G-Men from Hell (2000) User Reviews

Does *everyone* named Coppola need to make movies???

[hokeybutt · 4/10 · 11 July 2004]

G-MEN FROM HELL (2 outta 5 stars)

I *wanted* to like this movie, I really did... I've always been a great admirer of Mike Allred's comic book work... and this movie was based on an early, odd strip of his. The movie is actually pretty faithful to the "plot" of the original... even down to the nonsensical appearance of a superhero known as "Cheetah Man". There are a lot of familiar names in the cast (William Forsythe, Bobcat Goldthwait, Paul Rodriguez... and Robert Goulet as the devil). The story is about a pair of overly-zealous FBI agents who die, get sent to hell and escape back to earth so that they can do some good deeds and earn a place in heaven. Sounds like fun... but it just doesn't quite work. Director Christopher Coppola (yes, he's related to all those other Coppolas... go figure) likes to frame everything in weird angles reminiscent of the old "Batman" and "Monkees" TV shows... but filming shots from odd angles doesn't necessarily constitute a "stylish" film. The script doesn't have much going for it... outside of a few good lines (most of which probably came from the comic). The acting is either lamely amatuerish... or is too wildly over-the-top... with the exception of Forsythe who does a pretty good deadpan, hard-boiled tough guy and Gary Busey as a weird, gay cop. Sure, Robert Goulet playing the Devil is a pretty cool idea... but I don't think the execution exactly lives up to the promise. It's a nice enough movie if you are really into wacky, low budget, cult comedies... but it all sounds better on paper than it actually looks onscreen.

A bit too silly to really work

[NateWatchesCoolMovies · 5/10 · 10 June 2017]

G-Men From Hell is.. well, pretty much exactly what the title suggests. Based on a comic book, I think, it concerns two melodramatic 1950's FBI Agents named Dean Crept (William Forsythe) and Mike Mattress (Tate Donovan) who are gunned down by mysterious assailants, and sent off to the inferno to rot, only they aren't finished their business earth- side, and escape using some magic dimension opening crystal. Once back in the realm of the living, they set up their own private detective agency, forced to keep up their good deed quota in order to prevent from being dragged off again. The Devil (Robert Goulet, hilarious) is furious and dispatches an agent of his own to retrieve them. Meanwhile, a relentless and fairly nutty police detective (Gary Busey) is also hot on their trail. Busey, as usual, flips the script into the dustbin and does his own warped thing with the dialogue, making scene partners visibly try to hold in laughter and bewilderment, proving once again that any film he appears in will never get boring. Forsythe and Donovan play it like Looney Toons in noir mode, two campy gumshoe performances that are so knowingly tongue in cheek that it almost seems like a stage play. Cameos include Bobcat Goldthwait, David Huddleston, Kari Wuhrur, Charles Fleischer, Frank McCrae and Vanessa Angel. I feel like the whole thing is just a bit silly to work, even as one big riotous in-joke, but it's a colourful diversion nonetheless, and any film with that title deserves a watch as an ode to it's sheer commitment to blatant inanities. Please excuse the pitiful lack of high def photos in my collage, whoever was in charge of screen caps and production stills on this should be shot in the face.

An incoherent mess, but somewhat visually attractive at that, and William Forsythe is at least decent, as always

[BrandtSponseller · 3/10 · 1 July 2005]

William Forsythe is one of my favorite character actors, so I wanted G-Men from Hell to succeed. In fact, I tried just about everything possible to get into this film, but it just wouldn't work. In the end, it just seemed like one big incoherent, underdeveloped mess, although I felt it earned 3 points for the combination of Forsythe's performance, the odd usage of Gary Busey, the cinematography and the production design.

The story, based on comics by Mike Allred, tells of two FBI agents, Dean Crept (Forsythe) and Mike Mattress (Tate Donovan), who begin the film literally in Hell. Apparently they were corrupt FBI agents, so when they were set up and killed, they ended up in the underworld, which is ruled over by Robert Goulet as the Devil. The Devil transports himself back and forth from the Earth using a crystal (there are later logical problems with this, but that's the least of the film's flaws). Crept and Mattress steal the crystal and attempt to do enough good deeds that they can redeem themselves. They set up shop as private detectives and begin tackling cases. The case shown in this film involves Greydon (Barry Newman) and Gloria Lake (Vanessa Angel), and Greydon's association with Dr. Boifford (David Huddleston), who has been attempting human cloning experiments and lots of esoteric weirdness where he transfers "essences" and such.

Like far too many comic-based films, director Christopher Coppola (Nicolas Cage's brother) and his handful of scriptwriters try to do way too much in 90 minutes. I'm not familiar with the particular Allred comic, Grafik Musik, that served as the basis for the film, but it must have had a relatively lengthy run, or otherwise it must have also been a mess in terms of story. Every time we turn around, there is another character. Most of the characters remain unexplained. Besides the characters mentioned in my summary above, there are three characters who are made to look very similar, including one played by comedian Bobcat Goldthwait (who eventually gets turned into a robot--don't ask, it doesn't make any sense anyway), there is a sentient puppet, there is some other wannabe superhero guy named Cheetah Man, there is a "zombie" from Hell played by comedian Paul Rodriguez, there are a couple women who look similar, there are a couple detectives (including the gay one played by Gary Busey), and so on. All of these characters occasionally pop up throughout the film, say a couple lines, and then leave just as quickly. Little is done to establish who they are, what their relationships are to one another, why they're doing what they're doing, and so on. Occasionally scenes appear to begin and end randomly, and they even seem to be integrated into the film randomly. The characters begin to resemble decorations more than people, as if Coppola had decided to move a bunch of potted plants around his sets and locations.

The basic tonality of the film is a tongue-in-cheek spoof of film noir with a superhero comics attitude. It also has inexplicable elements of sci-fi thrown in and Little Nicky (2000)-styled supernaturalism. The only aspect that even halfway works is the film noir spoof, and that's primarily because Forsythe is so skilled as an actor that it would be difficult for material centered on him to completely fall apart. He's good at droll humor, especially when he gets to play against Busey. It would be nice to see both of them do more material in that vein. The sci-fi stuff needs exposition to work, but even that would be chancy, as too much exposition would have equally killed the film. The Little Nicky-flavored stuff just seems like a horribly lame Saturday Night Live skit gone awry. But the worst element, surprisingly enough, is the superhero stuff. It's about as smoothly integrated into the film as President Bush is smoothly integrated into Iraq. Why did Coppola and crew decide to take something so all over the map and just throw it on the screen? How would this seem like a good idea?

The cinematography, however, is another matter. It often easily matches the most faithful translations of the comic book aesthetic to films, such as the recent Sin City (2005). Coppola orders a majority of shots to be from extreme or oblique angles that exaggerate perspective. The production design matches the aesthetic, with supersaturated combinations of colors, interesting, complex textures and architecture and so on. Why this kind of care couldn't have been put into the script escapes me. On the other hand, if you're prone to dislike CGI, the few very rough computer graphic sequences in this film will surely turn you off.

Still, judging from the reviews on IMDb, at least, some people have enjoyed this film. I suppose if you're a big fan of Allred's work, and you're familiar with Grafik Musik, G-Men from Hell is probably worth seeing, and it should make a bit more sense, if it's supposed to make sense. The climax of the film, wherein the case is solved and the mystery explained, was so convoluted and ridiculous that I have no idea who the killer was supposed to be or what anyone's motivation would have been. For that matter, I was still confused about half of the characters in the scene. But it seemed like it was supposed to be intentionally confusing, and that it was supposed to be funny. Unfortunately I can't say I laughed out loud even once during the film, and neither did I care about the story or the characters.

If you decide to give it a shot, you'll at least be entertained visually, and that includes the presence of a couple extremely attractive women.

A Fun Adaptation of Michael Allred's Comic Book Series

[rlalaw · 1 August 2002]

I'm the producer of G-MEN FROM HELL - and I pulled together a cast of talented comedians including Charles Fleischer (the voice of Roger Rabbit), Paul Rodriguez, Bobcat Goldthwait, as well as Robert Goulet as the Devil, and many others - to create the zaniest live-action adaptation of a comic book ever. I think my talented crew succeeded (I hired Nick Cage's brother, Chris Coppola, to direct -- his uncle is Francis Ford Coppola - and after seeing the film, you can decide if filmaking talent is inherited). The film looks like Warren Beatty's DICK TRACY, but the story is far more bizarre (it's PG-13). It's not MEN IN BLACK, the budget is much less, but the cast and crew really cared about the project and gave 115%. Hope you enjoy it as much as I did making it.

Absolutely terrible

[muikulimiika · 1/10 · 24 February 2022]

G-Men from Hell looks cheap and ugly because it is. But worse than that, it is simply an uninteresting mess of zany characters with no dimensions to make the viewer care about anything. The famous Coppola's untalented nephew Christopher uses a lot of Dutch angles because I guess he had no other ideas to make shots look interesting. Unfortunately this plan doesn't much help matters, but at least you can theoretically build a drinking game around it.

The film apparently attempts at being a comedy, but lacks any wit or charm. A lot of crazy things happen, but none of it is compelling. Decent actors such as Robert Goulet are thoroughly wasted here.

Simply put, this is one of the worst films I have ever seen with no redeeming qualities to consider. Avoid.

Comics!

[BandSAboutMovies · 4/10 · 25 October 2022]

Directed by Christopher Coppola and written by Robert Cooper, Richard L. Albert and Nicholas Johnson, this movie was based on Mike Allred's Grafik Muzik. It stars William Forsythe as Dean Crept and Tate Donovan as Mike Mattress, two dead FBI agents who have no idea of morality that are working on buying their way into heaven.

Along the way, they investigate Greydon (Barry Newman) and Gloria Lake (Vanessa Angel), a married couple who both hire them to investigate one another, deal with an investigation by police officers Lt. Langdon (Gary Busey) and Detective Dalton (Zach Galligan) and steal a crystal from Satan (Robert Goulet). They may have also killed a police informant who may have killed our detectives named Buster (Bobcat Goldthwait), who is resurrected by a mad scientist (David Huddleston) and oh yeah, there's also a superhero named Cheetah Man (Gregory Sporleder), Paul Rodriguez is a demonic gossip and Kari Wuhrer plays their secretary.

It looks really strange, like a 60s TV adventure series made in 2000 which is exactly what it is. I had no idea this movie even existed and yet here it is, packing so many actors into one weird little movie.

Hard Film to Judge

[gavin6942 · 6/10 · 25 March 2014]

Two G-Men (William Forsythe and Tate Donovan), returning from hell, must perform good deeds to save themselves from a doomed fate.

This film has been generally panned, and I can understand why. The filming is a bit odd and the plot is a bit of a mess (but just a bit -- it is still coherent). But the problem really stems from being adapted from a Mike Allred comic -- how do you stay true to a comic without coming across cheesy? That is hard to pull off, and quite often it backfires. This time, I actually think it went okay.

The strength is in all the great actors -- Bobcat, Zach Galligan, Gary Busey and even Robert Goulet as Satan himself. With that much personality in one movie, it is guaranteed to be worth watching, even if the sum is not greater than its parts.

Gary Busey, you're alive!!

[faisal_khan · 10/10 · 20 May 2004]

Gunned down in cold blood, 2 corrupt FBI agents wind up in Hell. Finding a way back to Earth, they begin a campaign of good deeds which will 'square them with the big guy' and allow them to enter Heaven.

G-Men From Hell is a pleasing little film. Overlong at times, it still looks good for the money - like a seedier version of Dick Tracy. It has it's flaws, particularly Vanessa Angel's atrocious dialogue and the re-appearance of Zach Galligan after many years in a role that could just as easily have been left out. Where it shines though is in it's casting of William Forsyth, Gary Busey and Robert Goulet as the Devil, delivering ordinary lines with such panache that it's hard not to repeat them as you go along. In particular, Busey's delivery of 'I am a sadistic, leather-clad master homosexual' and his frequent groping of Galligan will have you wondering why we see so little of this premier nutter on our screens. Goulet and Forsyth are no slouches either and what would have been another forgotten oddity is saved by a couple of great performances.

Watch out for an unrecognizable David Huddlestone as a mad scientist - I'm glad to see he's still going strong.

Wonderfully Quirky Comic Book Adaptation!

[roland-the-butcher · 7/10 · 8 June 2009]

I first read of this film on Mike Allred's website and knew it was a low-budget B-movie, so I didn't figure it was worth checking out. But I ended up coming across it at a flea market so I got it and I have to say ,it absolutely is worth watching. It's full of that bizarre charm that turns a B-flick into a cult classic. Anyone familiar w/ Allred's artwork knows it has a very 60's vibe to it, so it's only appropriate that the movie seems to borrow camera-work and color schemes from TV shows like 'Batman' and 'The Monkees'. There's a wonderful mash-up of genres taking place here, including "hard-boiled crime noir", "mad scientists" and "superheroes" in what is essentially a story about redemption. Considering the small budget this movie had there is some really strong talent at work here. I highly recommend watching this movie if you get a chance. I only hope that when a 'Madman' film finally gets produced they respect Allred's work as much as this movie does.

Oh the Humanity........

[Hypno-2 · 21 January 2003]

I usually like B movies and i really love movies based on comic books. So why did this not fly with me? Well unlike allot of b-movies it wasnt funny bad but just bad. For starters the sets were horrible you could tell they had little money to go on, i was under the impression that the movie was set around the 50's but yet im seing ripped posters for the backstreet boys in an alley. Not to mention all the villians were horrible. I think the breaking point came when we see a man in a very bad superhero outfit jumping rooftop to rooftop only to jump on a ledge and be held steady by the hand of a crew member, there it was plain as day not even a shred of dignity to try to hide it. Even Vanesa Angel and Kari Wuhrer couldnt shine in this mega flop. If you enjoy movies like Toxic Avenger only dumber (as if that was possible) then you will love G-men from Hell other wise please stay away and save your sanity.

A pretty damn good time if you let it in.

[redpill21 · 7/10 · 31 January 2004]

The reviews and vote average would indicate this movie is exceedingly awful, but that simply isn't so. The movie is a lot of fun if you give it a chance and are hip to the vibe. Almost every role in the flick is filled by a character actor or comedian with a substantial resume. Yeah, it's low budget, but it's well-done, and there isn't anything out there that quite hits the unique tone this one manages. A day-glo camp delight influenced by pop-culture from the forties to the present, and very much in the spirit of Mike Allred's comic book writings.

If you don't like this movie, you aren't thinking clearly

[titantrap2 · 9/10 · 23 October 2003]

This movie is pure genius. Chris Coppala's direction is adequate, but the real secret to this movie is perception. If you go in looking for a movie that is a bubble gum, popular, theater movie with a big cast, big budget and top tier talent, go watch fricking Men In Black. This movie is great for so many reasons it's difficult for me to list them all. But here goes.....The acting is great, the characters are written in a tounge in cheek, deadpan style that is difficult to nail as a actor. Fortunately, the cast is comprised of accomplished character actors including Bill Forsythe, and his performance is dead on, somewhere between Tommy Lee Jones in MIB, and Warren Beatty in Dick Tracy. Tate donovan as the leering wannabe ladies man, Mike Mattress. Gary Busey makes a small but massively entertaining part as a gay cop. "I am a sadistic,leather clad homosexual!" Busey screams into the face of Zach Galligan. For that line alone it is worth whatever you pay for it. Trust me. The script is deadpan genius, the one liners and the dry humor permeates the entire movie (if you like this flick, watch Invasion! with Campbell Scott) But i would have to say, Robert Goulet as the devil is the scene stealer in this one. Goulet's deliverey of the "Tsk, Tsk, Tsk" line is camp gold. Sure the production values are low, sure it's got some interesting scenes, and if you don't like comics don't bother. But if you love comics, or even just Mike Alred comics, and deadpan humor, then G-Men from hell is the movie you must watch. If you get the DVD make sure you watch the interview with Mike Alred, it'll convince you if i can't. Evil must perish!!!!!

Mom always siad not to judge a book by its cover.......

[charlesemorgan · 8/10 · 25 July 2002]

The same can be said for judgeing a movie by it's cover box. At first glance it is easy to dismiss this movie as another b grade indie film, and for the most part it is, but further examination of the people in the film should be enough to rent it. With a cast ranging from Robert Goulet as The Devil, Gary Busey as the S/M homosexual police detective or Zach Galligan (always wondered what happend to him after the Gremlins and Waxwork films) as Busey's nepotistic partner. This is a story of two less then sterling FBI agents who after being marked for a hit find themselves in Hell (all of which is told in comic book format during the opening credits, the same way I would have told the origin of Batman in the first film). They decide that the only way to make there way to Heaven is to escape back to earth, do good deeds and maybe solve the mystery of who had them hit. The two G Men are played in a very 50's detective style and plays off well against the backdrop of a leopard clad superhero wannabe, demonic zombie retrievers (Paul Rodriguez), mad scientists, hand puppet henchmen and living man-robots (Bobcat Goldthwait). This movie is based on a Dark Horse comic which made it's run in Madman Comics (I think issue's 17 - 22) and is available as a Trade Paperback. The movie is well worth the rental fee just for Goulet's performance and has to qualify as one of the better comic to movie adaptations.