Plot: What’s it about?
Why he chose a town called Hellview is anyone’s guess, but that is where a burned out writer moved to, in an effort to recapture his inspirations. You see, in this new town, he hopes his mind will unlock and his words will flow from it, thus allowing him to complete his masterpiece novel. But his new home is an eerie old lighthouse and soon enough, he discovers there’s more in the lighthouse than a massive lightbulb. It seems as though a former resident of the joint was a beautiful woman (Julie Newmar), who lost her love and has been sexually frustrated ever since. Her lover was Captain Howdy (Richard Kiel), whom she wants brought back at any cost, which is a task she places on our humbled writer. But there seems to be danger and spookiness around every corner and even when two brave new souls enter Hellview, it’s a crapshoot on who will leave in their right mind.
This one is filled with bad jokes, poor acting, and a miserable storyline, but man, is it ever funny as heck. Now not all humor is intentional to be sure, but if you’re a fan of bad comedies, then Hysterical is one you’ll want to check out. I rented this one a few times a long time ago, but I haven’t seen it in a long time, as someone stole the tape from the rental place. In fact, this is a movie that was darn hard to find for a long while, but now with this new disc, all those interested can see this film for themselves. This movie seems very dated now, but in all fairness, this one was dated the day after it was released, so the years haven’t hindered things much. The dialogue is so bad you won’t believe it, but you will laugh and of course, you’ll be reciting the classic lines over and again. This is sort of like the Scary Movie of the 70s, as it spoofs such pictures as The Fog, The Exorcist, Jaws, and all sorts of other pictures, from horror flicks to adventure classics. This is one bad movie, but I can’t help but recommend it, as it is downright hilarious. Kudos to First Look Pictures and Image Entertainment for giving this once lost film a new chance at home video life.
I don’t know that I would call the performances in Hysterical good, but if you count laughs here, you’re more than getting your money’s worth from this cast. The top billing here goes to The Hudson Brothers, who never went on to much else. The three (Bill, Mark, and Brett) give laughable turns in this picture, so it is easy to see how their screen careers would begin and end here. But their bad acting and perhaps even worse writing gives this picture some great moments, so I suppose some credit is to be given, even if very little. The rest of the cast includes a wealth of low rent stars and former stars, all of which seem to do their worst, which is just how it should be in this case. Some of those present here include Julie Newmar (Demetrius and the Gladiators, Mackenna’s Gold), John Larroquette (Blind Date, Isn’t She Great), Keenan Wynn (Piranha, Nashville), Richard Kiel (Moonraker, The Longest Yard), Bud Cort (Coyote Ugly, Dogma), Cindy Pickett (Deep Star Six, Son in Law), and Clint Walker (The Dirty Dozen, Rio Lobo).
Video: How does it look?
Hysterical is presented in a full frame transfer, which seems to be a cropped edition of the film. Aside from the lack of a new widescreen version, this image also suffers from overly dark contrast and a lack of sharpness, which amounts to a pretty bad experience. In most scenes, the black levels are so dark that much of the detail is obscured and that makes this one all but unwatchable. This is a real shame, as this one deserves a new widescreen transfer, or at least a decent looking presentation.
Audio: How does it sound?
Not much to discuss here, as the included mono track handles the basic needs of this comedy mix, but does little else. The music and sound effects come off just fine, although not as rich as I’d like, thanks to the limits of the mono format. But the main issue here is the dialogue, which sounds clean and stable here, if not always razor sharp in the end. I wasn’t all that impressed with this track, but come on, it is mono after all.
Supplements: What are the extras?
This disc includes the film’s theatrical trailer.
