Doctor Movie: Episode 306: Funland

Show Notes

Join Doctor Movie for a look at your favorite movies from behind the steering wheel. We have another movie thats hard to put into a category and a wild watch. Get your tickets and strap in because we are going to Funland…. if you like it or not!

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A crazy clown goes crazy while working at an amusement park ran by the mafia.

That and how to make your teeth more attractive right here on this episode.

Thanks for watching!

We got another one for you.

This one can definitely be found under the what the heck did I just watch category.

Wow, I've had this one on the list for a long time.

It's one of those that kind of popped up when it says, if you like this, maybe you'll like this.

I don't even know how you tag this movie with another movie.

We are talking about Funland from 1987.

It's PG-13.

It's a comedy slash horror.

You know, that's always a hard balance, right?

It's funny, because when I looked it up on Tubi to watch it, it said it was a crime drama.

Crime drama.

So take your pick.

That just shows you again just how bizarre this one is.

It doesn't really fit in any kind of package.

I don't know that there's any horror to this movie at all.

It's just bizarre.

It's just bizarre.

That's all I can say.

Let's see.

Let's start off with a synopsis here.

It got a 4.3 out of 10 on IMDB.

Yeah, it's hard to put a finger on anything about this movie.

It sees a wax museum, Humphery Bogart, and a pizza parlor clown help a fun park owner pressured by mobsters.

Yeah, there you go.

Uh, yeah, Humphery Bogart is in this movie, somehow.

Directed by Michael A.

Simpson, the guy that brought us Sleepaway Camp 2 and 3.

Well, he directed them, anyways.

So that may give you a little hint of what you're in for, because remember how bizarre those were?

Not that the first one wasn't.

But in their own right, those were some pretty bizarre movies.

So yeah, here's what's surprising about this movie.

This is obviously a low-budget movie.

But the cast in it is pretty stellar.

Well, I think stellar.

To your standards, probably no.

But let's see, what else we got?

Let's go ahead and talk about our cast.

Since we are here.

William Windham's in this.

I mean, the guy's been in Everything Under the Sun, pretty much every TV show you can think of back in the day.

I mean, just take your pick.

The guy's been in Everything.

We got Mary Elizabeth McDonough in this from The Waltons.

Michael McManus is in this.

What has he been in?

Kind of the same deal as the other guy.

I've been in just about every TV show.

He was in Moving Violations, which I love.

That's a fun lost...

I don't even know what you call that movie.

It kind of fits in with Police Academy and all those things.

We got Bruce Mahler in this from Police Academy.

He's also in Amazon Women from the Moon.

Here's the big one.

David L.

Lander.

That's right.

Squiggy, Lillian Squiggy from Laverne and Shirley.

He plays our clown, who used to be a normal person, who has kind of just totally flipped his lid, and he never even talks about himself as Neil, who's the guy that used to be one of the accountants at the amusement park.

And he became the insignia of the whole thing, kind of like your Ronald McDonald, but for a theme park.

Yeah, again, crazy.

We've got Clark Brandon in this, who looks like a young Mark Hamill's brother, who was in Fast Food, which is another movie this guy directed.

We've got Mr.

Merlin, the TV series.

The kid was in that.

He was also, my tutor is what I think of.

But yeah, so, you know, familiar face.

When you see him, you go, oh yeah, I know that guy.

Let's see.

That's probably enough.

Nobody else really pops out as anything really significant.

Wow, again, just where you even go with this movie.

Let me look up some names so I can try to get some things straight here.

Wait a minute.

We've got to do a Why to Watch.

Why to Watch?

Psychological, absurd, and hallucinatory.

Hallucinatory.

Yeah, I mean, that pretty much nails this movie, because again, there's just no way to really put this in anything.

It's almost an amusing and mocking look at insanity.

The story is interesting, an interesting one, and a very creative one at that.

Yeah, almost an amusing and mocking look.

It's just the same thing.

It's only got those two.

Okay.

Yeah, I mean, again, I'm going to have a hard time talking about this one, because it just doesn't make a lot of sense.

We have got an amusement park when we start off, and it's time for season to crank back up.

And Angus Perry, who's played by William Windham, is the owner, right?

And he's getting everything ready.

We're bringing in all the new recruits.

We're giving them the trainings.

We're getting ready for a new season.

And then we meet Bruce Berger, which is the clown, like Ronald McDonald, but Bruce Berger.

But here's the thing.

He's Bruce Berger, and he's a clown, but his outfit is a slice of pizza.

Again, he just...

I don't know.

I don't know.

And again, Neil Snickety, or Neil Snickney, is his real name, who used to be an accountant, but he took over this role as Bruce Berger, and he's never looked back.

Matter of fact, he never comes out of character, ever.

And he's got a puppet, Pepperoni Pete, or Pete the Pepperoni, which is, you know, a huge stick of pepperoni that is a, you know, it's a puppet.

You've got, oh, you're regular shenanigans.

This is what's weird about it.

You've got setups like Hamburger the Motion Picture, right?

And probably Fast Food.

I haven't seen Fast Food, but I'm assuming this kind of is pulling from that same idea, where you've got, you know, the young guys that work there that are trying to hit on the young girls that work there, and you've got all this stuff going on, right?

Trying to go out on dates together, and the girl's not interested, you know, the regular stuff, right?

But what happens is, somebody's wanting to buy the amusement park, and the boss is not selling, so they knock him off.

He gets killed, and it's the mob, and they take over this place.

They're changing all the stuff in the theme park.

It's basically a Monday laundering thing, which is why they wanted it.

Anybody gets in their way, they try to knock them off.

You got the mobster father, who's like the godfather, and you got the two sons.

One is the business guy, and the other one is the rough neck, right?

The one that takes care of the real business.

And they decide that they don't like this Bruce Burger, so they're going to bring in another Bruce Burger, which again, Bruce Burger is played by David Lander, Swiggy.

And at one point, you've got two Bruce Burgers in this show, out in Amusement Park.

They bring in the official Bruce Burger from the franchise to be the guy.

And, you know, it doesn't go over well with our Bruce Burger.

And this is where he starts losing his mind.

They kick him out of his office, they kick him out of his dressing room, they fire him.

He ends up going and staying in the recently run down wax museum, where he becomes friends with Humphrey Bogart, who's a statue there, but he comes to life because, you know, our hero, I guess he's our hero, he's off his rocker.

And, you know, he has all these conversations with Pete the Pepperoni, which become pretty nasty.

And what's funny is the, this is where it's trying to blend that humor in.

You bring in the other Bruce Berger, who hates his job because he's a Shakespearean actor, and he only does this because it makes money, but he hates it.

He hates the kids.

You know, it's beneath him to do this job.

So you kind of get that theme going on.

Gosh, I did, it's just hard to describe, because there's so much trying to be a zany comedy like Police Academy or, gosh, just pick one.

I mean, it's trying to be a comedy, and it's really not.

It's very dark humor, almost like, it's like you take Shake the Clown, if you've listened to that episode, you know, and I don't know.

It's dark satire, and trying to be a comedy, and trying to be shocking all at the same time.

It's just a weird, weird movie.

But anywho, Bruce Berger gets visited by the dead owner of the amusement park, who convinces him that he was killed, and he has to do something to turn this around.

So he decides to climb up on the clock tower on the opening day, and assassinate the other Bruce Berger, thinking that's going to fix everything.

I don't know.

That's kind of where we are.

The whole time, the mob is trying to find Neil Snigney, because he's a shareholder, and they need to get a hold of him and buy him out or get rid of him, but they don't know that him and Bruce Berger are the same person.

So they're looking for a guy they can't find, and he's right in front of their nose the whole time.

And when this is all said and done, the mob gets in trouble.

They get kicked out, I think.

It's not very clear.

But Neil Snickney is now the new owner of the amusement park.

And that's kind of where this thing ends.

That's this movie.

It's a weird watch.

So if you're into movies that just make you go, I'm not exactly sure what's going on.

It's not even a good copy of the movie.

It's a pretty rough, I don't know if it's a VHS transfer.

But I did check this out on Tubi.

You can find it on there.

I don't know, this may be your bag.

I don't dislike it.

It's just so bizarre and sporadic.

I don't know, of course I have to say, it's one of those that the artwork pulled me in.

And I do remember seeing this on the shelf back in the day.

And this is just one of those, like we talked about, when the whole purpose of doing this show is all those movies that you saw the artwork, but you never picked it up and watched it.

This is one of those.

And I guess I'm glad I watched it.

I don't know.

I almost want to watch it again just to see if I'm really missing something here.

It is intriguing in a way, but it is low budget, which kind of hurts it.

But I don't know.

It's an interesting watch.

So this, again, this may be for you.

If you like, like I said, Shakes the Clown or any of those darker humor kind of things like that, this might work for you.

So it feels like it pulls from a lot of different sources and just throws them together and makes a stew out of it.

And that's kind of what you got here.

So anywho, that's my thoughts on this one.

I will give this a 3 out of 5, just because I'm not really sure, much less do we know or even categorize this one.

I'm not even sure where to place it on the chart of ratings.

So let's just put it right dead in the middle and just leave it there for a while.

We'll see what happens.

All right, folks, that's all I got on this one.

Hey, if you're a fan of this one or if you're familiar with it or...

Hey, drop me a line, right?

Let me know your thoughts on this one because it's an unusual watch.

But I am intrigued by the cast that it has and which nobody is really significant except for Squiggy, David L.

Lander.

The rest of them could have been played by anybody.

They weren't really significant roles.

Bizarre.

It's just bizarre.

But there you go, folks.

That is Funland.

Enter at your own risk.

All right, folks, that's it for this one.

We will check you later.