Pterodactyl Woman from Beverly Hills | |
---|---|
Directed by | Philippe Mora |
Written by | Philippe Mora |
Produced by | Bruce Critchley |
Starring | Beverly D'Angelo Aron Eisenberg Barry Humphries Brion James |
Cinematography | Walter Bal |
Edited by | Ross Guidici |
Music by | Roy Hay |
Production company | |
Distributed by | Troma Team Video |
Release date |
|
Running time | 97 minutes |
Country | United States |
Language | English |
Pterodactyl Woman from Beverly Hills, made by Ptereo Pictures Inc. and Troma Entertainment in 1995, is a live-action farcical horror film, written and directed by Philippe Mora. The film stars Beverly D'Angelo, Aron Eisenberg and Brion James. Australian entertainer Barry Humphries has a cameo, playing three parts in the same scene: a grocery store clerk, the store manager and a "lady shopper" who is clearly his stage character Dame Edna Everage. [1] The film had a limited cinematic release in January 1996 and was released on video by Troma in 1997.
Paleontologist Dick Chandler (Brad Wilson) discovers a dinosaur egg, prompting an eccentric witchdoctor named Salvador Dalí (Brion James) to put a curse on Chandler's wife, Pixie (Beverly D'Angelo), causing her to slowly and intermittently transform into a pterodactyl. After Pixie lays an egg, Dick tracks down Salvador Dalí and apologizes, and the curse is lifted. [2]
The film's music was composed by Roy Hay, the guitarist/keyboardist of British band Culture Club.
Critics panned Pterodactyl Woman from Beverly Hills for being dull and unfunny. Variety magazine's review declared "all the actors ... are defeated by the drab material". The film was also criticized for being a "classic case of a title in search of a movie", unable to decide whether it seeks to spoof Los Angeles lifestyles or the science fiction genre. [3]
Entertainment Weekly gave the film a C- and noted that "silly isn’t necessarily funny, and after an hour and a half of Bev’s squawking and stooping, you may find yourself wishing this species of movie were extinct." [4]
The Dinosaur Filmography book describes the film as "a wildly uneven hodgepodge of sight gags, satire, and silliness, with just enough cleverness and intelligence to avoid laying an egg." [2]
Salvador Domingo Felipe Jacinto Dalí i Domènech, Marquess of Dalí of Púbol was a Spanish surrealist artist renowned for his technical skill, precise draftsmanship, and the striking and bizarre images in his work.
The Toxic Avenger is a 1984 American superhero black comedy splatter film directed by Michael Herz and Lloyd Kaufman and written by Kaufman and Joe Ritter. It is the first installment of The Toxic Avenger franchise. The film was released by Troma Entertainment, known for producing low budget B-movies with campy concepts and gruesome violence. Virtually ignored upon its first release, The Toxic Avenger caught on with filmgoers after a long and successful midnight movie engagement at the Bleecker Street Cinema in Greenwich Village in late 1985. It is now regarded as a cult classic.
Troma Entertainment is an American independent film production and distribution company founded by Lloyd Kaufman and Michael Herz in 1974. The company produces low-budget independent films, primarily of the horror comedy genre. Many of them play on 1950s horror with elements of farce, parody, gore and splatter.
John Barry Humphries is an Australian actor, author and satirist. He is best known for writing and playing his on-stage and television alter egos Dame Edna Everage and Sir Les Patterson. He is also a film producer and script writer, a star of London's West End musical theatre, a writer, and a landscape painter. For his delivery of dadaist and absurdist humour to millions, biographer Anne Pender described Humphries in 2010 as not only "the most significant theatrical figure of our time … [but] the most significant comedian to emerge since Charlie Chaplin".
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Philippe Mora is a French Australian film director.
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The Dallas–Fort Worth Film Critics Association Award for Best Actor is an award presented by the Dallas–Fort Worth Film Critics Association. It is given in honor of an actor who has delivered an outstanding performance in a leading role.
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