Wacko — Wacko(Blu Ray)
During the early 80s- the golden age of the slasher film- as with any popular genre, it got its fair share of parodies/ send-ups, and 1982’s Wacko is one such film. It took a decidedly bloodless, bad taste to ridiculous humour-laden, and often manic take on stalking ‘n’ slashing form, sending up not just the genre, but other horror/ impactful cinematic fare of the period. Here, from 88 Films- as part of their slasher classic collection series- is a new Blu-ray release of the picture, featuring a new commentary track from the slasher-loving podcast The Hysteria Continues.
Wacko (aka Wacko Weekend, The Last Horror Show) was an American production filmed in and around LA and Chatsworth. It was directed by Niles, Michigan-born Greydon Clark. Between the early 70s and late 90’s he had twenty feature-length credits to his name- these went from sleazy blaxploitation action/ comedy Black Shampoo (1976), though to hunting an alien sci-fi/ horror Without Warning (1980). Onto the killer cat horror of Uninvited (1988), and the cheap sci-fi action film Dark Future (1994).
The film is set thirteen years after the ‘Lawnmower Killer’- a pumpkin-headed and mumbling murderer offed several people, including Mary Graves (Julia Duffy) sister. The prom is now coming up, and Mary is starting to get twitchy. She not the only one- as dishevelled/cigarette constantly in the side of his mouth detective Dick Harbinger (Joe Don Baker) has been obsessively worrying since the massacre happen, that it’ll occur again….and as they’ve now reached the 13 anniversary he's sure it will.
I guess how much you enjoy Wacko is down to how much you enjoy parody humour like that found in 1980s Airplane!. As to be honest, there is little of a focused/ remotely scary slasher film here- yes, some of its send-up of the genre's tropes are vaguely amusing, but there is no depth/ shock to them.
The humour moves from the truly bad taste/inappropriate, like a repeated joke of a father peeping at/ trying to remove the clothes of his young daughters. Onto the mocking of teen sexual urges, with suddenly raised member sound effects. We have silly humour edged scene rip-offs, the first Halloween film, at mocking stabs at the likes of The Omen and Psycho- Mary’s buck-toothed boyfriend is named Norman Bates (Scott McGinnis), and he brings his mummified mother to one of the family meals.
There’s also threads of bumbling Doctor humour added into the mix, as Mary’s father, played by George Kennedy (Cool Hand Luke, The Dirty Dozen) carries out operations on the wrong people, puts things where they shouldn't be, and loses his scalpel in the family's kitchen. As well slight/ random send-up of the first Grease film.
To be honest, the whole thing is somewhat of a mess, as it tries to balance jokes/ sketches with a flowing plot. I’d say I’m a middling fan of the type of humour/ parody Wacko serves up, and I got a few chuckles out of the film- though the further it went on, I got rather tired of its repeated jokes, and lack of flow.
On the extras side, we get a new commentary track from four-piece slashing-loving podcast The Hysteria Continues, and as always with this track, we get a great mix of banter, research, and observation. They start off by pointing out bit part actors as they appear, giving brief bios, and each talks about their first experience with Wacko. They discuss the film's machine gun-like flow of jokes, clearly influenced/ inspired by 1980s Airplane!. They talk about how the film was more of an out-and-out spoof, as it’s not just focusing on slashers. We find out that Martin Landau was offered the George Kennedy role- but he turned it down, as he felt uncomfortable with the character's leer at his daughters. They talk about how the killer's mask is not very particular, and mention some great sight gags. They talk about how the film came about. Later on, they discuss the backlash to the slasher genre in the early 80s. We find out the director wanted the film to be a PG, and we get quotes from the reviews of the time- most of these are negative. It's a must-play track, which is a highlight of this release.
In conclusion, I’d say this will appeal most to Airplane! fans than straight slasher fans. It’s great to finally see Wacko getting an 88 Video release, and while the film wasn’t for me, I enjoyed the commentary track very much.