In God We Tru$t is an acerbic satire on American Christianity written, directed and starring Marty Feldman. It's got a pretty dire score on IMDB but I rather enjoyed it - kinda in the vein of a Mel Brooks or Steve Martin film and though a bit uneven there's some really great lines in it. I thinks maybe it was the pointedness of the satire that didn't help at the box office, the Merikans aint fond of people poking fun at the big G. Anyways Feldman plays a monk sent out into the world for the first time to raise money for his monastery, bewildered by modern L.A. he soon stumbles into Peter Boyle's mobile-church scam artist and a friendly hooker called Mary. There's a great performance by Andy Kaufman as the deranged money hungry TV preacher he's been sent to meet and another by Richard Pryor as GOD, a computer mainframe that finally learns the true meaning of the gospels. Worth a look.The Legend of Hell House is a nice chiller starring Roddy McDowell as part of a team of psychic investigators staying at a notorious old mansion. Not dissimilar to Robert Wise's The Haunting the proceedings don't go as planned and the usual ghostly mayhem ensues, even the specialist spirit clearing machine they've brought along doesn't seem to work and it all ends in tragedy. A solid effort. Hadn't realised this was written by Richard Matheson and after looking at his IMDB page I've been amazed by the scope of his career, I mean I knew about I Am Legend and it's 3 versions, The Box and the forthcoming Real Steel but The Raven, The Devil Rides Out, The Duel, episodes of Star Trek & Twilight Zone, Stir of Echoes, Somewhere in Time etc etc this guy must be one of the most prolific scifi/horror screenwriters ever, if you can think of anyone else (other than Stephen King) I'd love to know.
Always glad to hear of somebody learning about the depth and breadth of Matheson's screen career, including both the fine films he wrote himself and those adapted by others from his work, such as STIR OF ECHOES. His filmography reads like a who's who of influential genre filmmakers, as your list suggests, and his work with the likes of Rod Serling and Dan Curtis on television is no less noteworthy. For the full story, see my forthcoming book RICHARD MATHESON ON SCREEN.
ReplyDeleteFYI, RICHARD MATHESON ON SCREEN is tentatively due out in early October. Of course, you can always pre-order it. :-)
ReplyDeletehttp://www.mcfarlandpub.com/book-2.php?id=978-0-7864-4216-4