Film Review: It Came from Hollywood (1982)

One of the more popular notions about Hollywood is that it used to make much better films that it is making today. This might have at least some basis in reality, but it also can be explained with rather banal fact of only the best films of the past surviving the test of time and becoming part of today’s popular culture, thus creating skewed perception of the past as the lost golden age. In reality, Hollywood in the past made as many bad films as it is making today. The only difference is that such films are conveniently and often justifiably forgotten, with exception of the most dedicated film historians and cinephiles with rather specific taste. In past decades the latter were the targetted audience of specialised TV shows like Mystery Science Theater 3000, which made bad old films the object of their mockery. Similar approach was taken by It Came from Hollywood, 1982 documentary film directed by Malcolm Leo and Andrew Solt.

The film is partially inspired by the books published by Michael and Harry Medved, film historians and critics whose work had deliberate emphasis on bad films. Taking a cue from the books, the film represents compilation of scenes from number of Hollywood (and few Japanese) films made between 1929 and 1978. Those films were different from each other, but they usually lacked budgets, talents and ambition to make them comparable even to mediocre films of their times. They are grouped in couple of segments, each receiving short humorous introduction by contemporary comedians like Dan Aykroyd, John Candy, Gilda Radner and comedic duo Cheech and Chong. Those introductory skits are not particularly funny (with exception of Radner introducing films dealing with gorillas), and even less funny are “enlightened” comments comedians make while watching various clips. While there are some fascinating examples of poor acting, poor directing, poor choreography, poor special effects or poor taste (like revoltingly racist content in a 1934 musical Wonder Bar), some objects of such snark approach are films that are actually quite good and some, like Creature from the Black Lagoon or War of the Worlds, are even considered to be genre classics. Film’s approach is best illustrated in the segment dedicated to the films of Ed Wood, which is quite different from the affectionate way the famous author of bad films was portrayed in Tim Burton’s biopic. Although mildly entertaining at times, It Came from Hollywood mostly doesn’t look much better than films it tried to mock, and its only purpose to serve as starting point for cinephiles who like to explore more obscure parts of film history.

RATING: 3/10 (+)

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