Longtime Incredible Hulk scribe Peter David wrote this low budget Sci-Fi western for Full Moon. It’s got a great cast, some genuine laughs, and moves at a breezy pace. It’s definitely one of the company’s better mid-'90s efforts.
Andrew Divoff is Redeye, a snake-faced outlaw who takes over the titular futuristic Wild West town and kills the sheriff. His son Zack (Richard Joseph Paul) comes to town, but since he’s an empath, he refuses to get involved. Once Redeye and his gang take the pretty Miss Mattie (Jackie Swanson) hostage, Zach sets aside his nonviolent ways to kick some alien ass.
Directed by Sam (Elvira’s Haunted Hills) Irvin, Oblivion is a rip-roaring good time. The only fault I could find with his direction was that he goes a bit overboard with the slow-motion in some scenes. It would’ve been different if he was doing a homage to Spaghetti Westerns or something, but it just seems like a way to draw out the action. However, that’s just a minor drawback, all things considered.
David’s script isn’t exactly “smart” but it is pretty clever. I enjoyed the “futuristic” touches like a Wild West town having an ATM and the cowboys playing handheld video poker. The funniest scene is when a somber funeral is interrupted by a bingo game in the next room. The fun giant scorpion stop motion monsters by David Allen are cool too.
The leads aren’t as good as the supporting cast but that’s perfectly acceptable, especially when everyone seems to be having a ball. Julie Newmar is a hoot as Miss Kitty, the madam of a brothel who still purrs like she’s playing Catwoman. We also have Carel (Twin Peaks) Struycken as a psychic undertaker, Musetta Vander (who kind of resembles a Great Value Ornella Muti) as Divoff’s whip wielding dominatrix cowgirl sidekick, Meg Foster as a cyborg deputy, Star Trek’s George Takei as the town drunk, and Isaac Hayes as a trader.
David’s script has plenty of solid one-liners too. One of my favorites came when Divoff told his slow-witted henchman, “I have hemorrhoids smarter than you!” It’s Takei who gets the best line in the scene where he gets drunk on Jim Beam and says, “Jim, beam me up!”
AKA: Aliens and Desperados. AKA: Alien Desperados. AKA: Welcome to Oblivion.
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