Horror Hayride (1992)

User Rating:

9.1/10   

Director:

Steve Mims

Writer:

Steve Mims (writer)

Genre:

Comedy

Plot Keywords:

Music | Independent Film

Cast

Webb Wilder	...	Webb Wilder / Mr. Frye
Bodie Plecas	...	Briley Parkway
Ted Roddy	...	Special Agent Travis Byrd
Janette Friend-Harris	...	Dr. Barbara Slovine
Shane Caldwell	...	Carlsbad Devereaux
Charles Gunning	...	Ike
Cristina Cassin	...	Kirsten
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Christina Cassin	...	Kirsten
Jimmy Lester	...	Arvid
Jimmy Lindsey	...	Hairball
Milaka Myers	...	Hairball's Girl
Scott Rhodes	...	The Man Who Blows the Kiss
Matt Sanford	...	Young Webb Wilder
Grayson Victor Schirmacher	...	Old Man
Dirk Van Allen	...	Governor

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White | Color

Filming Locations:

Austin, Texas, USA

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: In some scenes, the lenses of Webb Wilder's eyeglasses are clearly missing.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Old Man: That Ol' Deceiver don't want you to have this well, brother. His breath is frost, his touch is fever, and his eternal enemy is that one which gives the water. I'm speakin' of the Lord; anybody can dig a hole.

Movie Connections:

Featured in Corn Flicks (1992) (V)

The Ideal Movie Showcase for the Idol of Idle Youth!

First, some background info: Our household discovered Webb Wilder back in the late 1980s/early 1990s when the USA Network showed his first short film, "WEBB WILDER, PRIVATE EYE: THE SAUCER'S REIGN" on the late-night series NIGHT FLIGHT. Once my husband and I found out Webb Wilder (formerly John McMurray) was not only hilarious in his deadpan Southern way but was also the front man for an eponymous rockabilly band that lived up to Webb's "electrifying artist" description, we were Webb Wilder fans for life. Even now, we regularly hum Webb's sizzling songs and bandy about his catchphrases such as "The last of the full-grown men" and "The idol of idle youth" around our home. So you can imagine our joy when a friend gave us the VHS tape WEBB WILDER'S CORN FLICKS, an anthology of 3 shorts by Stephen Mims brimming with loopy straight-faced wit including "...PRIVATE EYE...;" the non-Wilder short "AUNT HALLIE," a wickedly funny spoof of our disease-fearing society; and our fave, "HORROR HAYRIDE." No sooner has our man Webb awakened from one of his recurring nightmares about flying saucers than the governor of Tennessee stops Webb's "Economy With Dignity" tour bus to ask a favor. Seems that Webb, "the only man who commands the respect of both reckless teens and the highway patrol," helped put a rubber stamp truck-driving school out of business, and now the guv wants him to help his cute daughter Kirsten make a state driver's-ed film. But she's chosen the enigmatic Briley Parkway to direct. Briley seems to be inspired by both William Castle and Jean-Luc Godard, but why is this "auteur" making secret visits to porn outfit Antebellum Skin, and why is Kirsten raiding her mom's trust fund to give Briley $5,000 a week? And how are gospel singer Carlsbad Devereaux and Webb's old flame Dr. Barbara Slovine mixed up in all the "swampadelic, psychotronic" goings-on? The kickin' sounds of Webb Wilder the band work with the tongue-in-cheek "hillbilly noir" action perfectly. Co-writer/director Mims provides lots of atmosphere on a low budget (filming in Nashville helped), and the film's black-and-white look is like Ansel Adams photographing a Coen Brothers movie (except for one nifty color sequence after Webb is slipped some LSD). The characters take some pleasantly unexpected turns, with acting ranging from sublime (including Webb himself, natch) to amateurish, but that's part of the movie's charm. If you like deadpan comedy, DRAGNET, TWIN PEAKS, and rock 'n' roll Southern-style, you owe it to yourself to seek out HORROR HAYRIDE; I've seen used copies of the VHS tape on Amazon.com. I'd love to see this turn up on DVD someday. In the meantime, check out Webb Wilder's awesome CDs, too!