appears on a poster in a theater lobby.

Quotes:

Joe Putzman: But surely, Professor Shlibovitz...
Professor Shlibovitz: No, that's Professor Shirley Shlibovitz. A strange quirk of my mother's.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Thriller (1983) (TV)

Soundtrack:

Your Sudden Impulses

Cheap, Quick, and Funny.

I actually saw this in the theatre where they filmed the movie theatre sequence just a few months before. I think the movie was only out for about a week, but my buddies and I caught it twice! Even dragged our drama teacher to see it (he loved it).

This is the kind of high-school humor that was a carry over from the Three Stooges and is still going strong, but Landis was one of the first to bring it up to date.

I think they shot this in 16mm (it looks it) and the photography has all the depth of a Wilderness Family entry, but the laughs are very much there. And this had one of the most memorable ad campaign tag lines in history: "Due to the horrifying nature of this film, no one will be admitted."

It was also the only film I know of which had ads featuring a rave by Johnny Carson. It's low budget, but high yuks. I still remember it fondly (Hey, Landis, please return to your comic roots of the 70s and 80s; we don't need another Woody Allen).