1977 post-apocalyptic road trip
Rating: 9/20 (Libby: 5/20, 15/20, or 11/20; Fred: 12/20; Josh: 8/20; Jeremy: not sure what happened to him)
Plot: Oh, snap! Nuclear bombs ruin everybody's fun except for George Peppard's because nobody can ruin that guy's fun. He's got a few cigars and a futuristic Winnebago, so he's good to go. He and three other survives set out to find the titular place for reasons never adequately explained. That or they're going to Albany. Along the way, they lose a couple guys, pick up another couple people, and encounter all sorts of dangers.
First Bad Movie Club viewing of the year was only slightly incoherent and had laughable special effects. And the plot was paper thin, really consisting more of a handful of episodes--giant scorpions, a radioactive tornado, killer cockroaches, slot machine fun, inbreds-- than a story, especially since I really never had a handle on where they were going or why they were going there. It certainly looked fairly interesting. The sky becomes a variety of superimposed psychedelic colors--fuzzy greens and oranges and purples--that seem to have been an impulsive decision during post-production. There are color continuity errors, but maybe that's also just a product of the earth being knocked off its axis. I'm not a scientist, so how should I know? The giant scorpions, which for some reason are purple, are also superimposed. Jan-Michael Vincent performs motorcycle stunts through desert sands as he avoids these things, but they're only there so that his character can play a practical joke on another character which is all a little silly. Those menacing cockroaches are no laughing matter, and the token black character, who of course doesn't live to see the end of the movie, has one of the more painful deaths at their hands. Or legs or whatever las cucarachas muertas have. The big tank thing itself, the Land Master, looks cool enough except when it turns into an obvious model during a big flooding sequence. And Peppard, who one of the Bad Movie Clubbers seemed enamored with, was a bad ass although he started developing this accent midway through the movie, an accent that just kept getting more and more out of control. He probably picked it up at Ellen's Cafe where they encounter a triad of rednecks, one played by Seamon Glass, a name I just had to type. I made a Deliverance joke upon their appearance, but it turns out Seamon Glass, a name I just had to type again, was one of the Griners in that movie. And that's also no laughing matter. Jackie Earle Haley plays a kid, but probably just got the part because of his rock-hurling accuracy. He also delivers the best line in the movie: "Can I have a sucker?" This suffers from an overuse of stock footage, confusion about why there are working slot machines, and underdeveloped characters, but the score's pretty good, the visuals are kind of interesting, and you really can't mess with George Peppard.
New band name, inspired by one of Libby's comments: Radioactive Crotch
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