Tuesday, November 26, 2024

Heartbeeps (1981) Thanksgiving Turkey


In the future two robots meet and fall in love. They build themselves a small child and flee taking a robot comedian with them.

Allegedly put together with the hope of Andy Kaufman becoming a movie star, the film bombed, badly, and derailed Kaufman's career.

I don't know where to start? This movie is a turkey of the highest order. Before it came out it was a film they pushed everywhere, in every magazine imaginable, there were tons of in theater promotions and TV commercials.  I remember months of promotion and I remember being sick to death of it.

Yes, I know that there are a number of people who like the film, but I don't. I think it's an unfunny film that seems like a bunch of really talented people got together and somehow made a bad film. Think about it, director Allan Arkush was a director who had been working for Roger Corman for years making films like ROCK & ROLL HIGH SCHOOL. Writer John Hill had written films like GRIFFIN AND PHOENIX (a romance with Peter Falk and Jill Clayburgh), LITTLE NIKITA and QUIGLEY DOWN UNDER. And the cast was Kaufman, Bernadette Peters, Kenneth McMillan. Paul Bartel, Mary Woronov, Dick Miller and the voice of Jerry Garcia (until he was removed). Stan Winston was nominated for an Oscar for his make-up work. All these people came together and made a really bad film.

Actually, what we have here is a film was probably killed by the studio. I say this because we know that the studio heads saw Arkush's cut of the film, promptly fired him and then recut the film. I've never heard about what the film was before the studio chopped it up...though to be honest I have such an aversion to the film I never really looked. I will say all I've heard was that a large chunk of time was cut out of it by the studio. Which I would believe since there are moments where nothing really happens.

Should you watch it? No. Why not? Because even if you like bad films, this isn't one you'll like.

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