FORMAT: DVD
Directed by Rock n’ Roll High School’s Allan Arkush, Get Crazy is similar in tone to that classic (just imagine if it had just taken a handful of amphetamines). Allen Garfield stars as a theater owner putting on a big New Year’s Eve show with a half-dozen rock and blues acts. (I was originally going to watch this on New Year’s Eve to close out the Let’s Get Physical column, but it just didn’t work out that way.) Ed Begley Jr. is a sleazy record producer who wants to buy the building out from under him. When Garfield refuses, he plans to blow the place up at midnight. Meanwhile, the stage manager (Daniel Stern) tries to wrangle all the performers backstage and get the show on the road.
Get Crazy lacks the cohesive center that made Rock n’ Roll High School such a classic. However, the film’s freewheeling anarchic spirit is infectious. Much of the movie feels like a filmed Mad Magazine parody. Some of the random bits of craziness are truly inspired. My favorite character is the extraterrestrial (?) robot (?) drug dealer named Electric Larry. Arkush’s scattershot approach sometimes yields less than hysterical results though. (Stern’s romantic daydreams are especially unfunny.)
That said, it’s worth watching for the music, as well as the amazing cast. We have Lou Reed as a reclusive folk singer, Malcolm McDowell doing a spot-on Mick Jagger impression (McDowell once told me at a horror convention that Jagger refused to speak to him after he saw the movie), Fear’s Lee Ving as a headbanging punk rocker, and The Doors’ John Densmore as McDowell’s drummer (who plays the drums with chicken drumsticks in one scene). Roger Corman regulars Mary Woronov, Paul Bartel, Dick Miller, and Jackie Joseph also pop up, and Linnea Quigley and Michelle Bauer appear briefly as groupies. Underrated hottie Anna (More American Graffiti) Bjorn also puts in a memorable turn as McDowell’s main squeeze. The soundtrack is worth picking up too, and the title tune by Sparks is a straight-up banger.
Well, that wraps things up for the Let’s Get Physical column. It was kind of exhausting at times, but it was a lot of fun. I don’t plan on doing another daily watching column this year, but I probably will do the 31 Days of Horror-Ween this October (which went by the wayside in 2024 since I was so preoccupied with Let’s Get Physical). I hope you all have a great New Year!
I had fun with that column myself and I hope you get around to checking the rest of your physical media collection, especially interested to hear your thoughts on the first three Camp Blood movies.
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