I know I have a few reader requests to get to, but I haven't reviewed a truly bad film since December and I'm in withdrawal. After a long bout with the flu and some hard days at work I just really feel the need to wind down and watch something really poorly made, badly acted, and unabashedly stupid. God Bless Turner Classics, they must have known. Set the DVR kids because in the wee hours of the morning TCM is gracing us with a Ray Dennis Steckler double feature including the notorious stinker... Rat Pfink A Boo Boo! I can already feel my brain shutting down in anticipation.
7 comments:
I'm assuming Rat Pfink is the guy in the balaclava and Boo Boo is the jester...hoo boy, this smells real bad. Considering that they didn't even notice that balaclavas are more often seen upon criminal heads, and most jester-types are portrayed as sinister (e.g. the Joker, most clowns in crime/horror films).
Definitely something worth watching.
Histor
I'm predicting pain, but hopefully in that "hurts so good" kind of way.
I think I remeber watching this many, MANY years ago & only making it through about 30 minutes.
I thought it was a TV Guide misprint of Batman & Robin. What did I know. I think I was 8.
I might just give it another chance. I read the following on Wikipedia:
Rat Pfink a Boo Boo is a 1966 film directed by Ray Dennis Steckler and starring Carolyn Brandt.
Perhaps the most striking feature of the film -- beyond the low production values -- is a sudden switch in tone and plot that comes roughly forty minutes into the movie. As originally planned, the film was a straight-faced crime drama titled The Depraved, inspired by a series of obscene phone calls by which Steckler's ex-wife Carolyn was being harassed. During shooting, Steckler suddenly got the inspiration to make a parody of the campy Batman television series instead. As a result, in the middle of straight crime drama action, the star of the movie steps into the closet with a previously minor character and they emerge costumed as "Rat Pfink" and "Boo Boo", parodies of Batman and Robin.[1]
Why the title is Rat Pfink a Boo Boo and not the more logical Rat Pfink and Boo Boo is the subject of speculation. According to legend, Rat Pfink and Boo Boo was indeed the intended title, but when the artist creating the titles made an error and rendered the "and" as "a", Steckler's budget would not stretch to the $50 needed to fix the mistake. According to Steckler, however, the choice of title was deliberate: "The real story is that my little girl, when we were shooting this one fight scene, kept chanting, 'Rat pfink a boo boo, rat pfink a boo boo ....' And that sounded great! But when I tell people the real story, they don't wanna hear it, so you better print the legend."
Actually, when I saw it pop up on the
schedule, Mr. Doob, I had to do a double take. For a moment I mistook it for that other Batman parody (which shall remain unnamed on this family friendly blog) we saw on the shelf of the video store next to Friday's. Now that would have been something to show up on Turner Classics.
Turner Classics? no. Cinemax...most likely.
I see you remember it as well.
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