User reviews

This movie was great and enjoyable back in 1991 and still is so even today. There is just that something unique about the chemistry between comedians Dan Aykroyd, John Candy and Chevy Chase.

The story is about four upscale people whom are caught for traffic violations in Valkenvania and are brought for immediate sentencing before the eccentric judge Alvin Valkenheiser. And soon the day turns into a real nightmare.

While "Nothing But Trouble" is not the type of comedy that will split you open from excessive laughing, then there is just something Classic about the entire movie; be it the mood and absurdity of the story, the hilarious and outrageous characters, or the fact that Dan Aykroyd, John Candy and Chevy Chase were just a great combination, I do not know. But I do know that this movie is entertaining.

The movie does bear itself as watchable more than once. And if you are a fan of Dan Aykroyd, John Candy or Chevy Chase, then "Nothing But Trouble" is a must watch.

Finally watched this movie last year after finding a DVD copy out in the wild.

My last attempt was in the late 90s when I was 13 years old and I caught an airing on TV. I was a huge fan of John Candy, Chevy Chase AND Dan Aykroyd, so I was pumped about this one, but it ended up being too weird for me and I tuned out after about 30 minutes.

This time however, I understood it much more and ended up really enjoying it from beginning to end. Chevy Chase is just killing it with the one-liners, John Candy stealing the show as a by-the-book cop AND his sister, and let's not forget Dan Aykroyd being the jack-of-all-trades as co-writer, producer, director and actor (also in a dual role, in heavy make-up no less).

Shame it bombed at the box-office, but I can understand why audiences didn't get it in '91, probably the same reason my 13-year-old self turned it off 30 minutes in: we weren't expecting those comedians we love so much to be in such a DARK comedy. It definitely was ahead of its time...

I can't help but wonder what Aykroyd's original cut was like, before any studio interference, and back when it was still titled "Valkenvania". He had planned for it to be more of a horror film with comedic elements, until Warner Bros demanded he make it a comedy with horror elements.

Either way, I enjoyed the final product, and recommend it to anyone who hasn't seen it.

A review by Jex Russell.

This is probably the wackiest movie I've ever seen Dan Aykroyd and Chevy Chase in, and to have them collaborate on this, of all movies, was a bit strange. The whole thing was odd. The very idea that some small village in the middle of New Jersey exists almost like the Bermuda Triangle where crooks and criminals go in and never leave is something from a horror movie. Then, along with the strange characters in this village of Valkenvania, a music video breaks out from Digital Underground: shout out to 2Pac.

This script was written by Peter Aykroyd, Brother to Dan Aykroyd. Peter wrote a couple of goodies in "Spies Like Us" and "Coneheads," but this one seemed more like a teenage science experiment whereby he just mixed a bunch of random elements hoping for a grand explosion but getting nothing but a fizzle.

If your idea of a dark comedy is something like "Beetlejuice" or "Deathtrap" or "Heathers", then watch out. This one makes them look like Peewee's Playhouse.

You know how certain horror movies cross over into comedy? Like when Freddy Krueger says "Welcome to prime time b!tch!!" and slams a girl's head into the TV? Well, this is the opposite: comedy crossing over into horror. It gets pretty weird, and if you're not expecting it, it can be downright upsetting.

I think that's what makes so many people hate this movie. With an all-star comedic cast like it has, it promises to be a laugh riot like the DVD cover says. I was expecting something like "Ghostbusters" meets "Fletch" meets "Summer Rental". Instead it's more like "Planes, Trains & Automobiles" meets "Deliverance". In other words the comedy is very low-key, not quite enough to offset the disturbing story.

Dan Akroyd, who plays a sadistic murdering judge, is just plain frightening. John Candy, who plays the sympathetic policeman, gives the story an air of tragedy. Chevy Chase is his usual wisecracking self, but it can't compete with the horror & violence of the plot (being trapped in a hicktown house while people are getting brutally murdered all around you). You really have to be ready for it, otherwise you might end up traumatized. The "Bonestripper" scene will give lifelong nightmares to any kid under the age of 12, as well as impressionable adults.

But now that you've been warned, perhaps you'll be able to take it in stride. I'm not sure if writer Dan Akroyd intended this to be so nightmarish, but it sure is. Definitely a one-of-a-kind. NOT for young kids!!

This is like saying the movie is called National Lampoon's Haunted House when two yuppies (Chevy Chase and Demi Moore) decide to go to Atlantic City with two other friends. On their way, they get pulled over by a cop (John Candy) and get brought into a old looking house in a town called Valkenvania and end up meeting a psycho judge (Dan Aykroyd) that leads them to a terrible weekend on what you wouldn't call your average vacation. To tell you the truth, Dan Aykroyd directed this insane tour around the house that shows how insane and strange anybody would want to direct or be a part of a movie quite like this one. The movie contains a hip hop band that sing All Around the World Same Song.

Dan Aykroyd supposedly has an affinity, almost a fetish, for collecting bizarre little gadgets and oddities that don't serve any particular purpose other than just to sit there so he and his friends can goof on them. After seeing this movie, I can believe that, because that pretty much describes this movie to a T. "A good cast wasted" is an understatement; EVERYTHING is wasted here--time, film, you name it. The paper the script was written on would have served a more useful purpose in wrapping fish--which may well be exactly what happened, because my God does this thing stink. The whole movie is one long Rube Goldberg contraption, except that, unlike Goldberg's gizmos, this isn't amusing, funny, clever, or anything else other than painful. I've often wondered after seeing a particularly headache-inducing piece of cinematic bilge if the people who made it had any idea of how bad it was going to be when they were shooting it. After seeing this, I can't believe that anyone who participated in this atrocity didn't know how bad it was going to be BEFORE they shot it. Maybe they figured, "Hey, it's Dan Aykroyd, he'll think up something funny." That's like being told you need brain surgery and that your surgeons are going to be Johnny Knoxville and Tom Green, and figuring, "Well, that's OK, they'll learn brain surgery before the operation."

The only even remotely amusing bits in this movie belong to John Candy as both a cop and his sister (!), and that's due solely to Candy's ability to make a silk purse out of a sow's droppings. Take everybody else's word for it, and avoid this brain-rotting fungus like the plague that it is.

Take a moment to realize that a long time ago, comedy legends Dan Aykroyd and Chevy Chase made a movie so unspeakably bad that its almost impossible to watch. A movie so grotesque in nature that it just sits there on screen like turd burning in the hot sun. This movie is called, Nothing But Trouble, and its buried in cinematic obscurity, but for all the right reasons. Whats even more insulting is the fact that Dan Aykroyd actually wrote and directed this picture, as if this was the movie he was dreaming to get made. He must have been on some strong dope. Here, he plays a deteriorating old man with a penis shaped nose who stands as the justice of the peace of a rural northeastern town. Among his family is a duo of mentally challenged mutant toad- humanoids and John Candy in drag. Not to mention, the whole area surrounding them is a toxic waste dump complete with dead corpses. Essentially, you are looking at a parody of the Texas Chainsaw Massacre, minus everything that could have been potentially funny about a Texas Chainsaw parody. Its pure bunk, plain and simple. For those of you who are fans of this picture, God bless you, because I couldn't find a damn thing likable about this putrid mess. Yes, I know its supposed to be surreal and gross. If they wanted to really do that they should have hired David Lynch.

This is another underrated horror comedy from yesteryear. The movie is just weird and wonky. Dan Akroyd wrote, directed and stars along with Demi Moore ( G.I Jane), Chevy Chase (Fletch) and the late, great John Candy (Uncle Buck) in dual roles. The movie concerns a smarmy yuppie (Chase), the girl he's interested in (Moore) a couple of foreign rich kids and an I'll fated road trip where they are pulled over for running a stop sign and imprisoned by a strange judge and his ghoulish family. They spend the movie trying to escape wacky traps and death. The movie is weird, imaginative and bursting with creativity. Its definitely not for everyone it bombed with critics and audiences alike when it was initially released. But it's aged quite well and is definitely deserved of being a cult classic.

Budget: $40m Domestic Box Office: $8m Worldwide Box Office: $8m

3.75/5

DAN AYKROYD is a comedy genius & legend & here he has directed his one & only movie & it's just so much fun!!! It got so much hate & yet it's just pure fun from a comedy genius!!! A crazy old man who Aykroyd plays, we have the other comedy king CHEVY CHASE who is always fun to watch & dan Aykroyds close buddy in real life is great here & we have the BRILLIANT JOHN CANDY who also is fantastic & a comic genius & an all round good cast & good characters. Aykroyd done a great job directing & his movie is a good fun & very inventive Comedy Thriller!!! Never follow critics just like & enjoy what you like, i do.

Now with that being said i do get that this is a bizarre & weird film as it sits between silly comedy & dark horror Thriller & it tried to get that "Beetlejuice" vibe going & in a way it did but obviously won't ever be a Classic like Tim Burtons Masterpiece.

Dan Aykroyd is a childhood hero of mine, i grew up watching him in the Classic "Ghostbusters films" & "Trading Places" & "Spies Like Us" & "Coneheads" & "Celtic Pride" & "My Stepmother Is an Alien" & "Dragnet" & "My Girl" & "The Great Outdoors" & others, it's safe to say Aykroyd is a guy that has always been there making me laugh through my childhood & teens & still today as a family man, i love Aykroyd!!!!

Aykroyd is a Genius as a writer, actor & of creative mind, i think he's the smartest of all the actors & his Classic work proves it.

For a first movie & a big studio production i think Aykroyd's Wacky & weird Horror-Comedy "Nothing But Trouble" is a misunderstood Cult Classic, it's supposed to be strange & freaky & bizarre, it came from the incredibly creative mind of a comic genius & it's alot of fun!!!

Aykroyd puts in a fantastic & manic performance here as the wacky old timer judge of his corrupted land, a monster of this nightmare like fantasy world that is dark but also ridiculously fun.

Chevy Chase is his sarcastic & silly self (Always loved Chase) & is in a good lead role & even Demi Moore is fine here & John Candy r.i.p is always a joy to see him being silly on screen, a great cast in fact.

The look is incredible with amazing cinematography by the best in the business DEAN CUNDY & the sets & production design is incredible, the detail of the set pieces is Amazing to look at, the mansion is beautiful & makes the film come off feeling like a big fun wild roller coaster ride.

Bizarre yes but still fun & very entertaining.

I'm not one to criticize movies much...I like to give all movies a chance and like to look for the good in all of them, but really...this has got to be the worse movie I've EVER seen...honestly...The title basically says it all. My father bought this movie because of the actors in it, who were supposed great comedians, and because it was cheap. 1 word: disappointing...I have never watched such a lame, grotesque, pointless, boring movie...list goes on. Don't waste your time watching this, we didn't even finish it 'cus it was so horrible, and I think we ended out throwing the DVD away.

My rating, 0 of 10...if that's even possible...

~Ange Doré~

This flick has just the right mixture of stupid, funny, gross, disturbing, and completely off the wall. And most importantly, it was reviled by the critics, big qualifier there. If this was a midnight movie, I'd go see it. It would be great to occupy the after hours.

I believe the venerable movie critic Leslie Haliwell sums this film up best: "...exceeding dismal comedy in which a group of self-indulgent comedians, having been given a great deal of rope, proceed to hang themselves; it is not a pretty sight." Variety says, "Astonishingly poor effort...the longest 94 minutes on record." Ken Newman, of 'Sight and Sound,' claims this was an "absolute failure as a comedy..." This is truly and without exception or doubt the worst film ever produced. I have encouraged many to see this film if for no other reason than to know just how awful a film can truly be. Ironically, the film was written by an arguably intelligent team (the brothers Aykroyd) and starred four usually reliable actors: Chevy Chase, Dan Aykroyd, Demi Moore, and the late John Candy. How then could a production go so disastrously wrong? You really have to see it to believe how bad it is. The ONLY redeeming quality (the ONLY reason I could even give it one point other than the fact that IMDB won't let you give it a zero) was the entertaining scene where Digital Underground performed in the courthouse. That's it. That's the only possibility of redemption in the worst film ever realized in American cinema. ANYONE who cares to argue this critique is MORE than welcome to email me at ... though I feel certain that I won't be hearing from anyone.

Count me among those who thought this movie a complete disaster. I'll not summarize, as this has been done many times. I watched this movie on cable, waiting for it to pay off in some way. I mean, it HAD to get better - no one would intentionally make a movie this thoroughly unredeemable. In the end, I felt like I needed a long hot shower. It's been years, but it still hasn't washed off yet. The title has become a word used to mean "the very standard of badness" in any topic with friends familiar with the film.

An irony: This movie would fit right into a segment of Leonard Pinth Garnell's "Bad Cinema." Those familiar with SNL know of what I speak.

Some may very well like it. To them I say enjoy yourselves, but please do not actually recommend the film to anyone. You'll just cause further pain and lose considerable respect from your peers.

I agree with the consensus. Burn the negatives. This is right up there with GIGLI as one of the absolute worst films ever made. I can hang with something like WEEKEND AT BERNIE'S which knows how dumb it is. But this... my god, I felt like I had just bathed in manure after watching it on HBO the other night. It made me feel icky and embarrassed and resentful all at once. I'm just amazed that, despite the clout of then-stars Ackroyd, Chase, and Candy, this POS ever was greenlit in the first place. It's an absolute trainwreck; NOTHING about it works! And again, other movies are actually humorous and a bit charming, even, because they are so flawed. SILENT NIGHT, DEADLY NIGHT comes to mind. And WEEKEND AT BERNIE'S too. But not this. This fails in every way imaginable.

Chevy Chase, Dan Akroyd, John Candy, and the Humpty Hump.

Enough said.

I saw this film when I was about 12 or 13 when it came out on video. I remember being excited at the list of stars that I knew from hilarious movies of my childhood. I can only remember being confused and disappointed.

A decade or so later, I've seen it again--and frankly, all the writers trying to defend this film are wrong. There is an attempt to create a dark edge to this film that just doesn't work because of the frequent cartoonish departures from realism (the house, the yard, the twin grandchildren). All of the jokes fall flat. I have to agree with the many other comments I've read: it's painful. I'm terribly frustrated by this film. I watched and felt embarrassed for the actors. This movie was like a potentially good line of standup humor that went horribly wrong when converted to film.

Please save yourself from watching this movie.

Probably not. But it comes damned close. MONKEYBONE probably takes top honors. Dan Aykroyd, who must have been snorting cocaine nonstop while making this, directs and stars in a movie about a family who goes off course in New Jersey and ends up in the hands of a truly scary inbred family. Aykroyd plays a hanging judge with a diseased nose. John Candy plays a cop as well as a mute, lonesome lady looking for a husband. Some truly awful stuff ensues. I am sorry to say I saw this in a theater. With my wife, no less. Chevy Chase and Demi Moore costar as the ill-fated couple. It was clear by the time this was released (1991) that Chase was on the ropes, acting-wise. Moore's no great shakes in it, either. I always thought of this as an Aykroyd vehicle, much like Bruce Willis' ego-driven HUDSON HAWK. Aykroyd acts/hams up a storm, while everyone else around him seems adrift or bewildered. Stay far, far away.

Chevy chase, John candy, eye candy in Demi Moore, and a young Tupac/digital underground? This is same as watching jerry Lewis for ppl born in 50s, or Seth Rogen for millinieals (pardon spelling).

If you weren't born pre '85 why are you criticizing this?

The only film directed by Dan Aykroyd to date is this very dark, strange and completely misunderstood and underrated comedy.

I think the reason for its poor reception is comparing this to all of the other movies the cast had done to that point.

Chevy Chase the films main star made many good films such as Caddyshack, the Vacation series, Fletch and Funny Farm.

Aykroyd of course was huge off the success of both Ghostbusters pictures, John Candy had done Planes, Trains and Automobiles, Uncle Buck and even had a cameo in Home Alone the highest grossing comedy of all time at that point.

And then of course Demi Moore had just finished Ghost which was a huge smash hit so it would only be fair to expect with this cast and Aykroyd directing that this would be a film of similar quality.

The thing is many dont understand that as a screenwriter Aykroyd has been known to have very far-fetched ideas to which many directors have to say they cannot be filmed.

He apparently directed this movie after his buddies John Hughes and John Landis turned it down even though he didnt want to he knew it was necessary to get the film made.

Aykroyd's direction I feel is the main reason people misunderstand this movie. Keep in mind he also wrote this movie and played two large roles requiring heavy amounts of makeup. He also took every suggestion to heart from the cast and crew which resulted in some strangeness to say the least.

At one point he had monitors for his actors to view their performances and allowed them to make changes they saw fit and that is where I think the performances look different from any of the main casts other films.

Chase looks bored out of his mind as if he thinks the movie sucks and just wants a paycheck. We know he can show range when he wants to (Funny Farm is a great example of this.)

Aykroyd gives the best performance in the movie as the Reeve and provides some laughs.

Candy looks like he just wants to do his best for his buddy Aykroyd but in his role as Dennis the police officer he seems depressed and is really the only voice of reason. He also is in drag as Aykroyd's granddaughter who has affection for Chase. This performance is actually pretty funny.

Moore comes across extremely ambitious. Like Chase it seems she is aware that this movie is not the best fit for her talent but nonetheless she does her very best to work with the material she has and does well with it.

In order for this movie to be enjoyed you have to forget that this talented cast made better movies before and in the case of Moore especially since and just enjoy it as a pretty crappy movie that's actually fun because it is so bad.

That's why I like this movie. It truly is the definition of a so bad it's fun movie. I think Aykroyd as director felt there would be an audience out there that would appreciate this movie as such.

This is not Vacation, Ghostbusters, Planes, Trains and Automobiles or Ghost.

It's a funny quirky movie that is a lot of fun just for being so weird.

Go into it with that expectation and you should have some fun.

It's the kind of movie I like to watch on a bad day and have some laughs from its sheer quirkiness.

I don't know if this was the Akroyd/Chase team trying to pat themselves on the back by thinking any movie they made would be good because "they" were in it, but this was just awful. Bad acting, terrible script, mutant relatives?, John Candy as a woman, it goes on. Digital Underground performing was about the only worthwhile scene in the movie. I wish I could sue the studio to gain back those two hours of my life. In the pantheon of bad movies, this edges out Caddyshack II, Cannonball run (at least that was a lot of actors making fun of themselves), and anything with Stephen Seagal or Van Damme. Now, I must admit to never having seen Gigli, so someone will have to tell me if that is worse. I guess it is true that some people can get anything made into a movie.