Boogievision

What would you get if you gave a movie camera, a couple of hours worth of film, and a few thousand bucks to some hippies in 1977? The answer might well be "Boogie Vision," an amusing time capsule that proves if nothing else that virtually anything could get distributed to drive-ins back in the day. I'm reminded of "Mr. Hand" from Fast Times at Ridgemont High who was convinced every single student in his American History class "must be on dope." Mr. Hand would undoubtedly think the same of every single person involved in this movie. Something of a "Groove Tube" knockoff, much of the footage consists of unrelated comedy sketches including mock news reports, commercials, and random shots of nude skateboarding. There is also some strikingly good 70s animation that reminds one a little bit of "Yellow Submarine." But there is also a main plot (using the term loosely) that does its best to hold the film together. A would-be movie "director," who has to panhandle every penny and dime he can to buy rolls of film, suddenly hits the jackpot after his girlfriend informs him that her daddy is a "producer." Turns out daddy really only makes porn and has little intention of letting this guy direct, but hires him anyway to just to appease his daughter. Well, wouldn't you know it, daddy is called away for a few days so our lead protagonist seizes the opportunity to blow an entire film's budget in three days to create his own artistic vision. Needless to say, daddy, upon returning, is none too impressed with the result, which comes to be called "The Lizardwoman from Outer Space Meets the Radical Feminoids." But with the money blown and the film in the can, he really has little choice now but to distribute it. One might conclude whoever put up the money to finance "Boogie Vision" was left thinking the same thing. Oh, man, this movie is weird. I'll give it a 5 for its unconventional spirit. For better or worse they sure as heck don't make 'em like this anymore.