Midnight Movie Massacre (1988) Reviews

• Beyond Campy

  Chad-381999-07-16

  As one of the screenwriters, this film surprised even me. It's beyond campy. What started out as a reprise of an old television show called "Space Patrol," turned into "Midnight Movie Massacre." It was an interesting transition to say the least. I wrote Space Patrol and by gosh it's in the movie... up on the screen in a theater where a bunch of folks go to watch it. Then a monster (from Mars as it turns out) lands on top of the theater and begins to eat the theater goers one at a time. I must say the film does look good. Some of the scenes go a bit far with the gags (and I do mean gags). All in all, though, it isn't too bad. I hope it will come back to haunt me one day as a screenwriter.

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• One of the worst SF movies ever

  movies-2592006-07-30

  This is an extremely pitiful example of a modern attempt to spoof the B-movies of the Fifties, but it only succeeds in demonstrating very poor taste of everyone involved. Both the plot and its resolution are unsatisfying. The main setting is a small town movie theater showing B-movie and serial sci-fi (how ironic -- not) with an audience consisting of unsympathetic characters that you don't care about. The plot, if you can call it that, concerns some Really Ugly Martian invaders who apparently like to butter their popcorn with human blood and body parts. Then there are the 3 Space Patrol types. Are they time travelers from Earth's future? Are they heroes? I'm not really sure -- I was too bored to pay close attention. Three-quarters of the way through, I switched to watching a TV show. The next day, I forced myself to watch the remainder -- what a waste of time! This movie is gross and has virtually no redeeming qualities whatsoever except perhaps for the lovely, futuristic Margi Robbins (only movie). Poor Ann Robinson (War of the Worlds) reached a low point of her career when she appeared in this 1988 yawner. If you like B-movies spoofs, a far better example is "The Lost Skeleton Of Cadavra".

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• There Really Ought To Be A '0'

  alansmithee042006-01-21

  In this film you get two films for the price of one - neither of them particularly good. The film-within-a-film, "Space Patrol", is a mildly amusing (if not particularly well thought out) parody of vintage sci-fi serials. That in itself would be reason enough to avoid this trainwreck, but that's not the worst of it. The wrap around film, "Midnight Movie Massacre", is a collection of ancient gags that would bore a fan of Mad Magazine. Imagine the lowest common denominator for film comedy, then take that down a notch or two, and you've got the level of humor in this putrid little pic. Everyone associated with this part of the movie, up to and including the clapper loader and craft service people, should be beaten unconscious with crowbars and never ever allowed to be within the vicinity of a movie set ever again. Ever.

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• Oh what winsome memories...

  imajica_52000-08-25

  I first saw this film on TV when i was about 10. I was watching it with some friends in a tent, and we had a huge extension cable running out the TV in the tent. oh we had such a cool night, eating biscuits, drinking coke, being scared of this film. Come to think of it, i dont think any of us were scared, but we were entertained. Doubtlessly if i watched this film now, 10 years later i would probably switch it off. But when i was 10, after that night, this film became only spoken of in whispers. This is how i want to remember it.

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• Why oh why?

  cyclone2592007-07-29

  Why oh why is the rating of "0" stars not still available? This movie was a train wreck from start to finish. The premise was like "a movie in a movie" (at least I think it was). I sat dumbfounded as stereotypes rolled out, one after the other: geeky nerds with glasses, greasy hoods with black, Fonziesque jackets, the large-breasted 'pretty girl', the overweight woman with a huge, voracious appetite and some other woman who keeps pulling long, rubbery mucus(?) out of her nose. Anyway, none of the characters was interesting, developed or done well. While we sat watching them watch some crappy movie called "Space Patrol" and go through the motions, a 'real' alien invades the theater and slowly starts killing off people. Did you really care? Was there any suspenseful build-up? No. The creature was horrible and although there were a few disgusting elements thrown in a feeble attempt to punch it up a notch, it was way too little and way too late. Sorry folks... this movie was not fun or had the elements that would 'take you back to the glory days of yesteryear' of Midnight Movies or campy, yet fun horror / sci-fi films. All in all, I'd say if I saved you from dropping a few bucks on this steaming dung heap, your wallet will thank you.

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