What's Up, Hideous Sun Demon

I found this on DVD at a local store and (after some delay at checkout because it wasn't in their system, resulting in me getting it at half the marked price) gave it a spin. The DVD cover and disc do identify the title as "Revenge of the Sun Demon", but the on-screen title is "What's Up, Hideous Sun Demon?" Title confusion aside, it's a pretty enjoyable film. I was rather fearing it would be poorly-done when I read the description on the back of the DVD but had bought it anyways being a massive fan of Mystery Science Theatre 3000 (plus my brother and I used to turn the sound off on bad movies when we were kids and did our own dialog). Also the DVD cover described the film as quite raunchy, with the main character on a quest for sex the entire movie (I guess I'm a prude but I don't like "sexy" movies). While the guy was interested in sex, I don't feel that that dominated the movie, and the raunchiest moment was the very brief appearance of a huge sex toy, as mentioned by another reviewer, in a piece of new footage spliced into the original film.

If you are a fan of B-movies and more importantly, making fun of B-movies, this movie is for you!

Just a quick note to say this is horribly underrated on the IMDb User Ratings. I'm sorry, but not only is this funnier than Kung Pow, it's funnier than What's Up Tiger Lily. There, I said it and I'm glad.

I collect comedy dub jobs and so far this is my all time favorite. The writing is outstanding, the voices nicely match the characters, and the dubbing is tight. So many of these dub jobs go horribly wrong in a muck of sloppy dubbing and a numbing stream of toilet/sex/fart/gay 'jokes... lather rinse repeat. See 'Night of the Day of the Dawn of the...', or "Don't Ask Don't Tell" for examples of the genre gone wrong. This one shows how it should be done. (I will say that Oscar Meyer joke is a real groaner, but that's the only one.) Yeah, there's loads of sex jokes but guess what; they're actually *funny*, what with being built around actual good jokes. As opposed to the "any dirty remark is funny" school of comedy dubbing.

I just love this one, I wish there were more like it.

What's Up, Hideous Sun Demon (1983)

1/2 (out of 4)

Good Lord, what an incredibly stupid idea this was. In the pre-MST3K days, sometimes older films would be redubbed as "comedies" and that's what this thing in. The cult classic The Hideous Sun Demon was redubbed by several comedians and this is the final project. The dubbing was done to add a bunch of sex jokes and that sort of stuff but this piece of crap isn't nearly as funny as the original film. There's no point in talking about the other film because its just in the background here. The dubbed comedy lines fall flat for the most part. Jay Leno (yep, that Leno) does the main voice but you can tell he was a long way from where he is now. Not even interesting as a curiosity thing.

My review was written in September 1989 after a Greenwich Village screening.

This revamped version (with silly voice dubbing) of Robert Clarke's 1959 monster pic packs enough belly laughs to merit midnight bookings, as well as serving to renew interest in the campy original.

Already parodied in the '60s by amateur filmmaker Don Glut, Clarke's "The Hideous Sun Demon" was redubbed in a "Special Edition" prepared between 1983 and 1986 but never released. This 1989 second re-do is in the vein of Woody Allen's famous dub job "What's Up, Tiger Lily?".

In his film, Clarke toplines as a research scientist exposed to radioactive isotopes that cause him to regress into a humanoid reptilian monster when exposed to direct sunlight. Melodramatic plot has him falling in love with statuesque torch singer Nan Peterson, but ultimately destroyed in a cheapie climax reminiscent of Raoul Walsh's classic "White Heat" set atop a vast gasoline storage tower.

Satirist Craig Mitchell makes fun of the cornball story and shoestring-budget footage, emphasizing lots of stiff reaction shots (original was lensed during 12 weekends on a budget undr4 $50,000). New dialog brings out front the sexually risque material of the original (Peterson is an impressive '50s bombshell) while hilariously adding drug references. One side-splitting sequence takes innocent footage of a cute little girl and her mom, turning it into a hip, Cheech & Chong-style drugged-out rap routine.

Jay Leon (uncredited) is hilarious dubbing Clarke's role and providing off-the-wall narration, while Susan Tyrrell is a perfect choice for re-doing Peterson'' role and her "Strange Pursuit" ballad number. Several new b&w insert shots matched to the original are funny, but a color prolog of college kids (including Googy Gress and Mark Holton) watching Clarke's film on the late show is a pointless framing device.

Fans are advised to also check out the original (also distributed by Wade Williams) which feature excellent exterior photography (including work by Vilis Lapienieks) and actually is funnier in its integral nightclub scenes (where Peterson's fake keyboard moves are a hoot) than the new version.

Jay Leno is absolutely hilarious in this send-up of low-budget monster flicks from the 1950's. Made back in 1989 before Leno took over "The Tonight Show" from Johnny Carson, "What's Up, Hideous Sun Demon" (also known as "Revenge of the Sun Demon") deletes the original dialogue from "The Hideous Sun Demon" and adds voice-overs with funny dialogue.

The original movie was written and directed by Robert Clarke, who also gave us the notorious "Astounding She-Monster" (replete with a well-built alien babe in a skin-tight leotard). Appropriately, "What's Up" adds in some funny (and probably inappropriate) scenes with Robert's son Cameron (best known as the voice of Leonardo in "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles") as his father's scientist character. I can't specifically mention the scenes, but they do involves a quest for condoms and an over-sized sex toy.

There's also an inappropriate scene where voice-overs suggest that a 10-year old girl is a pothead with a blue streak a mile wide when she talks to her mom (Mom: Let me smell your breath. Have you been smoking grass again? Little Susie Peckerwood: Oh yeah. I got the munchies like a mo-fo).

Barbara Goodson (Rita Repulsa from the many reincarnations of "Power Rangers") covers the original role of Patricia Manning well and Susan Tyrell (Academy Award nominee in "Fat City") is hilarious filling in for Nan Peterson's well-endowed and ditsy nightclub girl. Bernard Behrens covers several male voices. All three get some good line, but, Jay Leno steals the show with material you definitely won't hear on "The Tonight Show."

Some of his classic lines: "Maybe it was the lizard sperm. On second thought, I think it was the plutonium."

"There was only one word to describe what I needed: Poontang!"

The spoof was written and directed by Craig Mitchell, a writer known mostly for the straight-to-video horror flick "Komodo." He enlisted close friends like Googy Gress, Mark Holton, Goodson, Tyrell and Behrens for the film, but apparently caught Leno in between comedy gigs. Maybe Leno needed the money while filling in as guest host for Carson. Maybe he missed some fine print. But, for some reason, Leno was never credited for his narration. You won't find his name anywhere in the credits or on the DVD cover. I'm not sure why. He occupies 75 percent of the movie and carries the whole film. You actually find yourself wanting to fast forward to get to his parts.

That aside, IMDb.com knows he's in the movie and that's all you need to know. Get this flick, if only to hear Leno's crazy, hilarious dialogue.

I'd have rated this 6-out-of-10, but had to knock off a point for the Susie Peckerwood scenes. They should have been left on the cutting room floor or, at least, rewritten.