For some reason I missed getting a copy of the Special Edition DVD of The Dark Backwards when it came out in 2007. That's about when I stopped going to BestBuy every tuesday and following what was coming out on the dvd sites. I was spending more on LEGO and I had been burned buying too many dvd's when they came out only to have a special edition 6 months later or find them for half the price at Target less than a year later. Waiting for movies to get cheaper to stretch one's entertainment dollar seems like a good idea.
I hadn't seen this 1992 movie for a while. I watched it alot when I found a copy on laserdisc back in 1994. It's the movie that introduced me to Adam Rifkin. I had mentioned his previous movie The Invisible Maniac just a few weeks ago, and like that over the top sort of movie, this movie is one people are going to have issues with. The world of Marty Malt, played by Judd Nelson, is what Rifkin, in his commentary, calls an alternate failed '50's sort of America. Marty and Gus, played by Bill Paxton, are garbage men in this filthy trash filled world. It's all rundown and there seems to be one super corporation, Blumps, supplying all the worlds needs. There are ads for their products, like Liquid Bacon, all over the place. Marty aspires to be a standup comic but he never gets any laughs. None, dead silence. Marty gets a bump on his back, thinks it's a bug bite and ignores it. It grows larger and larger. Marty gets worried and goes off to see the doctor. It's James Cann in a bit of a cameo. His nurse is played by Claudia Christian. Some of you might remember her from Babylon 5 where she played Commander Ivonova. While thumbing through the cheap laserdiscs back in 1994 I found the copy of The Dark Backwards that would become mine and noticed Claudia's name in the credits. It was cheap enough to take a chance and it turned out that I liked it quite a bit. Claudia is only in the movie briefly, as is James Cann. Lara Flynn Boyle plays Marty's girlfriend. She dumps him when the bump turns into a baby's hand. She doesn't even wait until it grows into a whole arm and hand. Marty's gets a big break when Gus introduces him to talent agent Jackie Chrome. Wayne Newton plays the agent, and like Paxton and Nelson, his preformance is spot on. It's well worth seeing the movie just to see those guys. Sadly for Marty his third arm throws a monkey wrench in his plans for stardom. His big break is ruined when it disappears. Turns out well for Gus when he gets the call to come out to Hollywood. Poor Marty goes back to the comedy club and tells of his recent experience having a third arm. He kills.
Rifkin wrote the script when he was just 19. He shopped his first movie around for several years trying to put the money together. He'd make some other movies first before he got the million he needed to make TDB. He says on the dvd that it hasn't made much of anything back. Many people aren't going to like it when they see it and they aren't going to tell people they have to see it. The dvd has a commentary that is mostly pretty entertaining and some interviews with Rifkin, Nelson, Paxton and Newton. There are some deleted scenes and extra bits. Good all around dvd. Certainly glad I upgraded my copy.
When I was at Wal-Mart this am to pick up a couple more Plano storage containers I noticed they had a copy of Mega Shark vs Giant Octopus. It's a movie from that low-budget schlock house The Asylum. They make movies that sound like good movies that a just coming out. Previous to this they made 30,000 Leagues Under The Sea and in 2010 they made Mega Piranha. I wouldn't recommend much of what they have put out so far. MSVGO scores a 2.9 on the IMDb and that's not far wrong. I so loved the idea of the giant shark jumping out the the water and biting a plane in the trailer that I was interested in seeing the movie. I missed most of it on the Sy-Fy channel several months back. I hadn't noticed if it was broadcast again. I hardly watch that channel. Oh, occasionally I break down and check out tv guide online to see if there is anything of even vague interest in their saturday movie marathons. Once in a blue moon I fill a tape or disc with several movies to watch later. Watch with a finger on the fast forward button. The movie was only 5 bucks at Wal-Mart and I failed not wasting my money on a copy. For some reason it's only available as a print on demand dvdr over at Amazon. They want $22.49, which is crazy, it's a movie that isn't worth the 5 bucks that I pissed away. I still like the idea of the giant shark attacking the plane but like so much of The Asylum's work it's just not delivered in a satisfying manner. There's a lot of giant undersea critter action and it's done pretty poorly too. Deborah Gibson plays an oceanographer of some sort and there are some naval people involved. Lots of yakking, bad acting, and looking at instruments in confined spaces. Just the sort of scenes that you can make cheaply. Good for a low-budget movie. Learn from my foolish mistake and watch it on Sy-Fy. Blow that money on something better. I have to look on the bright side, it's another piece of plastic filling my house. Yay!