Hollywood Monster (1987)

Do you ever miss the fantasy element that ran rampage during the 80's?
Do you miss goofy teen comedies of that decade?
Well, here is a movie for you!
I am Torstein from Cinema Terror and today's review is of the forgotten, obscure Hollywood
Monster, also known as Ghost Chase, from 1987.
Before I go into the movie, I just want to say that the lack of reviews from the lack
of reviews from the last few weeks has been due to me being sick and as you can hear,
my throat is not 100% yet.
But what can you do, the show must go on.
Hollywood Monster takes us back to what many will say is the glory days of horror, where
we get to know the two friends and roommates Warren and Fred, played by Jason Lively and
Tim McDaniel respectively.
They live together in an awesome house with plenty of silly gadgets and fantastic movie
posters on their walls.
Fred is trying to make a b-movie, with Warren being the star actor in it, of course.
Their career isn't going all to well, but their luck might just change when Warren gets
an invitation for an inheritage reading of his late Grandfather.
The only thing he receives from this is a pawn ticket, which he also has to cough up
20 bucks to collect.
When he does so, he receives a brown suitcase which has a bunch of old photographs and an
antique clock in it.
Disappointed by the lack of bounty, they head home.
That very night, a supernatural creature comes to life from the clock and sets the guys out
on an adventure to find the real treasure left behind by Warren's Grandfather.
To be perfectly honest, I had never heard of this movie before deciding to give it a
chance today, as with such I had quite low expectations for it.
To my surprise, this movie turned out to be a pleasent experience, filled with silly and
goofy fun.
This movie thrills in being of its time in that it has more focus on just giving us funny
scenes than caring about the logic of it all.
There is that indistinguishable 80's charm flowing through each scene that makes this
a must see for all of us who were youngsters during the decade and love to go back to find
more of the good stuff that perhaps didn't get its due at its time.
The silliness of it all might not work for movie fans that didn't grow up with films
like these, so Hollywood Monster is very much a product of its time and perhaps a bit dated
for many of todays audience as we are not used to bizarre movie plots like this one
has anymore.
Another problem some might have with it if they can look past its goofyness is the main
characters.
Jason Lively as Warren and Tim McDaniel as Fred is not the best leading duo you will
come across and I'm sure that the movie as a whole would have been remembered by more
if the duo had been switched out with... say, the likeable and nerdy duo from Weird Science
perhaps.
Not to say that Warrren and Fred are complete dickheads or anything like that, they are
just not as memorable or as fun as you would have liked them to be.
The supernatural creature, called Lewis the Butler is silly, but plenty of fun.
The thing looks like a modified E.T.
Puppet and while it's not the greatest creation ever, it is still just too much of a funny
looking little guy that you can't help to enjoy every scene it is in.
I should also mention that the female character of the film, Laurie, Wade's love interest
I guess you could say, is brought to life quite nicely due to the natural charm of the
actress Jill Whitlow.
It's funny to see that the director of this film is none other than German born director
Roland Emmerich himself.
He is of course more known for his later big budget efforts like Independence Day, Godzilla
and The Day After Tomorrow, but if there is one thing I can say that I think Hollywood
Monster has against those more beloved and remembered films it is that there feels like
this has a bit more heart and hunger behind it.
There is suppposed to be a director's cut of this film somewhere that runs 22 minutes
longer.
I have no idea how that would
The movie was filmed during October of 1986 in both the US and Germany and actually had
a release in theaters in Germany in June of 1987 and was first shown stateside where it
only got a VHS release in 1988.
I am not sure why this film doesn't seem to have any fans as I thought it was an awesome,
fun 80's nostalgic experience.
Yeah, I do know that the movie is not a cinematic masterpiece, but I have a hard time understanding
how this one isn't more beloved by others that grew up in this time period like I did.
It's not easy to bring up points of just why this movie worked so well for me, I guess
it's nostalgia, but it's also too easy to give that all the reasoning for why I enjoyed
it as much as I did.
Hollywood Monster, or Ghost Chase as is my prefered title for the film, is a surprisingly
fun movie with heart in it.
It might not be for everybody, but it sure as hell was a movie made for me and it gets
the above expected score of 4 out of 5 from me.
Has anyone else out there actually seen this film?
And if so, can you understand my high praise of it or did you not care for it like most
people doesn't seem to do?
What are some of your hidden 80's goofy gems?
Let me know about it in the comment section below, like and subscribe and all of that
stuff and I hope to see you again next time!
Oh, before I end this video... is that Porky's?
God damn, yes it actually is.
No wonder I like this movie!

Hollywood Monster (1987) - Movie Review

Latest Posts