Episode 273: Bad Ronald (1974)
Rundown
Brian must really dislike his cohosts, because he seems to only pick movies that inflict mental anguish on them, and this week is no except - 1974's made-for-TV BAD RONALD. Not quite the typical Hallmark Movie of the Week fodder, it's still painfully tame and slow, and Matt and Scott are wondering if they need to take away Brian's ability to pick movies to discuss, as he obviously cannot be trusted with this kind of power.
Film Trailer
Quote of the Episode:
"When he pushed her I did say out loud 'Bad Ronald'" - Brian
More 70's Horror Films
Nobody really thinks creepy kid movies work anymore, right? See that, Brian? Your decision to subject us to DEVIL TIMES FIVE, aka PEOPLE TOYS (1974) was a fool's errand, like trying to seduce a mentally-handicapped giant of a man while wearing sexy negligee… Or so we learned watching this week's movie. It's bad, so we have a couple things to say about it.
Brian's love of bad 70s exploitation/horror is well-known on the show, and this week he subjected his unsuspecting cohosts to 1971's WEREWOLVES ON WHEELS! There's a lot of riding motorcycles while intoxicated (tsk tsk) and satanic rituals, but not much actual werewolf action. Join us as we scratch our collective head at this weird movie, which Brian has NO shame about choosing!
We see a lot of amazing creature designs and practical effects on HMN, so sometimes it's nice to take a step back and see our SFX heroes' humble beginnings...like the ridiculously dumb Rick Baker monstrosity, OCTAMAN (1971)! More or less a lower-budget, less skilled retelling of the Creature From the Black Lagoon (written by the same guy), this one is 100% due to its moment of glory in Gremlins 2: The New Batch, so thanks for that, Brian. Between the three of us, we only have 6 arms to fight Octaman's 8, wish us luck!