She (1984)

Pretty Good

I cannot think of one single thing that I would change about this film. The acting is incomparable, the directing deft, and the writing poignantly brilliant.

This is a coming of age storyline that you've seen in one form or another for decades. It takes a truly unique voice to make yet another one worth watching.

It is encouraging that the film ends so strongly.Otherwise, it wouldn't have been a particularly memorable film

This is exactly what bad movies are supposed to be: a magnificent accident; bizarre; terrible dialog; insipid acting; but most importantly, uncontrived. Not like that Troma crap. Troma wishes its movies were bad, but all I see are contrivances: people who try to pawn off badly made bad movies as something special, like She. She is everything you want and more. Badly executed scenes for even more badly conceived plot points. Terrible costuming including spiked football helmets intended to look "post- apocalyptic". Male sexual fantasies enacted on screen, masquerading as female empowerment. But through all of it, an effortless "badness" that leaves one questioning, simply, "how?". How did this make it to film? How did it actually get made, and who actually looked at the final cut and said 'yep, it's just like I imagined it. Trust me, this is a golden turd. It's the reason we bother to watch terrible movies.

Supposedly based on the same popular sci-fi novel by H. Rider Haggard which was made into a film in 1935 and 1965 (the latter starring Ursula Andress), but, according to those in the know, it has nothing to do with it (despite claiming otherwise). This is a batcrap crazy post-apocalyptic sci-fi starring Sandahl Bergman (Conan the Barbarian, Red Sonja, Hell Comes to Frogtown). I frequently joked during the movie that there was absolutely no plan as to where this movie was going. They were just making it up as they were going on. The actors would raid the costume and props departments and just come back with whatever weird stuff they could find. There's no other way to explain a giant, bearded man wearing a tutu and a gas mask. The (rather confusing) plot begins with two men (David Goss and Harrison Muller, Jr.) losing their sister to a group of crazy-looking men. They hear that the local goddess She (Bergman) knows where they're taking her, so they considerately kidnap her and make her lead them to their sister. Apparently each small settlement has their own god or goddess, a few of which we'll meet along the way. Accompanied by one of She's chief warriors (Quin Kessler), they make their way across the post-apocalyptic landscape and run into all sorts of zany tribes. One has a god named Godan who has telekinetic powers. The most memorable sequence in the film has an annoying Robin Williams impersonator named Xenon (David Traylor, who is a stand-up comedian who goes by the stage name David Zed) who, when you cut him into pieces, starfish-like, regenerates into multiple Xenons. Don't get me wrong, this movie is pretty terrible. But it plays out like a drug trip, and you'll definitely remember it. I'm really surprised I hadn't heard of it beforehand.

This is an hysterical romp, a mix of Conan and Mad Max, made with a lot of colorful, unfinished ideas, mixed up in a total mess, a bad movie that is fun to watch because you ever know what will come next. In this, it is a great Z-movie, almost fun as Plan 9 from outer space, but if you search for a serious sword and sorcery clone, stay away. For fun of B-movies only

I must say that I am starting an unfortunate career of following Sandahl Bergman flicks. Don't get me wrong...I've enjoyed what I've seen of Ms. Bergman's acting in Hell comes to Frogtown and in this film She(the book is interesting by the way). As long as you're not looking for anything special it's cool. I personally enjoyed it but I was lynched by the 3 friends I made watch it with me. Especially since the whole movie we were waiting for the plot to resemble anything that the back of the movie box. It never did. There was supposed to be this whole plot about the all powerful "She" falling for a man who might kill her. As far as I can tell there was a woman...who was generally referred to as "She"...and indeed there was a lead male character. But they never so much as looked at each other crosswise. But hey the real reason to watch the movie is ghouls, the god "She"(who has no powers as far as I can tell), the other god they meet who actually has powers and wants to "study" our heroine, the weird dividable guy(my fav)...it's a labyrinth of weirdness. I dug it.