Review of Drop Dead Fred (1991) by George T — 16 Mar 2013

I remember watching this cinematic abomination all those years ago, on a big screen - in the school auditorium! Apparently our school principal thought it was a good idea to dish out bad flicks as punishments for truancy and bad grades - on that day he'd managed to pick the mother of all punishments.

Drop Dead Fred belongs in that strange 'I-don't-know-why-hate-this-movie' categories' that seem to occupy that elusive no man's land between Beetlejuice and Edward Scissorhands. Who is the target audience? My first guess would be adults with tormented childhoods trying to face their fears before coming to grips with reality and rediscovering their true potential and joy for life. Well, I guess Fraud meets Beetljuice could be the answer, given better script and Jim Carray at his best as Elizabeth'simaginary friend instead of Rik Mayall - who is without a doubt one of the most obnoxious, unfunny actors that I ever had the misfortune to lay my eyes on.

Comments about the film? What can say about a movie where supposedly children-friendly character makes 'charming' jokes about mothers' pubic hair - really movie? really!!!!!! What can I say about a movie where an adorable, charming lass like Phoebe Cates is on the receiving end of the most crass juvenile antics that only Tom Green can surpass. Nostril goo is not funny; period it's stupid, disgusting and in bad taste. Drop Dead Fred (Rik Mayall) comes across as poor man's Beetljuice, with all the whimsical mayhem minus the wit and charm. The end product is a curious amalgam of some dark, crass, pseudo surrealist psychological comedy/drama skewed toward yet undiscovered, deeply disturbed audience. The premise is ambitious but the delivery is a train wreck. It tries too hard to pass itself as art but only succeeds in alienating the audience. It fails on every count. It is too bland to be art, too unfunny to be a comedy, and inexplicably it slips by the radar of every genre. In capable hands it could have been so much more. Such a shame.