Woodyanders Review of Coming Attractions

Coming Attractions (1978)

An uneven, but still amusing and enjoyable sketch comedy

[7/10 · 18 February 2019]

This parody of various film genres throughout the decades use the concept of fake trailers with decidedly mixed results. The longer sketches such as the prison parody "Three Chairs for Lefty" starring a pre-stardom Bill Murray fall a bit flat, but fortunately the other segments that work hit the gut-busting bull's eye something nice. Amongst the funnier mock trailers are the rude sci-fi alien invasion spoof "Invasion of the Penis Snatchers," the hicksploitation parody "Welcome to Bacon County" featuring a bunch of obnoxiously friendly rednecks, the biker send-up "Skateboarders from Hell," and the positively sidesplitting "Dark Town After Dark," which boasts a hysterically raunchy Cab Calloway-style dirty blues song. Moreover, the cast of familiar cult cinema faces helps a lot: Sid Haig, Susan Tyrell, Ed Lauter, Buddy Hackett (as himself for a charity organization for kids who constantly pee themselves), Misty Rowe, Louisa Moritz, Walker Edmiston (as a buckwheat-snorting Pa Kettle), Avery Schreiber, Kinky Friedman, Robin Sherwood and Betty Thomas as wild skateboarder mamas, Howard Hesseman, and Britt Leach. A real hoot.