User reviews

I think if you are into the sixties kind of thing, as I am, you are obligated to waste about 80 minutes of your life watching this barely watchable trainwreck. The saving graces of this oddity include a surprisingly apt social commentary on sixties values along with a number of relatively well known actors caught in early (and embarrassing) footage. It's as if the producers of Laugh-In sat down and decided to write a full length film, covering all the high points (and more) of the issues between the flower children and the establishment, then put it in the hands of a couple of hippies and gave them about a $10,000 budget to complete it. Hardly a classic, but in its own way it does capture how truly strange that time was, the silliness, the over-idealism, and the uptightness of the establishment. Clearly not for everyone.

This is the kind of movies that make me feel good. The kind of movies that makes you say: Man! Me and my friends could have made this one!

Anyway.. it's the greatest hippie-road-trip-movie I have ever laid my eyes on

peace

In Roger Corman's autobiography, he says that this film, GASsss, was a deciding factor in his leaving the employ of AIP. The film, as it stands, is a valiant effort at a counterculture comedy, and although the jokes are mostly dated today, the film is an interesting bit of drive-in history.

We open in 1968, which was the current year when this was made. A hippie is running from cops, and hides in a church.The hippie dresses as a priest,and dodges the cops. While sitting in the confessional,he meets a young female scientist on the run. She can tell he's not a real priest, because he uses the F word.

The hippie learns what the scientist is running from. She had left an experiment station where a chemical gas was escaping. The gas supposedly kills everyone over 28 years old, so, in essence, the older generations would be wiped out.

This leaves the world in shambles. The hippie and his now-girlfriend scientist make a trip south, to try to locate a commune/pueblo that is setting up to shelter those who have survived.

I don't want to give much else away, except that there are several characters the two meet on their journey south. Ben Vereen and Cindy Williams(pregnant) play a hip couple, and some football players show up. There's also bikers on golfcarts (hippie: "Who are you?" , biker:"Don't get metaphysical.")and assorted failed gags, and some funny ones. I especially liked the more obnoxious characters.

But my girlfriend hated the whole film. She disliked all the whole free-love jive, and she just didn't get the jokes. I got the jokes, even the bad ones. But I enjoyed it, and she didn't. I tried to argue that Corman was talented.

In fact, until Corman set up shop with New Horizons some twenty years ago, he was consistent in making films that were not always good, but usually fairly intelligent and provocative. When Corman was hot, from the mid-50's to the late 60's, he was good.

GASsss is the tail-end of that streak.He directed one more film after this, the dull VonReichtoven and Brown, and retired to be a producer. The only other flicks I've seen him do(Frankenstein Unbound and The Phantom Eye) have been unworthy ventures.

So, my point is that GASsss was Corman's last film as director that really succeeded to entertain. Yes, the cuts that AIP imposed on some of the chancier jokes do hurt the film.(who knows how funny it would've been to hear God narrate the story with a Jewish accent? Or how breathtaking the final shot would have been, a tracking shot that Corman says was the best shot in his career, left on the cutting room floor). Then again, I'm not sure if the film would've made much more sense than it does now.

Yes, GASsss is a failure, but an interesting one. If you're feeling patient one night for a 60's time capsule, and you like Country Joe and the Fish, this the film for you.

First off, I'm a fan of Roger Corman and cheesy movies, but this was just plain horrible. If you want to see why the Hippie lifestyle went away then maybe this movie is for you. Otherwise it was a total waste of time. Seemed that everyone associated with this cinematic dreck must have been doing way too much LSD. Just about every line in this movie made no sense. The acting was sub-par even from those that have done fine work in other films. There was no plot in the acceptable use of the word and those involved should hang their heads any time this movie is mentioned. The only thing good I can say is that I managed to not see this junk as long as I have.

I don't hand out "ones" often, but if there was ever a film that deserved this sort of attention, it's "Gas!" This is self-indulgent crap that reaches for some of the ambiance of M*A*S*H and falls completely flat on its face in the attempt.

I see what Corman was going for - Malcolm Marmorstein and Elliott Gould tried to reproduce Gould's deathless role in the original movie version of M*A*S*H with a similar plot (in the movie "Whiffs" - look it up here in IMDb, http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0073891/ for more information).

Marmorstein and Gould got closer to the brass ring with "Whiffs" than Corman did with "Gas!" but didn't quite get there. Neither one of those films even got close to the success of M*A*S*H.

What's wrong with "Gas!"? What isn't? No one comes close to really acting at a level above junior high school theatrics. The production values stink. Someone else here mentioned the magically regenerating headlights on a getaway car, and there's more of that lack of attention to detail. Nothing works the way it's supposed to in this film, and nobody cares. A gang rape is treated as an entertaining spectator sport.

"Gas!" actually put me to sleep. It's not a sure cure for insomnia, but really close. On the Cinematic Sleep Induction scale, "Gas!" falls somewhere between "Last Year at Marienbad" and George Clooney's remake of "Solaris" (which itself was remarkable for being more boring than the Mosfilm original, despite that studio's seeming unfamiliarity with the idea of keeping the audience's attention by judicious editing).

Judicious editing would have decimated "Gas!" to about twenty minutes. The result would be pointless, but no more so than the original film.

Certain films are so bad that they have a compelling quality that makes them worth watching anyway. This isn't one of them. Don't waste your time. It's not even amusingly bad.

Roger Corman is undeniably one of the most versatile and unpredictable directors/producers in history. He was single-handedly responsible for some of my favorite horror films ever (like the Edgar Allen Poe adaptations "Masque of the Red Death" and "Pit and the Pendulum") as well as some insufferably cheap and tacky rubbish quickies (like "Creature from the Haunted Sea" and "She Gods of the Shark Reef"). Corman also made a couple of movies that are simply unclassifiable and – simply put – nearly impossible to judge properly. "The Trip", for example, as well as this imaginatively titled "Gas-s-s-s" can somewhat be labeled as psychedelic exploitation. In other words, they're incredibly strange hippie-culture influenced movies. Half of the time you haven't got the slightest idea what's going on, who these characters are that walk back and forth through the screen and where the hell this whole thing is going. The plot is simply and yet highly effective: a strange but deadly nerve gas is accidentally unleashed and promptly annihilates that the entire world population over the age of 25. This *could* be the basic premise of an atmospheric, gritty and nail-bitingly suspenseful post-apocalyptic Sci-Fi landmark, but writer George Armitage and Roger Corman decided to turn it into a "trippy" road-movie comedy. None of the characters is even trying to prevent their inevitable upcoming deaths; they just party out in the streets and found little juvenile crime syndicates. "Gas-s-s-s" is a disappointingly boring and tries overly hard to be bizarre. The entire script appears to be improvised at the spot and not at all funny. Definitely not my cup of tea, but the film does have a loyal fan base and many admirers, so who am I to say that it's not worth your time or money?

A deadly gas is accidentally released by the military that kills everyone over the age of 25 (I know I know. Just go with it). A gang of peace-loving hippies go cross-country seeking a perfect utopia but keep running into football fascists and other strange gangs.

Stupid, incomprehensible movie. It's not funny or interesting just boring. Full of bad acting, lousy music and TWICE rape is introduced as something to laugh at. It is kind of fun to see future stars Bud Cort, Talia Shire, Ben Vereen and Cindy Williams before they hit it big but that's it. Director Roger Corman said the film was taken from him and reedited against his wishes. He said his version was much better but I have my doubts. Skip it.

A gas is let loose upon the world that kills anyone over twenty-five years old.

Coming from Roger Corman, I wanted to like this, but it never seemed coherent and I think not enough thought was put into a plot or story arc. There are things I enjoyed, such as the permit guy with the whip and how this was an alternate version of "Logan's Run" (this film came out after the novel but before the film, so whether or not there was an influence, I have no idea).

There was a problem in that almost no one was under 18. This seemed to be teenagers and young adults cutting loose, but who was watching all the infants?

Roger Corman's Gas-s-s-s, his final film as director for AIP, is dated (and probably even was for the period it got released), but somehow it's almost part of its charm. It's an irreverent comedy about a noxious gas that wipes out everybody- at least in the US much as we can figure- who's over the age of 25. Party-time! In what appears to be, in the premise, as a slight twist on Corman's own Last Woman on Earth, it's an epic of low-budget proportions, a rampant fiasco of kids in hippie-wear (or not as case turns out) and the Darwinian struggles that take place as the roughnecks, jocks and bikers-on-country-clubs face off against those darn 'commie-anarchists'. Certainly a good premise indeed, at least for those who love the exploitation fare of the period (myself counted, even as I'm from after that era).

While it might be one of Corman's (intentionally) funnier pictures, there's a nagging feeling that something's not totally there. It is cheap, it is slapdash, it's episodic. The problem, as with some of Corman's other movies, is that a little more effort would make something even more interesting. If there was, for example, another snappy and sharp writer alongside George Armitage, who could whip the script into a tight and awesome shape, it could even be one of the great exploitation films. As it stands, it's merely OK overall. Luckily the good tries to outweigh the bad, which is that there are some really, actually clever one-liners ("Hey, we all have our own inconsistencies, that doesn't stop the revolution," to "Drop that chloride, you commie anarchist!") and seeing the biker country-clubbers and the God lightning bolt climax.

Best of all is to see a running-gag in-joke for Corman- probably more than one, actually. The first is more obvious, and laugh-out-loud, which is a biker Edgar Allen Poe, who just shows up here and there like some sage wise-man (who is, of course, not over 25) with his wife and occasional raven on his shoulder spouting garbled quotes. The second is a little more subtle, which seems to be a play on his film the Trip, as in the psychedelic-type scenes (i.e. dancing to Country Joe and the Fish) with the camera zooming in and out fast, lots of hand-held, etc). Corman's gone through this all before, so it has to be questioned: how much of this is tongue in cheek, and how much is just almost shoddy film-making? Can't be sure. At least there was consistent chuckling to be had, especially at seeing a young Bud Cort in a cowboy hat, and, of all people, Talia Shire!

In one word... abysmal. I give it one star for the hippie sex scenes and eye candy women, otherwise forget it. Corman's worst effort, bar none. Ben Vereen should have had his name permanently stricken from the cast. I cannot believe that this is now going to be on DVD (as of 2/15/05) with "Wild In The Streets" - another retro stinker. I woke up sick in bed this morning with a cold, decided to watch a movie to cheer me up some, scanned the digital channels... the premise looked interesting enough because I like viewing B-movie sci-fi, hippie culture and rebellious teen flicks. It seemed familiar somehow and with Ben Vereen in the cast, I thought... why not? What a big mistake... it was a horrible start to my day.

Only after viewing it, I now know why the familiarity crept into the recesses of my newly-awakened brain. I remembered seeing coming attractions for this film as a 14-year old (I'm 45), back in the early/mid-seventies at the Sombrero, a local art theater that no longer exists... the whole theater laughed hysterically and even groaned out loud at how bad this movie looked. Acting: dreadful, story: awful, cinematography: nearly-awful, music: terrible, sound: horrendous, directing: a joke. If you choose to watch this after my warning, remember... "I told you so."

"Gass-s-s-s" is the perfect title for this film... you feel "gassed" after viewing this putrid movie - or maybe that you should be taken to a "gas" chamber for wasting your brain away. I have seen homemade Super 8 movies that put this film to shame. Definitely a new addition to my all-time Top Ten WORST films... it's up there (er, down there) with "Tentacles."

Ted in Gilbert, AZ

Faster than you can ask if police brutality is a sin, a poisonous gas has killed everyone over twenty five. With fascist football jocks, young cocky police officers, and some capitalist golf course workers all trying to stop them, a group of hippies struggle to live in peace.

This movie you have to see to believe. Not only is it an almost orgasmic counter culture vision of peace, it is among the best absurdest comedies to date. It proves that Roger Corman should be the one directing the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy Film.

This film is loaded with off the wall dialog and constant political satire that, instead of being dated, reflects the views and attitudes of the time. Its part road comedy, part post apocalyptic, but mostly its just a bunch of insanity. You can watch this movie three times and not catch all the jokes in this humor packed film.

Be warned, this film supports a way of life called "communist anarchism". Communist anarchism is based on a community that is based on direct democracy, with no economic standards. Rather, everyone does what they can and get the same in return. It is a highly idealistic vision, and of course this is a highly idealistic movie. But don't we need some better ideals? Better things to hope for for the future?

Gas-s-s-s is what it's called in Amazon Prime.

It's hard to tell if this is a good or a bad movie and how to rate it. I mean I'm enjoying watching it sort of because it's 9/11 today and this is better than watching the plane crash over and over. The movie is sort of cute. It makes no sense because they don't tell a story. There's more story in the description than there is in the movie. A plot from Scooby Doo stretched to 90 minutes. It looks like they made this movie in the 1950s. The 50s looked back on the 70s. Oh my God. The rape dialogue is terrible but they actually made a funny rape joke. (Nobody is being raped at the time. It's grammar.) OK now the movie makes sense; I think I hear the Benny Hill theme song. Ah! I recognized Harold! OK I don't know what to make of this movie so I'm going to give it a seven because I like watching it and it's definitely unusual. This would actually make a good musical. Jack White should compose the music.

This is the film that Roger Corman says was his final straw with AIP. After mildly editing WILD ANGELS and THE TRIP, their virtual elimination of "God" and the obliteration of the original ending led him to form New World Pictures.

Seeing this film at the American Cinemateque in a striking new print shows both its virtues as a one-of-a-kind (well, at least for anybody BUT Corman!) oddity as well as a failed attempt at counter-culture comedy. It's hard to see how even the original Director's Cut (if it exists at all) would really be that much of an improvement. What is on the screen is still probably about 90% of what Corman shot, and it's a scattershot affair. The Cinematography and Music stand out, as well as bits of the acting, particularly by Elaine Giftos.

Roger Corman spoke after the Cinemateque screening.

Corman said that he hadn't seen the movie since its release in 1970. It was edited before its theatrical release by AIP. Most significantly was the almost complete elimination of the voice of "God". Corman speculated that since AIP had gone public (stock market) around that time, that they were concerned that the "Jewish comic"-type voice would be considered sacriligious! Then, AIP cut the most elaborate shot in the entire film. The original ending! Elaine Giftos and Robert Corff were to "walk off into the sunset in the most cliched ending possible." This was shot in a big panaroma shot "with marching bands and the whole cast included." Corman said that it STILL bothers him that as released, the film "has no ending."

This movie is really bad. What's notable are the early screen appearances of Bud Cort, Talia Shire (as Tally Coppola - and she can't act), Ben Vereen whose voice appears to be dubbed for some reason) and the very hot and do-able Cindy Williams as well as an appearance of Country Joe McDonald.

I's a very poorly written movie with a paper thin plot and Corman must have thought that unrelated segments cut into the film would make it watchable. It doesn't.

What you are left with is 90 minutes of nothing. Mostly kids running around in the desert.

A gas-leak at a chemical warfare plant in Alaska increases the rate of neuron depletion in humans over 25, killing off all the adults in the world; a band of happy young people drive across the Southwest in search of a new existence, encountering jock fascists who want to run things like a football game and rival gangs at a country club who have turned the golf course into a mutinous dictatorship. Political allegory with rock music and psychedelic flourishes should have contained funnier satire. From what we can see, the point being made is that--left to their own devices--kids will screw up the planet just as badly as their elders have done. Producer-director Roger Corman, coasting on the exhaust of "Easy Rider", had some quirky ideas, but nothing is developed far enough to sustain interest. Even the bits of outré comedy stop short of becoming revue material (à la TV's "Laugh-In"), though perhaps a more exaggerated format would have been successful here. The handling isn't far-out enough. Some of the low-budget style looks good, and many of the cast members went on to bigger and better things. *1/2 from ****

On my quest to watch everything Mr. Corman directed I stumbled over Gas!. Well, Gas! got its funny moments and a nice flavor of the hippy times (soundtrack, clothes and stuff) and as a post-apocalyptic comedy (everybody older than 25 years dies because of the gas) it is rather an avantgarde movie (regarding the movie was published in 1970) but to be honest, the people I would recommend watching Gas! I would narrow down to the absolute Corman die-hards. Many funny scenes just aren't that funny (imo). Watching was okay for me, but nothing special, what I like most is the soundtrack.

There are only a handful of movies that I would call weirder than Roger Corman's "Gas! -Or- It Became Necessary to Destroy the World in Order to Save It." (alternately called "Gas-s-s-s"). People in the '60s recommended not trusting anyone over 30, but here we get the premise that a gas leak kills everyone over the age of 25, so the young people take over the world. That was probably what a lot of young people in the '60s envisioned, although their hopes wouldn't have involved chemical warfare.

Much of the movie just seems like something written while someone was on acid. And precisely because of that, it's one of the most enjoyable movies ever. Just as long as you understand that you'll get left saying "What the hell did I just watch?"

Co-starring Bud Cort, Talia Shire, Ben Vereen, Cindy Williams and Country Joe McDonald. To put that another way, it co-stars Harold, Connie/Adrien, Chicken George, Shirley, and Mr. Gimme an F.

Recently I've really come to respect Roger Corman, perhaps the most successful cheapskate in cinema history. Despite an overwhelming passion for economies, Corman was nonetheless able to produce a series of exquisitely-made, atmospheric Poe adaptations, among them 'The Masque of the Red Death (1964)' and 'The Tomb of Ligeia (1964).' His last film for American International Pictures was creatively titled 'Gas! -Or- It Became Necessary to Destroy the World in Order to Save It. (1970)' {or simply "Gas-s-s-s"}. This post-apocalyptic black comedy is a bit of an oddity, more reminiscent of a Coen brothers film than the graceful Gothic horrors with which I've come to associate Corman. Certainly, many viewers are left bewildered by the film's zany comedic scenarios, sprinkled with bizarre humour and social satire, and I think it's a cleverer film than first appearances might suggest.

Corman's ponderous title works in two ways. Firstly, it shamelessly rips off Kubrick's 'Dr. Strangelove (1964),' the post-apocalyptic comedy to which all post-apocalyptic comedies aspire. Secondly, it presents an anti-militaristic agenda – and, more specifically, an anti-Vietnam War message. The second title paraphrases an American general's infamous war-time declaration, following the destruction of Ben Tre, that "it became necessary to destroy the village in order to save it." The film's animated prologue, fronted by a caricatured John Wayne-like general, depicts the military accidentally releasing a poison gas that kills everybody in the world over 25 years of age. Thus, society is left in the hands of the college students, whose free-wheeling, pot-smoking, sex-obsessed ways promise an end to civilisation itself.

This new "young people only" world is ruled by cartoonish and irresponsible egos, their behaviour dictated purely by cultural stereotypes: a deranged football captain reduces raping and pillaging to a competitive sport; a posse of black golfers fight non-existent racial inequality and celebrate the "common American." The film treats its dark themes with an astonishing breeziness, typical of the carefree "you only live once" mentality of the 1960s hippie counter-culture. Rape is idly characterised as a sort of recreation, a far cry from the disturbing rape scenes in another low-budget post-apocalyptic film, Ray Milland's 'Panic in Year Zero! (1962).' There's a car-chase on golf-buggies. Even Edgar Allen Poe turns up on a motor-cycle, for no apparent reason other than to reference the director's earlier works. This film is insane. Corman knows this, and he runs with it.

Gas! -Or- It Became Necessary to Destroy the World in Order to Save It would be the last movie that Roger Corman would direct for AIP. And it would be the last film he'd helm for nearly twenty years, too. Why? Turns out Corman was unhappy to the cuts made to the film (AIP and Corman had a handshake agreement that he would have final cut). In particular, he was enraged that they'd removed what he saw as the end of the movie — a shot where God looked over 300 extras and commented on the action. The shot that he felt was one of the greatest he had made in his life ended up on the cutting room floor.

The film opens with an animated sequence where the end of the world is overseen by a John Wayne-sounding general. The army was in charge of a gas that killed everyone over the age of 25 and it is accidentally released.

Cut to Southern Methodist University, where the news is all over campus. Two hippies, Coel and Cilla, fall in love. As a Nazi-esque police force is running Dallas, they decide to run toward Mexico. On the way, they meet Marissa (Cindy Williams, Shirley from TV's Laverne & Shirley, as well as The Conversation and American Graffiti), Carlos (Ben Vereen), Hooper (Bud Cort) and Coralee (Talia Shire, billed here as Talia Coppola).

What follows are some stream of consciousness adventures, like a concert at a drive-in where Country Joe and the Fish (Joe's name here is AM Radio and he can speak with the voice of God, who sounds like an old Jewish man) play, a game of golf with some bikers and some sleeping around but it's all cool because this is the future of the hippies and everyone is chill with one another.

Finally, they find a peaceful commune, but a football team attacks. God comes to help, everyone is reunited and then a big party happens where everyone gets along. Peace and love, peace and love.

Writer George Armitage had pitched Corman on a film called Carrot Butts, where cartoon characters came to life. They couldn't get it produced but did get this one off the ground. He went on to write and direct several films, most famously Grosse Pointe Blank, Vigilante Force and Private Duty Nurses.

There's even a tribute to Corman's Edgar Allan Poe movies, as Poe appears riding a motorcycle.

It really shows that Corman was growing tired of the hippie rhetoric and ethos. In the book Roger Corman: Interviews (Conversations with Filmmakers Series), he said, "I was beginning to get a little disillusioned. I intended that the picture be sympathetic toward our lead gang of kids yet, at the same time, I wanted to show that I was beginning to suspect that all of the ideas being spouted by the counter-culture and all of the dreams were not totally rooted in reality. In the picture, I wanted to literally give youth the world they desired and, then, make a cautionary statement about how youth might not be able to handle it as perfectly as they anticipated."

This is a film of its time. It's filled with long shots of riding dune buggies to folk music and lots of earnestness. If Idaho Transfer is the dismal end of idealism, this is its last gasp, struggling for a perfect world, even if the world has to die to get there.

Read more at http://bit.ly/2A2UC8S

Yet another film that you wish you could rate with an exclamation mark rather than a numerical score, it makes an interesting companion piece to Robert Altman's 'Brewster McCloud', since both were comic extravaganzas starring Bud Cort that crashed and burned.

The last film Corman ever made for AIP, it was one of the few that he ever made that lost money and took four years to reach Britain, where Films and Filming's critic aptly described it as "an inspired piece of lunacy"; it's also a salutary reminder that of the two directors, Corman was actually the younger.

Complete with a scene shot on Dealey Plaza, and featuring a guest appearance by Edgar Allan Poe, it sure looks as though (as Corman later admitted) it was being made up as it went along.

Goofy, satirical, gleefully anarchic Roger Corman film has some good ideas in its "Logan's Run" type tale of a deadly biological weapon eliminating everybody on Earth - or at least in the United States - over the age of 25. The admittedly very thin story sees irreverent character Coel (Bob Corff) make the acquaintance of young scientist Cilla (Elaine Giftos), and the way they meet assorted other characters while on a journey to find some kind of hippie Utopia that they've heard about. Some of the other people they run into are music-obsessed Marissa (Cindy Williams), her boyfriend Carlos (Ben Vereen), Hooper (Bud Cort), and Coralee (Talia Shire).

The review in the annual Leonard Maltin paperback guide to movies indicates that this film was "re-edited against Cormans' wishes", which makes one think that a more coherent and well thought out narrative might have been the original plan. The finished film is a wild and crazy smörgåsbord of chaotic scenes, and not enough story to really tie it all together. The actors DO get a chance to create some memorable characters. Corff is very engaging and funny in the lead, and gets strong support from his sexy leading lady Giftos. References are made to other Corman films; for one thing, Edgar Allan Poe (Bruce Karcher), Lenore, and a raven pop up on occasion to pass commentary on the action. Screenwriter George Armitage (who appears on screen as Billy the Kid) takes the opportunity to make some clever and funny jokes and make political statements, but for a while the movie is just a little too loud and loose. It actually gets better as it progresses.

Both in terms of the movies that he directed and the SCORES of movies that he's produced, Corman certainly has achieved an amazing cinematic legacy, but even so there are efforts like "Gas!" that may not be well remembered today. It's very much of its time, but it's still entertaining and worth a look for Corman devotees.

Six out of 10.

'Gas-s-s-s - or - it became necessary to destroy the world in order to save it?' What a name! Country Joe & the Fish? What a soundtrack! Scribbled animation? What an opening scene! From the start this briskly but pointedly pokes fun at the military, politicians, pundits, police, conservatives, bureaucracy, the arbitrariness with which "authority" stakes claim and makes rules, and much, much more to come. Elsewhere and otherwise, it plays ever so irreverently with just about every idea one could imagine, and has little care even for the slightest sense of authenticity or sobriety; just wait for the major "action sequence" at around the twenty minute mark. Then there's the trippy imagery to greet us at one point, notably including an unorthodox sex scene that also runs editor George Van Noy out in the yard, and active, zesty cinematography that seems to basically represent Ron Dexter just running wild. There's a lot going on here, and from the outset it seems pretty great! That feeling, however, does not last. This isn't the first movie I've watched that started out surprisingly strong only to take a huge tumble and never truly recover, but I think this might be the worst and clumsiest example. A "gas" this is not.

I think the picture is much less than successful in its effort to comment on the follies and unpreparedness of youth culture. Where other concepts are broached with sage satirical nuance, broadly this is so roundly farcical, and emptily so, that its young characters just become hollow straw men, and the intended effect is rendered moot. Other notions with which the film dallies are poor subject matter for such an unserious romp (especially, you know, sexual assault); too much of the scene writing and dialogue is completely random, detached from any meaningful sense of narrative or a unifying vision and therefore pointless and tiresome. For too much of these seventy-eight minutes, when a possible point of intelligence does crop up it quickly gets subsumed in the nonsensical inanity and vaporizes into nothing. There are occasional pinpricks of brilliance peppered throughout, but at large this is emphatically inconsistent, and before long it just becomes laborious and exhausting to watch. Increasingly as the length draws on, I just ponder what it was anyone was trying to achieve in a given moment.

George Armitage put some real wit in his screenplay, and we can see the same in Roger Corman's direction. It's too bad such value is ultimately minimal, and lost amidst writing that generally comes across as directionless, haphazard, lackluster, unfocused, scattered, and inconsequential. Whatever earnest thought there may have been herein, whatever cleverness, it's easily outweighed and forgotten well before the feature trips and skids to a halt over the finish line. Over the course of its length 'Gas-s-s-s' slides from, initially, "hey, this seems rather slick," to "what happened to the writing," to "I think those early scenes were a red herring" - and it does so in only about the first half, if even that. Someone out there watches this film and finds significantly more entertainment, a riotous good time. I feel like I was duped at the beginning into believing this would end up being worthwhile, and I want my seventy-eight minutes back.