Skragg Review of Reel Wild Cinema

Reel Wild Cinema (1995– )

Partly tongue-in-cheek, partly genuine tribute to "bad" movies

[8/10 · 16 November 2006]

This show was really one of a kind, because it did something the other "cheap movie" shows didn't - it walked a line between making fun of the movies and being a genuine tribute to them. Even the guest stars, who were often people FROM those movies, weren't a guarantee of that, because it could've easily been full of the actors saying, "God, I can't believe I was IN THAT!" ad nauseum. But instead, it had them and Sandra Bernhardt really discussing the UP side of the things (with jokes mixed in, of course). I'm sure it was no coincidence that it came out right after the movie "Ed Wood," which had that same approach. As far as the show "analyzed" the movies, it told you one important thing, and that's that maybe, just maybe, instead of the makers of these movies fooling themselves by thinking that they were doing something very serious, they THEMSELVES had an easy-going attitude toward them. In fact, one (partial) slogan for the show went, "What's the difference between these movies and the big ones today? - millions of dollars and a sense of humor." In other words, it's the CHEAP ones that HAD a sense of humor about themselves (regardless of what people might think), and weren't ALWAYS "unintentionally funny". As hugely attached as I am to MST3K, this show was a real "antidote" to that whole OVERWORKED "insult" approach to the same subject. Anyway, this "theme" of the show, and the show in general, and Bernhardt's part in it (which always seemed full of enthusiasm) made the whole thing work.