Reclusive Professor Guy Nicholas (Bill Randa) lives in a secluded rural area of coastal California with his gifted telekinetic psychic kids Beth (Nell Regan) and Michael (Patrick Regan III). The tykes bring their father back to life after he gets killed by a gang of nasty bikers. Of course, dear ol' undead dad bumps off said bikers. Director/co-writer Patrick Regan certainly scores extra points for novelty value alone: Along with the deliciously bonkers premise, we also get such jaw-dropping offbeat sights as zomboid pop driving around in a black sedan with freaky paint on his face, dad coming out of the sand on the beach to strangle one of the bikers, the father giving a scare to a couple of mean surfer dudes who trashed the children's' sandcastles, another biker strangling himself with a chain, and the moppets making their dad literally dig his own grave. The cast play the wacky material with admirable sincerity: 60's teen idol Fabian Forte contributes a sound and likable performance as eager nice guy Deputy Sheriff Blanchard, Marilyn Burns (Sally in "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre") is also fine as concerned social worker Nora Dennis, Robert Dryer snarls it up as vicious biker Billy, plus there are neat bits by Jon Cedar as boozy, jerky real estate agent Wally Stanton and Marvin Miller as genial general store owner Bill Morris. The acting by the Regan siblings leaves a lot to be desired, but they're still pretty cute and effective just the same. David Spears' droning spooky'n'shuddery synthesizer score, the remote rustic setting, the crude (not so) special effects, a decent smidgen of gratuitous female nudity, the fairly polished cinematography by Peter C. Jensen and Vilis Lapenieks, the slow pace, and the cockeyed brooding mood all further add to the overall peculiarly engrossing oddness of this one-of-a-kind head-scratcher. Recommended to hardcore fans of the terminally outré.
Review of Kiss Daddy Goodbye
Kiss Daddy Goodbye
(1981)
An authentically strange low-budget horror curio
17 June 2009
Warning: Spoilers