This is a bit of an odd movie. On the one hand its being entertaining but on the other it's also being a quite poorly made and simplistically written one. In other words; this movie is pretty much the perfect definition of a fun campy B-movie!
No, it obviously is not as great as the 1986 musical version of this movie but that's all because this movie was pretty much being a very fast, simple and cheap one to make. Just like any other Roger Corman production! And Corman did not only produce this time, he also co-directed the movie, no doubt to make sure this movie got done quick and cheaply!
I sort of still wish some time and effort got put into it, since the movie its main premise definitely deserved a better and more thought out treatment. Something that did happen for the 1986 Frank Oz movie. It also truly could had benefited this movie, since now instead some of the story developments only work out half and don't seem to be fleshed out fully. It's a movie that seems to be filled with half ideas. Good ideas! But half ones nevertheless.
But obviously it doesn't harm the movie all too much. The movie does still has plenty of good comedy in it, which mostly comes from its fun characters. Some of the stuff is pretty random but that's what's making it so fun. It's concept also makes the movie a quite original one to watch. What is it? A comedy? A science-fiction movie? A horror? A little bit of all, which gets beautifully and effectively combined!
The cast doesn't really impress all that much. You have the feeling that with a bit more star-power behind it, or some actors with a better sense of comical timing, this could had turned into a far better and also more successful movie, at its time. Just imaging what would had happened if someone like Jerry Lewis played Seymour Krelboyne. The movie would had been huge!
But there actually still is a big star in this movie; the 23-year old Jack Nicholson. It wasn't his first movie appearance but it's definitely the earliest one I have seen by him. He's already being very Jack Nicholson-like in this and even though he only was 23 at the time, he's much older looking already. His role is actually really one of the most fun ones and forms one of the highlights of the movie, even though he is only in it for a couple of minutes.
Despite everything, this movie still remains a perfectly good and fun one!
7/10
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