The Worst Film Ever

I saw this movie before reading any reviews, and I thought it was very funny. I was very surprised to see the overwhelmingly negative reviews this film received from critics.

It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.

If you're interested in the topic at hand, you should just watch it and judge yourself because the reviews have gone very biased by people that didn't even watch it and just hate (or love) the creator. I liked it, it was well written, narrated, and directed and it was about a topic that interests me.

Pufnstuf is the story of the rivalry between an insecure witch and a lonely Dickensian teen pin up model over a talking flute in a land of goofy puppet people. If that sounds crazy it's because it kind of is.Jimmy is an English transplant in America having difficulty adjusting. One day, after getting kicked out of band practice, his flute magically comes to life and promises to be his new best friend. They sing a song about it and, surprisingly, the song is pretty good. Jimmy then comes across an odd boat which he decides to jump into. Unfortunately, the boat is cursed or something and he is beset upon by a witch on a gigantic broom who wants the flute in order to impress her witch friends because she's kind of unpopular. Jimmy escapes only to find himself on a magic island where all sorts of strange puppet things live in a world of brightly colored hand-drawn sets. This includes a silly looking dragon lizard character who also happens to be the mayor and sounds like Gomer Pyle. In fact, most of the puppet characters act like bland impressions of vaudeville comedians. Witchiepoo and Jimmy are the only two humans despite the fact that they are themselves modeled on famous fictional characters.It turns into a literal popularity contest when the witches convention comes to town. Jimmy tries to rescue his friend using his usual strategy from the television series, dressing up in silly costumes and trying to trick witchiepoo, which seems to work less than half the time.The goofy, children's show plot hides a fundamental message about friendship and the two human characters are misfits who really only want to be accepted. Jack Wilde is charming as Jimmy. He has an off-beat charm and seems disarmingly earnest but he's rarely given much to do. The character of Witchiepoo, played by Billie Hayes, is such a lively and fully realized character that she stand apart from her surroundings. In a world that's bland and boring she parades around screeching and cackling. It's such a bravura performance from Hayes that she fills the screen with her presence. She combines a larger-than-life musical theater style character with expressive mime and slapstick. There's really no moment she's on screen she's not full of energy.The counterpoint is the citizens of Living Island are silly animals with voices of old comedians doing terrible, corny jokes all day is so striking. You really feel her frustration being trapped in a land of dum dums without anybody to really connect with. In contrast, Jimmy is good-natured and has a positive attitude. He's willing to look past how boring the relentless cheerfulness of Pufnstuf and his neighbors are so he can enjoy himself in a world where everyone likes him. It's like there's a sort of sibling rivalry between the two as they fight over friends. Jimmy is sincere and easygoing while Witchiepoo is manipulative and bossy. Really Witchiepoo is trying to make friends but she feels different from other people and she rejects them before they can reject her. She does steal and hit people and call them names so that doesn't help either.The sets are fantastic and give the film a distinct psychedelic tone. The songs are hummable and the score is surprisingly memorable. During the witch convention there are some really great visuals, costumes and bits of humor that show them really making the best of a lower budget. It's amazing this was made within the same year as the show aired. I was never really familiar with the series before seeing this movie and was genuinely surprised by how good it was. You certainly don't need to have watched the show though and I'd recommend the movie first anyway.This movie is the show's victory lap and and captures the spirit of the show nicely.

I have no idea why but this is my all-time favourite movie, call me crazy. It's amateurish, not that well-made & horribly dated but I LOVED It & still do. The story is simple, it's certainly colourful & the acting is excellent although they obviously ham it up with great delight.I wouldn't think it scary although some obviously do. I guess I understand that because the scariest movie I saw as a kid was Abbot & Costello meet the mummy (yes – I'm that old), It scared the pants off me despite it being a "comedy" as an eight year old, I had nightmares for months afterwards. I guess adults never saw the terror that kids see.Anyway back to Pufnstuf, the music lives on & almost all of the songs to me are true classics. I absolutely love Cass Elliot (Mama Cass) & was so saddened by her untimely death at just 33. Jack Wild also had a tragic life dying at 53 from oral cancer associated with alcoholism from age 21 & smoking which seems unimaginable when you watch Pufnstuf! The song "Different" (by Cass Elliot) if you listen to the lyrics has a very powerful & poignant message, there's a message there that almost all of us can relate to. It's the pinnacle song to me, just above "If I could".It's a travesty that movies as good as this fade into oblivion & I had a real problem trying to find it again a few years back. The soundtrack fortunately did make it to a CD of which I have & treasure. The rest of the cast includes some great stars, Martha Raye & Billie Hays now basically forgotten alas.Funnily enough the TV series H.R. which predates the movie I found to be quite ordinary in comparison to this fantastic movie, I don't know why. Someone had the audacity (sacrilege) to propose a snuff movie called H.R. Pufnsnuf in 2007 with a budget of $300, thankfully though it appears that it never eventuated.

I tried watching this abomination of the cinema when I was five years old; I have never been the same since. Filled to the brim with drug-induced images that reek of the common ravings of your average asylum resident, this "movie", despite its colorful appearance, is not for humans, ESPECIALLY not children.It starts out innocently enough with a poor boy who ruins his classmate's drum by (wait for it) putting his head through it; yes, putting his HEAD through it. But fear not, my friends! He is quickly consoled by his chirping flute, which is weird enough, I'll grant you, but still acceptable.THEN: The movie morphs into a combination of Wizard of Oz and Where the Wild Things Are, but loses all the "warm and fuzzy" aspects of either of these two books.So, this seven-foot yellow relative of Barney, befriends this poor boy and plunges him even deeper into despair.And, to add the pleasant array of horrific themes, a carnivorous boat, formerly a friend of the motley crew of hobbling grandfather clocks and doped-up "dragons", is added to the mix of mayhem.The most comforting image in the midst of this chaos is the villain, aptly dubbed "Witchiepoo" (?). Of course, she has problems of her own: what with an obvious plastic mask constricting her facial expressions to having to deal with a broomstick whose gas level always seemed to be at its lowest at the most inopportune moments. As a result of this, one of her favorite pastimes was nose-diving into the body of water that separated the land of Pufnstuf from her degenerate, decaying abode (I don't know where I would have preferred to live).In summary, this movie is terrifying...If you want to watch the movie that has similar effects on its audience as The Exorcist, then this one is for you. Enjoy.

This is a movie from a wonderful children's TV series and everyone in the TV show is here and a few surprises are thrown in as well. One generation's hit is another's camp classic, but this is fun. They sure don't make them like this anymore! There is something here for everyone, visually it would appeal to the very young due to it's eye-catching colours and gentle plots, older children might get more into the storyline and even adults might catch themselves enjoying the borderline Freudian plot which is at the center of this movie as well as each episode of the TV series, a witch and her obssession with a little boy's "magic flute".... ahem. The non-human characters will remind many of the old ad campaigns of McDonald's with Mayor McCheese, The Hamburgler, etc. Did the Crofts have anything to do with the McDonald's advertising or was it just a rip-off? It was a nice surprise to see "Mama" Cass Elliot in this one, she seems to be having a ball in her role as a crony of Witchpoo. Seeing this makes me wonder at what potential died with her. Recommended highly...and yes, I'd have to strongly agree with other reviewers here who have said that if children's fantasy movies from the period interest you, definately give this one a try, switch off your inner critic, and just enjoy!