Dr. Otto and the Riddle of the Gloom Beam
April. 09,1986 PGEvil baddie Dr. Otto Von-Schnick-ick-ick tries to take over the planet by first destroying all of our financial systems, collapsing the world's economy and sending populations across the globe into mass panic! Only one goody-goody can stop him.. or can he? The oblivious Lance Sterling is on the case! With the aid of his underappreciated assistant Doris, will Lance manage to save the day and defeat Doctor Otto before the mad scientist's megalomaniacal plan is fulfilled? Or will the villain succeed in distracting them to their doom with his many convincing costumes, courtesy of his own convenient Changing Coffin? Tune in to find out!
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Reviews
Best movie of this year hands down!
Nice effects though.
It's no definitive masterpiece but it's damn close.
Excellent and certainly provocative... If nothing else, the film is a real conversation starter.
I think Jim Varney is a great talent for sure. And I love zany, cheesy B flicks by the likes of Corman, Meyers, Waters, et al. But this movie is just BAD! The only redeeming thing is Jim Varney, and is so convoluted and painful to get to his numerous characters, I just lost patience. Not sure if this was to break him out of his Ernest type casting, get a little more T&A involved, or make a political statement while trying to be goofier than Attack Of The Killer Tomatoes? (which I agree is a classic in itself!) Aside from some cute funny lines here and there, this movie is just BAD! And to add insult to injury, it is available in 'The Best Of Ernest' box set. BUT - is a direct video transfer to DVD. No effort was made to enhance or remaster it in any way. Possibly if it was clearer and cleaner, it may have got one more star from me. But I kinda doubt it.
My website (www.theflickguy.org) lists this pick as the worst movie of all time. Here is an excerpt: "If I were strapped down to a chair and forced to watch this movie over and over again, I couldn't imagine Hell being any worse. Jim Varney plays a three-handed crazy guy bent on destroying the world (apparently starting with cinema). Now let's face it, no one expects a whole lot from a Varney movie, but this agonizing drivel had me dry-heaving for 92 minutes. Not a laugh. Not one. This is not kamp or gitchy, this is not even mindless. It is evil. Do not rent this, it may destroy your DVD player. Do not even buy the VHS from a 29-cent clearance bin to use as a blank tape. It is the worst film of all time. Period. I mean it. Really."
this is one of the stupidest movies ever, not THE stupidest mind you but one of the stupidest. This is 96 1/2 minutes of sleep inducing material. Probably Jim Varney's worst movie ever. The last 30 seconds of the film is the best and funniest part but hardly worth sitting through the whole movie for. On the other hand, if you are a die hard Jim Varney/Ernest fan, then like me, you must add this film to your collection. It does have brief, rare moments of humor, although they are few and far between. The mere fact that this movie is so hard to find makes it a collectors item and a must have for your ernest collection. I was lucky to find this film online at a dirt cheap price a couple years ago. I believe I paid 1.99 plus shipping for it. And it was the only copy I could find anywhere. Even though this is a truly all around horrible movie, it is still a must have if you are a Jim Varney fan and an Ernest movie collector such as I. On a scale of 1 to 10 I give this movie a 2 but thats only because I've never seen a 1 before ;)
As far as stories go, it seems that the writers here could only pass a kindergarten story writing class. Plot? Dr. Otto wants to destroy the world! That's all.However, what you get is the Brilliance of Jim Varney, not as Ernest for 90 minutes (I'll be the first to admit that to be a hard challenge), but Jim portraying a variety of other Characters that we only get glimpses of in other movies and his TV series. He is brilliant as he throws himself into these wild, wacky characters. Think of it as a bunch of 10-20 minute short films each with a different lead character by Varney, and each around a central theme that were spliced together, each short fairy self contained. It's much easier to watch this movie then.If you want to see some great character acting (or at least Jim Varney not playing Ernest), definitely watch this movie if you can find it.