Obviously made with the idea of grossing out little girls and make little boys laugh at the little girls as they squealed with delight at the silly grossness of this comedy horror film, this is a mixed bag of very short sketches and two major stories, featuring a youthful cast placed among some seasoned veterans. Between the monster in the bathroom and the boy who makes fly cookies, there's enough to keep the audience entertained, even if some of the film is not in good taste. Among the sketches that last less than a few minutes, there's a heavyset woman ordering a 15 piece bucket of chicken finding without looking that her first big bite came out of Ben's descendant, a lovable old man who finds out too late that the new fun house isn't for him, and the most disturbing, the drying of a family pet in a place it shouldn't be placed into.
Ian Fried is the misunderstood, put upon class nerd, taunted by his bully classmates and considered a disgrace by his disgruntled teacher, Kathleen Freeman (hysterically named), but cared for by the janitor with a secret (James Karen). Freeman, best known for her lengthy term as Jerry Lewis's foil in many films, seems to have been typecast as unlikable characters, but it is difficult not to like her, the actress. She always has a wink towards the audience that she knows that most of these characters are vile, but is having a ball playing them. Karen is terrific as the janitor, and the story does not overstay its welcome.
Even at only 30 minutes, the story of Gordy Belcher (Michael Bower), is hard to like. You're always supposed to feel sorry for the heavyset kid, but Gordy is pretty much rotten in every way. His taunting of Farmer Spivey (Ralph Drischell) will obviously lead to his ruin, but the way the story unfolds is truly unpleasant. Having both stories in some way dealing with bullying, the message is inconsistent between the two stories. The print I found after having seen this years ago in its original VHS release cut out the poodle sequence, which recalling it from then was fine by me.
Ian Fried is the misunderstood, put upon class nerd, taunted by his bully classmates and considered a disgrace by his disgruntled teacher, Kathleen Freeman (hysterically named), but cared for by the janitor with a secret (James Karen). Freeman, best known for her lengthy term as Jerry Lewis's foil in many films, seems to have been typecast as unlikable characters, but it is difficult not to like her, the actress. She always has a wink towards the audience that she knows that most of these characters are vile, but is having a ball playing them. Karen is terrific as the janitor, and the story does not overstay its welcome.
Even at only 30 minutes, the story of Gordy Belcher (Michael Bower), is hard to like. You're always supposed to feel sorry for the heavyset kid, but Gordy is pretty much rotten in every way. His taunting of Farmer Spivey (Ralph Drischell) will obviously lead to his ruin, but the way the story unfolds is truly unpleasant. Having both stories in some way dealing with bullying, the message is inconsistent between the two stories. The print I found after having seen this years ago in its original VHS release cut out the poodle sequence, which recalling it from then was fine by me.