As I sat through Pandemonium (1982), it dawned on me that if you took the funniest bits from all the horror comedies of the early 1980s and stitched them together, you might have a pretty good movie. (Or you could just watch Student Bodies.) With this one, though, there’s only one scene I’d bother harvesting.
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It takes place early, when “Victim #1,” Candy (Carol Kane), is waiting for the “Certain Death” bus to take her to summer cheerleading camp. Her mother (Eileen Brennan) argues with her about her “dirty pillows.” Of course, this isn’t a spoof of a Slasher film, but from Carrie (1976.) That’s OK, though, especially when Candy’s eyes glow red and she lifts Mom into the air.
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There’s another scene that’s silly fun, but has nothing to do with the plot, really. The students visit the “House of Bad Pies” where they’re waited upon by twins Crystal (Candi Brough) and China (Randi Brough) and hit with a barrage of literal responses. For example, “Can I see a menu?” results in one of them quickly raising a menu, then putting it behind her back.
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It’s hard to sustain comedy for a full-length movie, even if it’s under 90 minutes, but if the entire thing had this brand of dumb humor, I might have enjoyed it more. The truth is most of it’s a snooze. Most of the members of the great cast listed above come and go in quick cameos. The ones that stay for the entire time, you kind of wish would go.
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The funny moments don’t have much to do with the story. For example, throwaway reactions from Paul Reubens tickled me even though his character edged closer to Pee Wee Herman than Johnson, the deputy (?) to Tom Smothers’ Cooper, a Canadian Mountie that goes everywhere with his trusted steed.
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However, if your type of humor is represented by the fact that the students are named, Candy, Mandy (Teri Landrum), Sandy (Debralee Scott), Andy (Miles Chapin), Randy (Marc McClure), and Glenn… Dandy (Judge Reinhold), then I might be underestimating Pandemonium. Maybe it was beating the joke like a Canadian Mountie’s trusted steed that turned me off.
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The biggest shock comes not from any attempted murder, but from the fact that Pandemonium was directed by Alfred Sole. He didn’t direct many films, but when you make the masterpiece, Alice, Sweet Alice (1976), you don’t need to. It was originally called, Thursday the Twelfth, but when Saturday the 14th beat it to screens, the title was changed.
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That may explain a lot about both films. Sometimes with the motion picture business model, when two similar movies are made at the same time, rushing to complete them harms both. I always point to 1998 with Armageddon and Deep Impact. Neither studio surrenders their ground and both lose the war.
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