Review of World Gone Wild (1987) by Allan C — 30 Jun 2015

Silly but enjoyable low budget post apocalyptic warriors-of-the-wasteland story. Following WWIII, the world is left a barren desert wasteland. All except for a small community that has a small water supply.

When a religious cult led by Adam Ant decides they want to raid the village for water and new conscripts to join their cult, the village protector, Bruce Dern, sets out to the big city to round up a group of fighters to protect the town from the villainous New Wave musician.

Dern finds a cannibal, a quick draw artist, an explosives expert and Michael Paré. Catherine Mary Stewart plays the town's school teacher and serves as Paré's love interest. The story is a simple western throwback story except that it takes place in a Mad Max setting.

The production values are pretty lacking, the direction and script are also pretty weak, but a solid cast elevates the tepid material. The film was also shot by Oscar nominated director of photography Don Burgess, though the VHS recording off of YouTube that I watch probably didn't do his cinematography justice.

Also, according to IMDB, the original script for the film implied that Adam Ant's cult based itself on one of the few books remaining after the holocaust: L. Ron Hubbard's "Dianetics," but lawyers for The Church of Scientology got wind of this and threatened to sue Apollo Pictures, who then removed all references to Hubbard and Dianetics.