Rock n Roll Nightmare (1987)

lester1/2jr · September 03, 2010, 01:55:58 PM

Andrew reviews this and other people have probably started topics on it but in tribute to Thor I am going to showboat and start another.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pd2mY5uiWN8

This is definately all the way down at the bottom of movies in the world available for viewing outside of movies people make in their houses and don't show anybody or finish. I can't really compare it to any movie I can recall off the top of my head but as far as grade Z movies go it is not as magically awesome as say Troll 2 or Pocket Ninjas but it is also not as grating as alot of the Troma type wink wink see how "bad" our movie is stuff like the Wendigo or whatever.

The star is Thor the cheeseball singer guy. He and his band are recording out in the sticks at some house and people start getting attacked by these cheap monsters and replaced by clone versions of themselves. The first half in particular has really not much horror and alot of bad dialogue, inept editing (the opening epic van ride is a good example of this) and the bands corny music. "We live to Rock" is campy and fun but "Energy" adds an unwanted new age element to the lyrics. It's like "you give me energy, you give me something to eat" or something. It must have been cold in the barn because the butter faced keyboard players nipples were at attention the entire movie.

I was glad as always that there was some nudity. The trashy 80's chicks looked good but I definatly could have done without Thors own love scene during which we see his butt. Its only for a second but it was not campy or fun for this viewer. The finale while not technically good showed they cared enough to come up with an ending that had some kind of idea to it. There are a couple of funny things and the drummer guy was funny. The special effects are too cheap to be anything but a joke.

4/5

10,000 Volt Ghost · September 03, 2010, 02:38:34 PM

Made it about 35 mins into this and had to shut if off.

ulthar · September 03, 2010, 02:54:39 PM

Quote from: 10,000 Volt Ghost on September 03, 2010, 02:38:34 PM

Made it about 35 mins into this and had to shut if off.

I rather enjoy this one; it's one of my guilty pleasures when I get a chance to see it ("Up All Night" used to give it repeated showings).

Liked it even more after reading Andrew's review a few years ago.

10,000 Volt Ghost · September 03, 2010, 03:00:58 PM

Maybe I'll finish it up then. I wanted to watch it because I heard the ending was ridiculous but I just couldn't make it through.

hedgie · September 03, 2010, 03:19:54 PM

Haven't watched this tape in at least a year. Since then I've watched "Black Roses" and "Hard Rock Zombies" and most painfully, "Hard Rock Nightmare". This is probably the most entertaining of all of the bad 80's rock horror movies that I know of, but it does have the worst special effects of the bunch.

Someday I'm gonna sit down and watch all of these movies one after the other just to see if I can make it through.

Paquita · September 04, 2010, 09:47:29 PM

I love this movie, and Thor, with all my heart and soul. This is my feel good happy time movie. If ever I'm feeling sad, I'm just a Rock N Roll Nightmare away from smiles and good times. I love Andrew's description of Thor as "David Lee Roth's more girthful twin", it's so true.

The sequel is heartbreaking though.

BTM · September 09, 2010, 07:35:07 PM

I haven't had a chance to watch it, I'm told the "twist" near the end is what makes the film stand out from it's rather humble premise. I won't give it away (course I'm sure even those of you who haven't seen the movie know what I'm talking about.)

ChocolateChipCharlie · September 10, 2010, 12:44:22 PM

Quote from: 10,000 Volt Ghost on September 03, 2010, 02:38:34 PM
Made it about 35 mins into this and had to shut if off.

So you only made it halfway through the opening credits and the van driving over the same hill from 7 different angles, repeated 200 times, huh?

hedgie · September 11, 2010, 02:52:09 PM

I have a new appreciation for this movie after watching it knowing that Thor wrote the screenplay. He is a genius.

BTM · September 12, 2010, 12:57:49 AM

You can also catch Thor's acting "talent" in his other feature film Zombie Nightmare. Even though Adam West gets top billing, Thor is clearly the star of that one! (At least until about 3/4th of the way into the film, then I think they replaced him with another actor...)

In that movie, he plays an earnest young baseball player who, shortly after foiling a convenience store robbery, is run down by a group of "teenagers" (including Tia Carrere in what I believe was her film debut), who speed off. The boy's mom, who'd had already lost her husband to a previous incident of gang violence, calls in a favor from the local voodoo fortune teller who raises her son as a zombie. The undead guy then stumbles around rather slowly, taking vengeance on his killers.

The best part about the movie? MST3K did an episode based on it! :)

BoyScoutKevin · September 13, 2010, 04:34:36 PM

BTM is correct. "Zombie Nightmare" was Tia's motion picture debut. (Do you think she includes it on her resume?) Previously, she had done some TV work: "The A-Team," "Airwolf," "General Hospital," etc., and she had appeared in the TV movie "Covenant," but "Zombie Nightmare" was her first theatrical film.

10,000 Volt Ghost · September 14, 2010, 02:36:46 PM

Quote from: ChocolateChipCharlie on September 10, 2010, 12:44:22 PM
Quote from: 10,000 Volt Ghost on September 03, 2010, 02:38:34 PM
Made it about 35 mins into this and had to shut if off.

So you only made it halfway through the opening credits and the van driving over the same hill from 7 different angles, repeated 200 times, huh?

Lol, I was totally thinking they were going to run out of gas by the time the credits were done.