Ahh...this is the stuff, I was somewhat prepared with a ready grin on my face when I slid the video into my player and the titles unrolled...yes it's 'The Incredibly Strange People Show', an all-new low budget comedic tip of the hat to our favourite genre movies and the absurd side of TV!
The films opens with an old drive-in movie type warning that any viewers over the age of 25 will die on viewing the feature from a time release nerve gas (so that's me dead before the film kicks in then!) and slides into a modern day 'Groove Tube' bundle of fun from therein.
We meet two young couch potatoes who have moulded themselves onto their settee feeding their trash television fixation with a diet of grade z home entertainment which take the form of a slew of comedic skits of varying belly laugh levels, with the two TV junkies providing the link element to the feature. First up we get an amusing spoof of everyone's favourite TV forensic hack Quincy with a suitably over the top performance. Sadly next up is perhaps one of the films lowpoints, an overlong army skit where a fervent old school commandeer rants through a somewhat overlong four letter tirade (thankfully this is the only low point).
Throughout the feature we get treated to a selection of mock TV adverts promoting all sorts of weird and wonderful products like 'elbow grease' (so simple it's bang on!), the multi purpose 'Skedge!', 'Cheeze-ade' (an off shoot of cheesy peas by chance?) and the worryingly amusing service 'Dial Me for Murder' (amongst others).
The next main sketch though is probably the true highlight of the movie (and thankfully one that reoccurs throughout)...that is the wondrous cinematic return of the Slithis!! Yes b-movie fans rejoice as the Slithis (played appropriately enough by infamous horror boffo Billy Chainsaw) makes a welcome return in this hilarious take on the rarely seen monster classic. The great thing here is that every time you think the Slithitic humour is done the big ugly behemoth pops back up to cause bloody mayhem once more! Franco fans will also derive some pleasure from the similarly hilarious (but all too brief) appearance by everyone's favourite bug eyed weirdo Orlof (if only more had been made of this fun character as I've always believed that Orlof should belong in a comedy b-movie scenario, shoot me down but I always laugh watching the old Franco flick!)
Also on show is a fun spin on the old women in prison flicks which slides more towards the downright bizarre than out and out sexploitation. There's some glorious bad acting from Paul Baker as Spinell (yes Spinell) in the again all too brief 'Zombie 69', a fun retro romp that could have welcomingly been expanded. Twilight Zone/retro sci-fi fans will get a kick out of the 'Outer Zone' antics of the Bug Man and one of the best laugh out loud moments comes in the form of a bang on rip into all those new generation genre movie critics that we all love to hate. Listen to the pretentious pontificating taken to a new height of hilarity as the pompous critic goes on a descriptive frenzy discussing an old art house short which is presented here also complete with print damage nuances et al - downright hysterical, lovely stuff!
'The Incredibly Strange People Show' although an ensemble production seems to be the loving brainchild of obviously keen life long genre fan Jason de L'Orme and he should rightly be proud of his work. Although at times the content can be a touch hit and miss, on the main it's a really fun experience - more so for likeminded fans of the aforementioned retro genre scene. I for one am looking forward to checking out more of Jason de L'Orme's work, this guys going places! If you get the chance, grab some beers and chill the b-movie breeze. Nice one!
For more info on 'The Incredibly Strange People Show' check out the official website here http://www.theincrediblystrangepeopleshow.co.uk
Review by Alan Simpson
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