The Wonderful Land of Oz

What can I say? This "movie" makes Robot Monster look like Citizen Kane. In Robot Monster, the acting was better, it had special effects (stock footage of dinosaurs and atomic explosions) and a memorable character, and more importantly, a coherent storyline. The Wonderful Land of Oz had NONE of these. Watch the Rifftrax version, frealin' hilarious.

I have seen better high school productions. No artistic value. Do not watch this. Ever.

This mess was actually advertised as having "So Many Thrills You'll Be OZIFIED." Stupefied is more like it. Made by slumming soft-porn schlockmeister Barry Mahon, and starring his talent-free son Channy, it's like watching Ed Wood's idea of a children's film. And even THAT'S too high a praise. Based on one of the later OZ books, it throws in several pathetic songs which would have stopped the 'narrative' cold--had there been one to begin with. Even the supporting cast hasn't the heart to liven things up by mugging shamelessly--all they do is recite their lines off cue cards, all the time looking as if they'd rather be anywhere else. And so will you, after about five minutes. This film was exhumed for DVD a couple of years ago, paired with (believe it or not) an even worse co-feature, Mahon's poverty-row rendition of "Jack And The Beanstalk." Filmed at a now-defunct Florida amusement park, called 'Pirate's World', it can't honestly be said that "Jack", awful as it is, makes "OZ" look good by comparison, but it IS even funnier. Watch both at your own risk!

OK, This might actually qualify as one of the worst filsm I have ever seen - and I was SO looking forward to it, too, being as huge a fan of the thirties' Oz and also Return to Oz...

God no. Leave it alone. Awful sets, awful acting, a papier-mache cow (believe it or not - not a reason to watch it!!!) and unlistenable sound add up to something less than the sum of it's parts.

The only remotely interesting part is General Jinjur and her army of short-skirted chicks. But even those aren't worth the admission price. Even if the admission price is free.

Water your plants instead.

The Wonderful Land of Oz (1969)

** (out of 4)

Tip (Chan Mahon) and Jack the Pumpkinhead (George Wadsworth) end up in the Emerald City where the poor Scarecrow has been overthrown by an evil woman. With the help from the Tin Man the group sets out to make the city great again.

THE WONDERFUL LAND OF OZ will never be confused with the 1939 classic but I must admit that I found it to be rather charming in its own low-budget, campy way. Director Barry Mahon made a number of sexploitation films in his career but towards the end of it he started making some kid movies. This version of the Oz tale is without question one of the silliest but it's fun, which is the most important thing.

Now, when I say the film is fun I'm not meaning it's some sort of classic because it's far from that. What makes this movie fun is the fact that it's a pretty nutty movie from start to finish. The costumes of the characters are certainly the highlight (or low-light) because they look rather silly but at the same time they're rather addictive simply because it adds a certain weird atmosphere to the picture. Jack the Pumpkinhead is a prime example and I really feel bad for the actor having to walk around with that large pumpkin on his head.

Chan Mahon, the director's son, takes the lead role and he certainly wasn't an actor. He messes up several lines and his line delivery is so slow that you can't help but be mildly charmed by the non- professional performance. The film obviously had a very low budget but this just adds to the rather bizarre atmosphere. The sets are certainly nothing special but this really just comes across as a bunch of friends getting together and filming a low-budget movie with what limited items they have available.