Wacko
"It's Halloween, it's prom night, there's a psycho loose, so don't open the door, don't answer the phone, don't look in the attic, don't go to the bathroom, don't go into the ocean, and don't go into space 'cause no one can hear you scream."
It's been 13 years since the pumpkin headed lawnmower killer mowed down Mary's (Julia Duffy, Newhart, Designing Women) older sister Pam on the night of the Halloween Pumpkin Prom. Now as Mary prepares to attend the prom herself, the killer's back...
Years before Scary Movie, there was a short-lived craze of low-budget horror movie spoofs, aimed at a stoner, drive-in audience. Although Wacko isn't as clever as Student Bodies, as star-filled as Pandemonium, or as lovable as Zapped!, it does have its moments. Set at Alfred Hitchcock High School, the comedy's a mixed bag (most of the best gags are in the last half hour of the film), with countless references to Halloween, Psycho, The Omen, and Alfred Hitchcock Presents, and lesser references to everything from Welcome Back Kotter to West Side Story.
In addition to Duffy (who also starred in the memorable, multiply titled Night Warning around the same time), the film also stars Andrew Dice Clay as a Barbarino-ish superman with a schlong of steel, singer/voice actress extraordinaire E.G. Daily (One Dark Night) as one of Mary's closest friends, Anthony James (Burnt Offerings, Return From Witch Mountain) as a potential suspect, Jeff Altman (Pink Lady and Jeff, Nurses) as the religious whackjob vice principal, character actor Joe Don Baker as the cop, George Kennedy (Dallas) as Mary's pervert father, '60s sexpot Stella Stevens as her mother, and Mrs. Bates as herself. The film was released on DVD in Europe (though the discs are out of print) but never here in the USA... and it doesn't look like it's getting a release any time soon.
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